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Public Relations

Preface

Each country's WPI Authority should pursue the full gamut of public relations recommendations described below. The WPI Authority should have an assigned public relations officer that maintains contact with and flow of information to the media. Information, time lines, and authorization of all materials going out to the public should be part of the public relations officer's domain.

1. Web Site (See also Educational Recommendations section, no. 11.)

• The web site project will be used to document, describe, and promote the project and as a creative tool/space. The World Peace Initiative's web page address is www.worldpeaceart.org. The site will include images, text, and sound. The site can be used as a repository of global collective experience in keeping with the theme of the WPI project (peace, harmony, and the like). Musicians, children, artists, and anyone interested in the WPI project will be asked to submit works towards the web site. All submissions will be transferred electronically to the designated address. After collecting a database of sonic and visual materials, the project will be posted (designed) on the web page and then made accessible globally.

2. Multi-lingual Communication

• Some WPI documents will need to be released in more than one language. The WPI documentary video may need to be voiced over or subtitled in Chinese, Italian, and Norwegian so that it is a useful educational tool in non-English-speaking WPI participant nations. Promotional pamphlets and other materials need to include all appropriate languages. Perhaps language departments of universities where some of us work can help us get this done.
• At WPI events, we need to provide translators, translation software, multi-lingual signage, or other language services as necessary.

3. News Releases (Video News Release, Press Releases, etc.)

• A press kit must be compiled to encourage national and international coverage for each WPI event. The press kit could contain these items:

1. Reference to the web site (www.worldpeaceart.org)
2. Written statements
3. Video footage
4. Other promotional material e.g. T-shirts badges.

• Prior to the WPI event, all the newspapers and any PR agency in- or outside the area (including art critics, art magazines such as Art in America, Flash Art, etc., radio, TV, and other media) must be notified and invited to visit the installation site.
• A press release including written materials and a video news release will be mailed so as to be delivered fifteen days (or with adequate notice) prior to the event.
• A database of physical and electronic addresses must be compiled months before the event.
• A live electronic broadcast of the event will be advertised so that on the opening date people can log on to the WPI web page and experience the event in real time. This would require an Ethernet line, Microsoft's Net Meeting software, and a video feed from the site installation.

4. Documentation: Video

• WPI will generate a documentary video as a promotional and educational tool
• It should encapsulate the program's initiative in a manner readily understood by the public. It's an organizational tool to help individuals, communities, and organizations quickly understand the essence of WPI. It should showcase the inspirational following of the Albion community model witnessed during our residency there.

5. Educational Kit/Relationships with Schools (See Educational Skills, item # 11).

• The involvement of schools is seen as an important component of the WPI. To encourage the participation of schools, it is proposed that an information kit is made that informs school of WPI activities and areas where planned activities can compliment school curriculum.

6. Spokespeople

• Spokespersons are the first line of contact the WPI would have with the public. The spokespersons are image shapers. They need to be well informed about the local site and also about WPI activities globally.
• Each country's site may need to establish an Authority (e.g., The Norway WPI Authority or the Italy WPI Authority) which will control the selection of spokespeople for each site.
• The spokesperson could then control what information goes to the public. He or she could speak at press conferences and to the media as well as do recruiting of volunteers and help spread the WPI idea by speaking to school groups, organizations, etc.
• The spokesperson(s) should be articulate people (and perhaps multilingual) with good communications skills.
• A well known or celebrity spokesperson may be able to help us get the WPI message out effectively, but we would need to consider whether that person was affiliated with groups, causes, or personal conduct that would present any conflict with WPI goals.

7. Possible Promotional Venues: Airlines, Movie Theaters

• To cover all aspects of publicity it is recommended that cinema houses be targeted. A short ad could be shown before a film. Also, major airlines could be targeted for inclusion in an in-fight program or to be included in airline magazine.

8. Alignment with Existing Organizations (world peace orgs., rotary, etc.)

• It may be advisable to work at times in tandem with or otherwise to align WPI initiatives with like-minded organizations such as rotaries, school groups, nursing homes, world peace organizations, Doctors without Borders, etc.

9. Mailing List (Government, Education, VIP)

• We will need to compile mailing lists of several types: for events invitations, of artists and work crews, of donors, for in-kind & monetary solicitations, of people we need for permit applications, or perhaps others. We will need e-mail and fax numbers, too.

World Peace Initiative: Position Paper

• Design Recommendations
• Public Relations
• Logistics and Operations
• Educational Recommendations
• Educational Objectives--Composed by Albion, Michigan, USA area educators