We did a lot of group assignments and projects in school, coming up with PR plans and brainstorming all the strategies and tactics, but we never really put them into action before.
Yesterday (27/05/2011), I just witnessed a press conference and it was indeed an eye opener for me! In my whole life, I've never really watch/see/be part of a press conference other than through the TV screen. The organization that I'm in now called ACRES had a mini press conference on Friday for our Save the World's Saddest Dolphin Campaign. This is the official website: http://www.saddestdolphins.
We were not allowed to speak a word to anyone else before the launch of this campaign. Preparing media kits, sending out press invites and keeping in contact with the media to confirm their attendance were part of planning stage for this press conference.
The press conference went smoothly. I would say we did not have alot of media coming to our press conference but at least the local main media did came and they covered our story. We had our press conference in the morning and at about 2pm, the news was already up. We were very excited to see our news being covered!!
If you are interested, this are some of the links:
http://www.channelnewsasia.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.
One thing I found out from our local media which is very different from what I usually see on TV is that.... they were really quiet during the Questions and Answers section. There were only about 2-3 media asking questions while the rest just sit and listen. I wondered why, do they really have no questions? Or were they too shy to ask? I found out from my director that its because most of them are selfish. They want to keep the questions and answers to themselves and not share it with other media. Meaning, if they have further questions, they rather speak to you privately or call you. That was not what I expected initially because I expect media to be very enthusiastic and bombard you with difficult questions which you cannot answer. What an eye-opener indeed!
Any way, after the press conference, we had our roadshow campaign for this event and its ongoing throughout the weekends. Through this campaign, ACRES hope to raise more awareness about dolphins in captivity and hoping Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) would shelve their plans of bringing in 25 more dolphins (two of them already died since last year) into their new attraction - Marine Life Park. Since I'm here, I should also make use of this social media platform to pass this message around to all students of different campuses (:
What you can do to help: Go to our fb page "Save the world's saddest dolphins", like the page, share it with your friends, upload photo or video to urge RWS to let the dolphins go.
Local (Singapore) students, you can come down to Fareast Plaza Level 2 Concourse to help us! We have a video and photo petition going on until Sunday (29/5) 9pm.
Everyone can make a difference!
So please help!! Thank you!
Vivien Lee
Curtin Singapore
14536913
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Best regards,
Vivien Lee
3 comments:
Hey! I totally agree with you! It was such an eye opener! I did not realize why the media was asking so little questions until you pointed it out on your entry! No wonder the reporters were talking to the director in private after the conference. It was it was uncommon as well.
Seeing how much effort the director and other staffs have put in, I really hope the campaign can be a successful one and Resorts World will free the dolphins! We will prove the rest who think we cannot do it wrong and let them know they can really make a difference and we can improve lives of animals!
:)
This is true. Some media prefer their "own" stories, so that is why we have to arrange one on one interviews if the media requests. Our job as the PR person is also to facilitate the interviews, and make sure that sensitive topics or information will not be revealed!
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