Communications/Public Relations/Marketing

A Regional Tribal College

What is Communication? Information is sent from a sender or encoder to a receiver or decoder

Could be the most important thing you do to be successful

What is Public Relations? One of the earliest definitions of PR was coined by Edward Bernays. According to him, "Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”

What is Marketing? Marketing, as suggested by the American Marketing Association, is "an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders"

Starting from Scratch Know your tribal college history

Know the direction of college

Know the priorities

What is the personality of your college?

Mission Statement Mission Statement:

One sentence statement of the goals and mission of your tribal college

“Through education, Northwest Indian College promotes indigenous self-determination and

knowledge.”

Create your PR/Marketing Plan Basic parts of the

PR/Marketing Plan1. Brainstorm Your Messages2. Brainstorm your target audience3. Brainstrom how you can get your

message to your target audience

The Message Definition of “The Message”:

Core ideas, statements and information you want to convey: Tell YOUR Story

No matter what, your goal is to get your message out there

Think of it as a short, to-the-point Instant Message or Email to your audience

Free vs. Paid Messaging Free Messaging

Public Relations

•Target Audience Networking or working with “connectors”•Reporters/gate keepers networking•Events•Creating/Updating your website•Press Conference

Free vs. Paid Messaging Paid Messaging

Marketing•Paid Advertising•Creating an event to get your message out

The Art of Free Press Public Relations is an art form

Building Relationships with Gatekeepers

Creating the “Bang” Creating a good press release Pitching the story

Public Relations As An Art News stories/Messaging

Either you love it, hate it or don’t care

Need to take time to think about your strategy

Need to put resources behind it Think with the visual person or target audience in mind

Building Relationships Networking is the heartbeat of PR Create your contact sheet: key name(s), phone numbers, email addresses

Use the contact numbers you have STAY CONNECTED Set your calendar by it

Create the “Bang” Reporters/Gatekeepers have hundreds of emails a day

Separate your story from the rest How is your group, unique from others

Events Photo Opportunites

Press Releases Appetizers for most media representatives

Basics of a Press Release: by-line, date, the message, quotable, contact information

Outside-the-box ideas: connect with a national story, always have a picture, connect with your website

Pitch the Story Set up time with your media contact Remember, not every story is a story

Talk about the story, the uniqueness of it…SELL IT!

30 minutes to sell your stories, make it quick, but illustrative

Isolate the story

The Media Never Sleeps Always looking for “the story of the year”

When things get “interesting.” Never Lie Always Communicate Something Use credible sources Stay on message

What is Branding? A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme.

Strategize for 2007 If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

PR/Marketing ALWAYS gets lost in the translation

Define your communication style: Intentionally transparent, accidently transparent or not transparent

Have fun!

Aaron Thomas www.nwic.edu 2522 Kwina Road, Bellingham WA 98226

Athomas@nwic.edu (360)392-4211

Hyshqe siam e ne schaleche siam! Thank you!