I gave an online briefing for client, the Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (AIFCA), and the IFM (institute of Fisheries Management) this month. AIFCA has been a client for four years now and online is a way of life for participants; remote working and bringing differing teams together.
The aims of these briefings are to provide the members and officers the opportunity to share best practice and learn from recognised experts, mostly in marine and fisheries policy. Participants in this, the fifth briefing of the series, included council officers, marine scientists, enforcement professionals and central government specialists, the title was ‘Effective Marketing and Communications’.
Within our coastal communities I’ve found there is a wide diversity of knowledge on marcoms topics and it was an interesting challenge to keep everyone engaged. I chose relevant case studies* to illustrate my points, kept the pace going and invited questions as I went. We covered how effective marketing and Public Relations can help communications with the general public, fishing community and VIP’s, getting the maximum impact by working smarter and topics including social media, press relations, using photos and video, ‘when to action’ and communication approval routes. There was also a whole section on Crisis Management.
The hour and a half went quickly, with some lively and thoughtful questions and I gave out links to some hidden tools on this website a checklist for news dissemination they use for clients including a checklist for client news dissemination to help smarter working and better marcoms.
It was a privilege to be welcomed into many people’s home and the feedback on my briefing was good too.
Don’t underestimate the need to pre-plan your presentations and know your audience. The better you taillor-make your material, the better it will be all round!
*Case studies included Greenpeace’s boulder project, offshore wind farms, East Coast lobster deaths and South West wrasse fishing.