SCfN Chapters 9 & 10

Chapter 9: Selecting and Training Spokespeople

I agree with everything this chapter said about having a spokesperson that people can trust. I feel that the credibility or your company/organization depends on more than just the message that you are trying to send. The message is just as important as the people and methods that you send the message through.
For example, the message we were trying to send during Homecoming was that the Clemson family cares about your family. We carefully chose to send this message during the football game against Boston College on the Homecoming floats built by fraternities, sororities and other on-campus organizations. The deliverance of this message was through a table set up on Bowman field, purple ribbons pomped onto all of the floats, and a Safe Harbor banner on the float rolled on the field at half time of the game. I feel that the floats were great "spokespeople" for our message of Clemson family cares for your family because people of all ages come out to Bowman field with their families every year to see the floats. I also feel that the on-campus organizations, who built the floats, were great spokespeople for the message because we represent over 30% of Clemson's student population and have been participating in philanthropy events, such as domestic violence prevention and education, for many years. The fact that all of this was organized through our Comm 456 class gave the message even more credibility because we had supervision and motivation to not only educate, but receive a good grade!!

Erin got some experience doing media interviews when she called into the local radio station and spoke about our message and Homecoming efforts. I did not get a chance to hear what she said, but I am SURE that she stated the message more than once, didn't say anything she felt uncomfortable saying, spoke in complete sentences, was memorable, didn't fake anything, said Safe Harbor and Comm 456's full name, knew prior to the interview who she was talking with, was animated, and did not play or fidget!!! :)

Chapter 10: Capitalizing on the Power of Partnership

Collaborating with parters of similar goals and/or messages is a great way to increase the amount of people who view/hear your message. Opportunities that would not typically be available to your organization may become accessible if you parter with someone who has those sources and opportunities! We partnered with Greek life and other on-campus organizations when we worked with Safe Harbor during Homecoming. We asked the organizations to put a purple ribbon on their float to support domestic violence awareness through Safe Harbor. We would not have been able to reach out to as many families about our message if it were not for the organizations collaborating with us on the effort.

Although we did not have any negative suspicions or communication between our partnership of working with the other on-campus organizations building floats, I can see how that could be a problem in the real world. Therefore, internal communication is key to not have any suspicions between partnerships. Keeping members well informed and "in the loop" is an important step in creating internal communication. Also, staff members should have full briefing on the planning process and should join brainstorming sessions. Internal teams should have communication training at least once a year in order to maintain positive communication.

The press plays a huge role in media partnerships as well. This benefits your organization in many ways: gets the message out faster & to more people, gains credibility because a journalist covered the story, shows your competitor what they're up against, and civic engagement. It was important for our class to get our message out in the media both before and during Homecoming in order to inform the public of what our intentions were with the purple ribbons on the floats, the table on Bowman field, and the message we wanted to reside that may not have been obvious.

Case Study: Many Americans misunderstand and are confused about learning disabilities. Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities was created to provide the media with public awareness strategies to educate readers, listeners and viewers. Media and information kits were sent to hundreds of reporters and policy makers, and focus groups and opinion research techniques were used to refine the messages. Overall, campaign garnered more than $150 million in free advertising on the Web, in print, and in the electronic media. Lasted five years because of increased media coverage. Reached 35% membership increase!!!