This section deals specifically with pre-dialogue publicity. For a detailed look at post-dialogue publicity please visit the After the Dialogue page located in the Facilitation section. Those planning a dialogue must make a strategic decision about publicizing a dialogue in advance. Some types of dialogues may lend themselves to openly inviting members of the campus community including the campus press. Other types are more appropriately kept on an invitational basis so that the number of participants and the backgrounds of participants can be engineered in a way that the dialogue will be more successful. Participants will talk more freely if the group is small, receptive to the process and free of reporters.
If you are new to hosting dialogues, it is probably better to go with the smaller, more controlled atmosphere. If you are hosting a town hall meeting, openly inviting students through some sort of flier, a story in the campus newspaper or other public announcement would be more appropriate.
In either case, the work you are doing to organize this dialogue is important, and you should not hesitate to promote it. Pre-dialogue publicity can pique the interest of stakeholders across campus, and set the stage for you to widely publicize the impact of the event afterward. There are a number of routes you can take to get the word out about your dialogue:
Newspapers (campus and local) – You may want to get a story in the newspaper or just put an ad in for your event. Either way, a press release is an easy and quick way to inform others about your dialogue. When writing your own press release, think in quick, easy and specific details: Who, What, Where, Why, and give your contact information. There is a Pre-Dialogue Press Release located in the online forms page that you can modify to fit your event. This will be useful to distribute to any media sources of interest, as well as to professors who may want to mention it in class.
Posters – Campuses are inundated with posters so if you are going to use this technique (and it can be used well) be sure to be creative. Handmade color posters with marker or crayon may be more eye catching than fancy black and white graphics. Think big. If you have the resources make a big poster. Enlist the help of a graphic artist on campus, check with the art department for screen printers, or make friends with the local Kinko’s employees.
Radio – Campus radio varies in its usefulness, but could be the key to your dialogue. Have a mini-interview/dialogue on the air, or just ask a friend to publicize. Most campus radio stations have on the air calendars of events as well. Local radio stations may give you more play. Most local stations will have a calendar of events, and most also are required to read a certain number of public service announcements each day. Take advantage of this. Air time on a popular radio station can add a lot of credibility both on and off campus. National Public Radio (NPR) can be very good at giving airtime or announcing events.
Email – Mass campus email (or even campus mail) can be far reaching but is often ignored. Weigh your options and decide if the time is useful for you. Email can be a good way to remind a small group of people that you have invited of the details (where and when the event will be). Email groups and listservs may also allow you to continue the dialogue electronically after the event, and allow you to include more people as the word spreads. Having an email list of interested people will make setting up your next dialogue that much easier.
Web – Setting up a web page, listserv, or message board for your dialogue can help give people a place to go who are interested in finding out more about your dialogue or about what is going on across your campus. These can be simple or complex, and there are a lot of easy ready-made templates out there (see the list below). However, don’t let this take up too much of your time. Personal, one-on-one interaction will almost always yield better results. At times building relationships can be more useful than building web pages.
