Research, evaluation, sponsorship and event management!

This weeks reading included chapters 6 (Research and evaluation) and 10 (Sponsorship and event management) of the textbook.

The research and evaluation chapter was surprisingly useful, as through reading it the degree to which good research aids the planning and progress of a PR plan became much clearer. The chapter explained the concept of imputes, outputs and outcomes, and different approaches to research and gathering data.
The things i found most useful in the chapter include the questions which should be asked when researching the target publics, e.g. who are they? What are their characteristics? where do we find them? etc. I also found the references for contacts and data useful, specifically suggestions of organisations, e.g. the directory of Australian Assosiations.

Sponsorship and Event management was also an interesting chapter. Although i don't see much need for sponsorship in what i want to do, the event management information is highly useful.
Key points i gleaned from the reading include:
- Entertainment is the key to any successful event
- Failure can occur from: a lack of planning and promotion, problems with the organising committee, clashing of dates, no weather considerations.
- A media release should be issued before the event
- Planning and time are hugely important

Sponsorship was... interesting. As i have mentioned I'm not the biggest fan of corporations, so this concept in itself doesn't overly appeal to me. Of course its an integral part of PR, though, which means i shouldn't ride it off. I think although i may not utalise this kind of information and/or skills, its interesting to see how the concept of sponsorship and event management often walk hand in hand.
An example recently is the Coal to Coast festival (http://www.coaltocoastfestival.com.au/) which is a fairly shameless attempt by the coal industry to get the public onside. I think the thing to note about this example is that your "entertainment" for the event should be in accordance with the values and goals of the sponsors. For example, Aussie hip-hop band "The Herd" were scheduled to play at Coal to Coast but boycotted the event after finding out it was sponsored by coal companies, and this is an example of why research is an important.

- Louisa