Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 1 Content best practice for Publicity or Web Officers Volunteer Ambassador Conference York, 5 April 2014

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 2  Kathryn Bellamy Creative Services Editor, Marketing department  Member Engagement department Welcome and introductions

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 3  Outline of the role and responsibilities  Overview of branding, tools and resources available to you  Getting the best from your content  Show best practice examples of content and communications  Key contacts  Questions Agenda

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 4  Technical training on or website content management systems  Website access or connectivity  Access to member data, its manipulation or protection Not on this agenda...

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 5  Near You webpages  Mailing lists  Posters, newsletters, flyers, programme cards  Social media The role Promoting local events and initiatives effectively to local members – ensuring members can access up-to-date information quickly and easily About 1-2 hours’ commitment per event

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 6  Organisation and planning  collating and chasing the right information in enough time to advertise events and initiatives effectively to members and non- members  Attention to detail  checking through posters and s for correct dates, times and venues  Ability to understand what people want from an event and what they want to know about an event Key skills What you don’t need: knowledge of design or marketing

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 7  What is branding?  Public face  How we position the Institution  Getting this right means you can promote your events in a consistent and professional way, in line with HQ, and help members recognise them Branding

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 8 Tools available: templates Go to for downloadable guidelines on: corporate colours, logos, fonts, tone of voice and templates: posters, PowerPoint slides, programme cards and newsletters plus a screensaver and banners to borrow

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 9 Pulling it all together

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 10 Content is a conversation What do you want your audience to: THINK FEEL DO What is the key insight for them? COPE: Create content once, publish everywhere Getting the best from content

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 11 Bite, snack, meal Bite: 2 billion tonnes of food are thrown away annually Snack: A new Institution report reveals that each year consumers throw away 2 billion tonnes of food Meal: Today, we produce about four billion metric tonnes of food per annum. Yet due to poor practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as market and consumer wastage, it is estimated that 50% (or 2 billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers and water have also been lost in the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. In a new report published today, the Institution argues that this level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands. Content: tricks of the trade

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 12 This can be the most important way that members connect with the Institution, so it’s important that the information they find there is up-to- date and relevant Tools available: Near You A space for each committee on the Institution website

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 13 Near You, part of = one online destination for members Near You: best practice

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 14 Tools available: Near You Near You uses a content management system called Sitefinity. You need a username and password to edit pages. Tutorial videos are available. Committee information Contacts Events Galleries

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 15 1.Remember that people read differently online  be concise, use sub-headings, make page titles relevant 2.Keep content up-to-date, engaging and refreshed  put up photos or presentations on the ‘Past Events’ page Near You: best practice

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 16 3.Make sure all committee contacts have the correct addresses and are able respond to queries 4.If you haven’t got time to update the homepage regularly, keep the information generic and tweak it twice a year Near You: best practice Contact us if you need any support

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 17 Near You: lessons to learn

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 18 Near You: better practice

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 19 Near You: best practice

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 20  is a quick and effective way of attracting members to your events  Members’ contact details will be on your local mailing list automatically – no need to maintain your own lists  For access, you need an administrator's account and password – and an imechenetwork.org Tools available: mailing lists (Lyris) Monthly newsletters for each UK region are a big hit

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 21 Question:  What do you want from your ?  No spam  Quick, easy to understand information  Clear, short heading  Finally - a reason to attend an event! Tools available: Can you anticipate your readers’ questions?

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 22 Monthly newsletters are co-ordinated at regional level via Near You. They have above average engagement.  Include regional news from Institution News  If an event is struggling, you can send a reminder about a week before, if absolutely necessary  Near You needs clear, concise event descriptions - make it easy to read and pick up key information at a glance  templates are available on the VRC Best practice

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 23 If we have no news from your region you will just see the word text – this prompts you to consider whether you have any news items. Some news items are added from head office, if there are stories from your region. If you have no news, this section will be removed from the final draft. The best news stories are about words with a link to the relevant web page eg for a particular event or report

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 24 Any details which are not confirmed on NearYou will come through onto the newsletter as shown here. Consider what you would like to be shown....

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 25 Use capitals for the first word only, plus names Don’t put venue details in summary

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 26 Coming up this month – will be a quick reminder about events that are at the end of the month that we are in. Again, remember – no capitals please!

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 27 Tools available: posters and newsletters Putting up posters and newsletters on Near You and in workplaces is a great way of promoting your events. Get other committee members to take them to work or university and send them to your local ILOs and ALOs

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 28 1)Ask your speakers 2)HQ 3) Virtual library or 4) Press offices of relevant or local companies Sourcing good images

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 29  A great way to publicise what you do to your local community  Separate training session available  contact  Media guide available at  Lists of regional press contacts available Tools: print media

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 30 Tools: social media accounts See the member’s guide to social media – top 5 tips What you should think about before setting up an account… do you have enough to say? and enough time? do you need a new account? how best can you get your message across?

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 31 Tools: social media platforms less technical, informal – good to reach students and apprentices  broad audience – news, comments and promotion  professional networking - technical discussion groups, as well as your business contacts  offers elements of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but also enables you to send specific messages to different communities (‘circles’)  video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos Plus:

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 32 At the event  Popup banners available  Your own design or borrow from HQ  Take posters and flyers for forthcoming events  Have the screensaver playing pre-event  Feedback forms to find out what people thought  Take photos you can use online or for social media

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 33 Short task  Briefly plan a publicity campaign for an event in 8 weeks’ time  A lecture on adapting to flooding from Theme Manager Dr Tim Fox  5-10 mins to come up with  Timeline of what you’d do  Which tools you’d use  A short description for Near You and

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 34 Pulling it all together

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 35 Support and resources

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 36 for marketing, branding and content advice or for technical and admin support for social media support Key contacts

Improving the world through engineeringwww.imeche.orgImproving the world through engineering 37 Questions?