ROTARY CENTENARY PLAYGROUND – LAUNCH LESSONS
PP Roslyn Teirney, Assistant Regional Public Image Coordinator - September 7, 2023
Article by PP Roslyn Teirney, Assistant Regional Public Image Coordinator
Rotary clubs and districts are called to tell our Rotary stories widely and raise awareness of Rotary International's impact in the community. By doing this, we build trust in our brand and increase the chance of further partners, sponsors, donors and prospective members.
Given how busy newspaper and television editors are, it is important to notify them of project launches as professionally as possible - in brief, but with all the information. In our district we do so twice - fifteen minutes before close of business the day before, then fifteen minutes before office hours begin on the day.
In the media alert, we spell out who will be available to speak to camera, and what their role has been in the project.
We indicate what will be happening on the day and what the opportunities will be for capturing overlay (extra footage to add context to story told by the talking heads).
Calling the media to an event arranged by Rotary can be nerve-wracking as you plan the event on trust, having no idea of what other events will be competing with yours and whether the outlets will send a crew. To minimise disappointment should there be little interest, one tip is to arrange for a Rotary volunteer to be present to photograph what is happening or invest in a videographer to capture the story should the networks not respond.
When the hospital playground was opened recently, we had the opposite issue. The playground was opened by the Premier of Tasmania. A scrum of reporters and cameras arrived, jostling to capture pictures and hear what was said. It was exciting and coverage was excellent.
As Public Image Director, I learned a lot from the experience. The value of communication cannot be over-emphasised. When a number of stakeholders are present, how will your role change? Don't be afraid of asking detailed questions before the day. It will be too late once people arrive to start putting up banners, for example.
Where children are involved, it is essential to have signed permissions from parents and it may be that more than one entity requires these. In our case, the hospital needed permission as well as we did to comply with Rotary policy.
Try to ascertain the names of representatives of other stakeholders before the day so you have full information for social media posting afterwards.
This major project was managed over a five-year period by Past Assistant Governor Marion Cooper OAM. Thank you to all clubs which contributed donations but thanks specially to Marion for your calm and patient management skills.
Watch the video (1 minute 23 seconds): https://f.io/C36ZYCJ7