There are two public relations tasks for those who plan to host a civic dialogue. The first has to do with publicizing the dialogue before it takes place. The second is to let the campus community know what took place at the dialogue. Both of these are important to consider.
Post-dialogue publicity – Once your dialogue has been completed, you will want to let key people on campus know more about the event. A major part of building a spirit of civic engagement on campus is to let others know that students are serious about the issues that face their world and want to make an impact. Getting your story in the campus newspaper will help administrators, faculty, staff members and other students know that students are interested in more than last weekend’s football game or the latest movie review. Using the press to try to shape campus culture is, in itself, a major civic act.
You may want to prepare a press release or call or contact the school paper and talk about the civic engagement project and the dialogue (you might even be able to provide them with a picture or two). Send a brief letter to your college or university’s president letting them know of the basic idea(s) that emerged from the meeting. This letter might be copied to other key administrators on campus and used to help inform the campus community of the form, function and outcome of the dialogues. See the Sample Dialogue Press Release.
For additional ideas see the previous section on Pre-Dialogue Publicity.
Reporting On Dialogues
Once a dialogue has been completed, Campus Compact requests that you record the dialogue using the On-Line Dialogue Report Form. This form will help your state Campus Compact office know the basic information about all of the dialogues and be able to continue to provide the most effective assistance to you and others as this process continues across the nation. We estimate that the process of reporting on line will take you no more than about 15 minutes. We greatly appreciate your assistance in helping us track the success and the lessons to be learned from these civic dialogues.
