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Science communication conference Stempra science in the news events
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Stempra newsletter
October saw the annual PR industry awards hosted in London by the trade magazine, PR Week. I know that many in the science communication community feel somewhat distant from the world of public relations – and looking at the kinds of winners to make it this year, I can sympathise. David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party was awarded “Communicator of the Year” and Ms Flic Howard-Allen, Director of Communications, Marks & Spencer was made PR Professional of the Year. In all fairness to these winners, I think that they have achieved significantly in their fields but I was saddened to note how few (if indeed there were any at all) science, engineering or technology-based PRO’s made it onto the winners’ list. A medical-based organisation did achieve the “Not-for-Profit Award” - The Alzheimer’s Society. When Coronation Street ran the storyline of Mike Baldwin's decline due to Alzheimer's, the Alzheimer's Society spotted an opportunity to fight the stigma of the disease, while raising awareness of the organisation. Working with the soap's script editors meant the Society ensured the interpretation of the character was accurate, while working with the show's stars helped highlight the disease. The campaign got high volumes of mainstream coverage, from GMTV to articles in the TV critic pages. And almost all health features on Alzheimer's mentioned the charity. The press negotiated a special helpline, which got 4,000 calls, while the charity's helpline had more than 1,000 after it was featured on GMTV. The Awards featured some excellent campaigns and are well worth a browse. So how about celebrating excellence in science communication or science public relations? There are quite a few awards for scientists who communicate but none, as far as I know, for science PRO’s. The Stempra Committee did discuss whether it would be possible for Stempra to set up Awards for our community – sadly, with the very limited resources available to us, this is definitely a step too far. Nevertheless, we’d still be very interested to hear members’ views about such an idea – you never know, we might attract a wealthy benefactor … Juliet Upton |
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