March 2010

We are looking for a speaker for CPRS-VI’s AGM at the end of May. Is there someone you’ve heard of that you’d recommend? Is there a topic that may be top of mind for you? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Please send any suggestions to president@cprs-vi.org.

In This Issue

• President's Message
• Olympic Games Unite Province in PR Strategy
  
• Island Outreach
• Happenings at CPRS-VI
• Celebrating Successes
• For Your Information

President's Message

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By Steve Hutchings

For two weeks in February, the world reveled in the Winter Games, with all eyes focused on Vancouver. While the world partied and watched Vancouver and Whistler, you’d be forgiven if you were an Olympic viewer and didn’t realize that there is more to British Columbia beyond the Lower Mainland. That however, could change very soon.

Victoria’s Olympic PR strategy focused on media relations before and after the Games. According to Tourism Victoria, the city sensed from the moment that Vancouver won the Olympic bid that the Games were about Vancouver. Not wanting to detract from Vancouver’s moment, Tourism Victoria decided to work with Vancouver in putting on the events leading up to the Games, knowing that the payoff would occur several years down the road.

“We worked hard to put on that amazing first day of the torch relay,” says Helen Welch, VP of Marketing and Communications with Tourism Victoria. “The result was over 260 million people watching our city.”

Welch says it was the media attention from the Olympic Torch relay that garnered attention from the big four American TV networks, and NBC in particular, who produced and aired an episode of The Today Show during the Games. Welch feels that NBC has one of the strongest and most loyal audiences in the United States. All of which translates into tourists – lots of them – pouring into our city.

“I would be shocked if we don’t see growth over the next five years,” she says.

For its part, the City of Kamloops used its sport training facilities to attract international training teams. Team China trained extensively at the city’s speed-skating facility and the Austrian Ski team practiced close by at Sun Peaks Resort. Lee Morris, CEO of Tourism Kamloops, says that the city invested in the area’s infrastructure to enable the city to broadcast High Definition television signals.

“We absolutely had to have HD footage of the teams training in Kamloops,” she says, “partly to parlay the area’s natural beauty.” The strategy behind this being ‘you saw your Olympic team training here, now come and visit Kamloops when the Olympics have ended.’ The strategy is beginning to pay off, says Morris, noting that the city has received inquiries from the German media about local wildlife images broadcasted before the Games.

Much like its counterpart in Victoria, Tourism Kamloops recognized from the beginning that the Winter Games were Vancouver’s moment in the spotlight. Kamloops’ approach to the Games, says Morris, was to focus on before and after the Games. The city did not have a physical presence at the Canadian pavilion.

“I believe the benefit from the Games is to the province as a whole.”

Now that the Games have ended and provincial bean counters are reviewing the bills, it will be interesting to see how the Winter Olympics impact the province for the next few years. If Vancouver Island and Central BC are any indication, the Games have already been a success, in that they generated worldwide attention to our little corner of the world, and have positioned the province for a tourism windfall. The Games were considered an investment, and an entertaining one at that.

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For your information…

Spread the Word, Reap the Reward

This month we’re raising awareness for CPRS National’s Member Referral Program, which rewards you for referring other public relations professionals to join CPRS. In recognition of your contribution to the growth and viability of the Society, CPRS will credit you $50 for any applicant who obtains full membership as the result of your referral. You can apply your rewards to any national program, including accreditation application, awards applications, national conference registration, or member renewal fees.

It’s simple – you refer a friend, colleague or acquaintance in the public relations industry to join CPRS. Once they are welcomed as a full national member within any CPRS Member Society, you receive a $50 credit that can be applied toward your accreditation application, awards applications, national conference registration, or member renewal fees. You must ensure the applicant lists you as the referring member.

Direct your prospective referral to CPRS National to apply online today.

Some restrictions apply.

Celebrating Successes

Second Lunch and Learn of 2010 Sold Out in Advance!

Thanks to everyone who attended the Lunch and Learn on Communications and Marketing on March 2. It was a sold-out event, with much gleaned from presenter John Morton’s presentation. If you attended the session and would like to receive John's slides, please email CPRS-VI Professional Development Chair Shannon Drew-Burrows at ProD@cprs-vi.org. Hope to see you at the next Pro-D session on April 15.


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