Feature
January 12, 2010Public Affairs, Advocacy, and the Digital Frontier
Following a successful showing in May 2009, the Harris School hosted another public policy, advocacy, and communications executive education course for national, state and local organizations.
Held in November at the Gleacher Center in the University of Chicago’s downtown campus, “Winning Strategies for Public Affairs and Advocacy Campaigns” was taught by Ron Gibbs, president of National & International Public Affairs Consulting and an adjunct professor at the Harris School. The one-day seminar looked at how organizations can re-evaluate their communications strategies, and assess their feasibility of developing and winning advocacy campaigns in an increasingly digital world.
“It’s a new era of communication and the whole issue of social networking strategies now is a tactical tool to build your base and get your message out there,” Gibbs says. “You’re going to be remiss unless you get into the game.”
The program was attended by a wide range of nonprofit and business organizations from Alzheimer's Association to Baxter International. In addition to covering the fundamentals of messaging, Gibbs highlighted the growing need for organizations to respond swiftly when “things become viral” online, citing the Twitter feeds from Iranian protesters last June as an example.
Gibbs knows all sides and sectors of communication strategies. He worked for top public relations firms Edelman and Fleishman-Hillard, as well as NGOs like Feeding America and UNICEF. In the public realm, Gibbs served as a senior advisor to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, a congressional fellow in the U.S. House and Senate, and held a policy position at the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Jackie Mitchell, director of marketing and communications at American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, attended both of the Harris School’s advocacy seminars and says Gibbs’ expertise in messaging is crystal clear.
“It was very nuts and bolts,” she says. “The direction he was giving was just so on target with what works in the field and laid it out in a road map that makes sure you really don’t miss a step when you’re trying to do advocacy work.”
The November seminar also featured guest speakers like Sam Sebastian, director of local B2B markets at Google Inc., who presented trends in online advertising, and the Obama presidential campaign’s Internet marketing strategists Andrew Bleeker and Michael Organ, who talked about how they utilized the Web to get more than 13 million e-mail addresses for their grassroots effort during the 2008 election.
Mitchell said she walked away from the seminar challenged by the presentations and excited about incorporating new ideas into future Red Cross campaigns to help vulnerable communities.
“I actually found that the one-day training really reignited my passion for advocacy and nonprofit work,” she explains, adding that attending Harris School’s May seminar was influential in her choice to join the Red Cross staff. “It reminded me how powerful an advocacy campaign could be even if it’s only created by three or four individuals.”
By Steven Yaccino
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