Public Relations Campaign

Prepared for Adam Butler

Prepared by:

Peter Williamson Christine Blosser

Jessica Satterwhite Lauren Doherty

DJ Bennet Brian Post

Kassie Carlson

 Journalism  312  

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Table of Contents Identify Client………………………………………………………………………..3 Figure 1: Evaluation Plan……………………………………………………….….6 Needs Assessment……………………………………………………………........7 Table 1: SWOT…………………………………………………….……………......8 Program Plan…………………………………………………………………….…14 Figure 2: Gaant Chart, Strategy & Tactics……………………………………16 Figure 3: Gant Chart, Long Term Plan………………………………………....17 Table 2: Line Item Budget……………………………………………………….18 Implementation…………………………………………………………………….18 References………………………………………………………………………….25 Appendix A – Résumés……………………………………………………………… Appendix B – Survey………………………………………………………………… Appendix C – Press Release………………………………………………………… Appendix D – Power Point Presentation…………………………………………..

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Identify Client Types of PR Campaigns

• Political Campaign: candidate or issue oriented • Commercial Campaign: promote a company’s new product or service • Reputation Campaign: “image campaign” aimed at improving how a

company or nonprofit organization is perceived by its’ publics • Educational or Public Awareness Campaign: conducted by nonprofit or

advocacy group • Social Action Campaign: advocate a social issue or cause

Our Campaign: Our campaign for Poly Fly Fishers primarily fits into the “public awareness” category. The goal is to foster interest, gain membership, and build a core team; therefore, this also--somewhat--falls into the commercial grouping. Information Gathering Process Background Research Campaign Client Poly Fly Fishers was established in May 2011, as a Cal Poly independent student organization. Poly Fly Fishers represents Trout Unlimited as San Luis Obispo Chapter 928. Trout Unlimited is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people (Who are We?, 2011). The chapter is open to both Cal Poly students and the public. They currently 30 have active members. The yearly membership fee is $17.50 for new members and $30.00 for returning members. Last year, the chapter hosted monthly meetings which included casting clinics, fly-tying lessons, creek cleanup days, conservation plans, and guest speakers.

The Client Adam Butler, Chapter President Phone: (760) 920-8667 E-mail: polyflyfishers@gmail.com Mission Statement/ Company Goals

• Expose Cal Poly students and community to the joy and art of fishing • To Conserve, protect, and enhance cold water fisheries on the Central

Coast as well as California • Provide funds to implement a gravel augmentation project on the central

coast • Increase membership to become an fundamental part of the conservation

community on the Central Coast

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Perceived Needs of Company

• Need to be able to gain interests/members to assist in restoration efforts • More funding available for educational trips

Perceived Needs of Publics

• Need to be able to gain interests/members to assist in restoration efforts • More funding available for educational trips

Perceived Publics

• Fly fisherman • Parks and recreation • Sports fishermen • Outdoorsmen

Introduction Our campaign will focus on gaining awareness and increasing member count for the Poly Fly Fishers Chapter. The more members in the group will enable Poly Fly Fishers to participate in casting clinics, fly-tying lessons, creek cleanup days, conservation plans, and guest speakers. Through the activities of the club, members will conserve, protect, and enhance cold-water fisheries on the Central Coast as well as California as a whole. A major goal of the group this year is to raise funds for gravel augmentation project for nearby Central Coast streams and rivers in an effort to conserve the natural environment.

Foreseeable complications Foreseeable complications include low member turnout, thus resulting in less funds available for critical club activities. Project Discussion Requirements The opportunity for Poly Fly Fishers is to become not only a well recognized club on Cal Poly’s campus, but to gain respect as a committed conservation club on the Central Coast. Problem Due to a lack of awareness amongst both Cal Poly students and members of the community, Poly Fly Fishers lacks membership and funding Solution Develop a public relations campaign plan for the club in order to increase membership interest, gain campus and community awareness and gain funding for club expansion, projects and education.

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Research In order to determine target audiences, different forms of surveys need to be created and conducted at various locations and times. These may include:

• Farmer’s Market • CAFES classes • ROTC classes • University Union • Dexter’s Lawn • Mustang Daily (have a survey written in addition to the article and have

an incentive for students to complete and turn in the survey)

Detailed Analysis Steps Develop flyer content and design

• Plan a schedule to strategically pass out flyers on campus and at Farmer’s Market

• Determine which local companies would be willing to have club information available in stores and/or online

• Discuss the possibility of seeking out local sponsors • Discuss potential awareness events that benefit both the club and its

efforts • Contact the Mustang Daily to have an article created to raise campus

awareness and interest • Create a survey to be passed out in all potentially interested CP major

classes (CAFES)

The advantage of this approach is that it is totally comprehensive. This approach covers all of the areas of both Cal Poly and the local community in order to achieve maximum exposure. Approach The approach will be to determine which methods/ steps are most important and will be most effective, and to develop a detailed, attainable plan of action. Proposed Project Outline October 20: Create a logo to represent Cal Poly Fishermen’s Chapter

• Create a poster to invite the public to the chapters’ upcoming meeting. October 27: Farmers Market Casting Clinic and Fly-tying demos.

• Generate awareness • Recruit potential members to upcoming meeting • Raffle off fly-rod

November 2: First Chapter Meeting

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• Recruit 10 new members • Vote on an end of the year trip location

November 12: Trout in the classroom • Educate the youth

December 3: FISHERMAN'S EVE FUNDRAISER May: Poly Royal Booth, BBQ concession stand, Raise funds and awareness Qualifications and Experience of Project Staff Our project’s staff is filled with dedicated, goal-driven individuals. As a group, we have a wide range of experiences in the areas of event management and marketing. Each group member is a California Polytechnic State University student whom displays outstanding dedication to please and aid its client’s needs. As a group we strive to build the best relationship with our clients and accomplish this with our excellent teamwork and communication skills. We all have the desire to utilize our strengths in teamwork, personal initiative, and organization through each of our campaigns and which is one of the factors for our success as a group.

Evaluation Evaluation will allow our group to discover what we “think we know,” and what “we don’t know” (Guth & Marsh, 2011, p. 200). Our team’s evaluation process is ongoing and flexible according to the group’s needs. As time passes, we understand that the needs will develop and change. The latter is what we “don’t know” yet and will need to address.

Figure 1: Evaluation Plan

The first meeting is a perfect opportunity to collect data on where a PR campaign can provide additional assistance. After all, evaluation research is the

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“procedures for determining the success of a public relations plan--from the very beginning” (p. 203). A well-crafted survey can open additional insight for where our PR campaign can serve the Fly Fishers of Poly for the remainder of the quarter. After this point, we will monitor progress through interviews with Adam Butler and ongoing surveys of Poly Fly Fishers and related public. Next, “every public relations plan must achieve an impact that is measurable” (p. 205). For instance, if we convince a graphic communications student to create a logo, outside viewers should be assessed for input on that logos success. In this case, positive feedback will prove our campaigns success. The following chart illustrates our plan of action based on the scheduled events for the Poly Fly Fishers. This schedule is extremely tentative and will receive additional plans for the final draft. In general, surveys and interviews will show hard-copy results of our PR campaigns success. Measuring our success is the key to determining ongoing research for future impacts.

Budget The yearly membership fee is $17.50 for new members and $30.00 for returning members. Last year the chapter hosted monthly meetings, which included casting clinics, fly-tying lessons, creek cleanup days, conservation plans, and guest speakers.

Needs Assessment

PR Campaign Goal To inform the Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo communities of the opportunities available with the Poly Fly Fishers Target Audience We are targeting students as well as people in the community who are passionate about fishing, or at least want to be. We also are looking for older, wealthy people in the community who can help advise the club and hopefully give some financial backing. Both these audiences should value nature, as well as the purity and sanctity of the sport of fishing. These audiences will be concerned with where their money is going, and where and when the fishing will take place, as this is the point of the club. Challenges and Tasks The main issue with this new club is the lack of information about it in the community. Our task is to introduce this club and it’s mission to the university and city community and hopefully sign up some new members. Another challenge is lack of funds. Our task requires finding people in the community who can help the club financially as well as with leadership and experience.

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Poly Fly Fishers SWOT

Table 1: Poly Fly Fishers SWOT

Strengths Over Threats

• Experienced fly-fishing officers offer expertise, tips, and equipment to help beginning fishers in an expensive sport.

• Poly Fly Fishers will promote sustainability of the environment with catch and release policies and specific goals to aid in sustaining the fresh water ecosystems of the central coast.

• The goal-oriented, dedicated club officers will combat a number of ongoing changes (including the upcoming takeover of generation Z) through goals and objectives (such as attaining upcoming, high school graduates).

Opportunities Over Weaknesses

• Because SLO County has suitable (warm) weather all year-round membership and fishing won’t be limited to seasonable sign-up and participation. So Poly Fly Fishers can increase networks/memberships all year long.

• Veteran fly-fishers (a currently latent public) interested in the club will

Strengths (Internal - Maximize) Weaknesses (Internal – Minimize) Experienced fly-fishing officers Small network (few members) Sustainability minded Low budget Open to Poly, Cuesta, & Community Not an official Poly club Goal oriented team No current “awareness” campaign

(People don’t know about it) Dedicated/passionate team members No website/digital ways to connect with

potential members Opportunities (External – Maximize) Threats (External - Minimize) Suitable weather year-round (year-around membership opportunities)

Expensive “sport” to start

Veteran fly fishermen with interest and money (to hire PR person)

Environmentalists

Various majors encourage relevant experience in their areas of expertise (ie. Marketing can aid in creating “awareness”)

Regulations on the sport of fly fishing (catch and release policies)

Technology age (Facebook, etc) So many other clubs already competing for the mass of students

No competing fly fishing clubs on the central coast

Generation Z will be less likely to go outdoors than previous generations

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help by investing mentorship time and money creating more public awareness. This change will change their label to an “intervening public.”

• Because club will be held on Poly campus, students from various majors can help create a campaign and use that as relevant work experience.

• Utilizing marketing tools such as Facebook and a website can help reach the club’s target audience in technology savvy society. Also, by using Facebook and a website the club can keep cost low while reaching a greater number of people (especially their target market).

• Since no competing fishing clubs exist at Cuesta or Poly, Poly Fly Fishers will stand apart from other clubs that compete for the same students. This will allow them to compete effectively against other clubs.

Client Interview The outcome of the client interview proposed that the PR campaign for Poly Fly Fishers focus on increasing awareness about the features that the club has to offer the community including conservation and education. Archival Research As a new club, Poly Fly Fishers does not have much experience or history to reference from; however, they have the potential to grow in the community. Clients History Adam Butler founded the Charter in May 2011. Adam Butler was born and raised in Bishop, California where he grew up fishing in the Eastern Sierra’s. He is a current student at Cal Poly State University majoring in Agricultural Systems Management. After he graduates in Junes he plans to further his education and get his master degree at UNR in Hydrology. Products/ Services

• Trout in the classroom: provide funding to allow an educational experience for grammar school kids to raise “fingerlings” (juvenile fish) and release them into local lakes once they reach a certain point of maturity.

• Creek Clean up days: Members are encouraged to participate in local conservation activities with the community.

• Neal Taylor Trout Unlimited Memorial Scholarship: an endowment scholarship in which a portion of interest accrued over a given year is awarded to an individual with a particular interest in fresh water fisheries.

• Fly Tying Demonstrations: Poly Fly Fishing members instruct students in fly tying tutorials from a basic midge pattern to advanced cadis patterns.

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• Trips: Poly Fly Fishers offer trips to vary locations within California. They offer lessons and guided trips for whoever wishes to join.

Management Poly Fly Fishers holds monthly officer meetings and a club meeting every other month. The current positions include:

• President: Adam Butler • Vice President: Jake Ogorman • Secretary: Heather Elingson • Treasurer: Ryan Bognuda • Membership Chair: Madeline McRacken

Mass Media Sources Looking at the demographics Poly Fly Fishers are hoping to reach out to (see #4), Poly Fly Fishers is looking towards the use of Facebook media to reach Cal Poly students. Having a Poly Fly Fishers club page on Facebook where students in or outside of the club can join will create a huge buzz of knowledge involving this group. The club can then post events they are having, such as club meetings for club members, or even fundraising opportunities for those supporting the club.. To reach the older, senior demographic, Poly Fly Fishers is looking to a marketing outlet such as being in a San Luis Obispo newspaper, or on a flyer at local places they would be such as coffee shops or some local antique shops. Identify Demographic Group or groups Poly Fly Fishers are looking at two key demographics for their group but for two very different reasons. Ploy Fly Fishers want to reach out to the generation Y (born 1982-2000) demographic (Kane, 2010), and even more specifically Cal Poly Students. Poly Fly Fishers does want to reach other San Luis Obispo Generation Y people, but first and foremost they want to make sure the word is out there to Cal Poly students, seeing as it is a Cal Poly generated club. The other demographic Poly Fly Fishers is trying to reach is the Seniors of San Luis Obispo. Poly Fly Fishers are looking into creating a sort of advisory council including the elderly fly fishers of SLO. Generation Y Shopping Habits Generation Y likes to keep up with the latest trends and enjoy buying designer products. Economically more optimistic, and have positive outlook on future in times of prosperity. Focus on innovative, high-tech products. High levels of brand awareness, and aware of their purchasing influence among peers. Media Habits Generation Y is very tech savvy, since they have grown up surrounded by technology. They are constantly connected and use this type of media as their

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main news source. These type of technologies include: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, etc. Incorporate the net into everyday life in order to remain hip, cool, trendy opinion leaders. Comfortable with fragmented media segments when it comes to latest technologies Attitudes, Beliefs, and Opinions Generation Y has more liberal views concerning society and thrive on forming their own opinions, don’t like to be told what to do or believe. They are content with their lives and are optimistic about the future. They are very hard working, with an emphasis on independence and individuality. Finally, the have very little existing knowledge of fly-fishing. Baby Boomers Shopping Habits Baby Boomers spend most money on luxury goods and travel in America. Not fanatically loyal to brands, but focus on prices and consistency, as well as quality, customer service, and quality Media Habits Boomers rely heavily on word of mouth advertising and viral marketing, passing knowledge onto friends and family. Content is king and localization of product is increasingly important Email is most popular online tool for boomers. Attitudes, beliefs, and Opinions Ninety percent of Baby Boomers say they have plenty of time for recreation, while 79% have hobbies they plan on devoting time to during retirement (Jensen & Guthrie, 2006). Boomers are concerned about scaling back spending during retirement in fear of outliving savings. Express confidence in self-reliance while retired, but fear leaving the workforce. Very little existing knowledge of fly-fishing, but have time to learn. They are a latent public. Questions

• How important is club involvement for one's college experience at Cal Poly?

• How many clubs do you actively participate in? • What clubs are they? • How did you become involved in them? i.e. emails, flyers, Facebook,

word of mouth, fairs, etc. • Have you ever heard of Poly Fly Fishers? • Have you ever been fly fishing? Do you know what it is? • Is this a club that sounds interesting to you? Why? • Would you prefer to go on fly fishing trips, assist in

conservation/protection projects, or both? • Do you like doing activities in clubs that help a cause or promote good

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things for the planet and mankind? Why? • What communication/media/attention grabber channel do you most

respond to? • Would you become involved in this club without an incentive (t-shirts,

free food, etc.)? Do you think others would? • In your opinion, what is the number one cause of a club's success and/or

failure? Responses The responses listed reflect summarized group members’ views and opinions 1.)

• Club involvement is not vital to one’s college experience • Club involvement is crucial because it gives students the opportunity to

grow and network 2.)

• I am not involved in any clubs • I am involved in one (1) or two (2) clubs

3.) • RPTA Club • American Marketing Association, • Fraternity

4.) • I became involved through class announcements, emails, CP’s website,

Facebook and word of mouth. 5.)

• No, I had not heard of the club prior to meeting with the client 6.)

• No, I have never fly fished, but I know someone well who is passionate about it and therefore I am aware of some techniques of fly fishing

• No, I have never fly fished, but my football coach was passionate about it and incorporated aspects of the sport in our football practices

7.) • Yes, I enjoy backpacking and believe it would enhance my experiences • No, I am not interested in fly fishing • It does sound interesting because I've never heard of it and I'm always up

for something new • Yes! The serenity of being in nature is relaxing and fishing is a way to pass

the time 8.)

• I would prefer just the fly-fishing trips • I am not interested • I would prefer to do both • Yes, as long as the club’s values line up with mine and time permits me to

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9.)

• Not usually, because I don't have time. I believe that as stewards of the planet that we should contribute in every way possible though.

• Yes, it should become the focus of all institutions these days • Yes, I feel that there needs to be a change in they way people treat the

environment and love participating in activities to help out the planet. • Yes, but must see actual results of my activity in the group

10.) • Facebook

11.) • I'd need free lessons (after paying my membership fee). Free food would

be a great incentive... Without the right draws, I wouldn't attend. Also, I think most people are on that level of thinking... "What's in it for me?" Often, college students are looking for the free food and a fun time.

• Yes if I like the topics • I feel people really respond to t-shirts, so yes, I think people would be

involved if there were t-shirts and also free food. • Yes, if I’m interested in fishing then I would have no problem going to the

group; especially if I have friends in the club as well 12.)

• There's no other club like it, that's a positive thing. In addition, they are open to members beyond Cal Poly.

• Having active members • Not enough promotion and I feel clubs who succeed are one's that offer

good incentives and also have fun/exciting meetings and trips. • Success in the sense that member involvement stays consistent and active

members are going fishing and making a difference in the environment; failure is low member involvement

Field Observation When our group met with the client to gather further info regarding Poly Fly Fishers and our desire to develop a successful public relations plan for the club, our ideas and enthusiasm were well received by our client. He shared a more passionate perspective of what he envisions for the club’s future success and has some fantastic ideas for its’ expansion. Despite these positive aspects, our client did demonstrate a lack of organization and true brainstorming efforts in the area of a strategic club development plan and detailed tactics. This field observation was crucial in order to fully understand our client on a personal/business level and have a clearer picture of the future process of making Poly Fly Fishers a great success.

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Quantitative Research: In order to generate information regarding our target market, as a group we created a survey. With our survey we created a group on Facebook so students from Cal Poly had the opportunity to take our survey. This allowed us to get information from many students ranging from different majors, grades, and interests. As a group, we can use this information in order to determine what the best way to reach our publics and be able to fulfill their needs.

Program Plan General Plan Our overall approach to promoting the Poly Fly Fishers is to portray the club as a unique and desirable club to join. Simultaneously, we need to strategize a foundation for the future of the club’s leadership. Our plan is to target current Cal Poly clubs, majors, and teachers that are already involved in similar outdoor, conservation activities. In addition, we will begin implementing a strategic plan to establish a core team and club foundation. Strategy Statement We hope to achieve this objective by creating marketing/promotional documents to attract Cal Poly students and the surrounding San Luis Obispo community; in addition, we hope that the current members of the club become enthusiastic about its endeavors and assist in further promotion of the club and its many offerings. Rationale for the Actions & Program Components Our rationale for the components planned for the club will start by acknowledging its current members/officers to ignite a new passion. This foundation is the crucial first step. It will lead to more voices, “word of mouth”, more club news, and attracting attention and new members. Therefore, the creation of a variety of marketing/promotional documents is necessary. This is an opportunity for current members to support and illustrate their excitement for the club; while simultaneously creating awareness of other students throughout campus and in the community. Key Messages/Themes Messages Cal Poly students and members of the community, upon seeing any/all promotion documents, shall take away a message that illustrates the club was established for those passionate about nature, animals, conservation of the Earth’s resources, and to have a relaxing, fun time. The message should be one of excitement and interest in pursuing a unique experience in nature. Themes The overarching ideas that apply to all of the club’s audiences include:

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Mother Nature has many fun, exciting opportunities to provide conservation efforts and an appreciation for nature’s beauty and precious, natural resources is the trend of tomorrow and the future fly fishing is a fun sport that anyone and everyone can enjoy. There exists a special bond between people when a unique experience in nature occurs. Experiencing adventure in the outdoors builds character. Overview The club has just been formed, so it is in dire need of social awareness. A public relations program is perfect for Poly Fly Fishers. There isn’t much public knowledge about the club, and these programs are designed to distribute information. The club is in need of members, donations, and experienced fly fishers. A well-designed publicity campaign can help deliver information about the club throughout the area. Eventually, it will help Poly Fly Fishers Club reach their goals. Audience (or Publics) Our audiences are those people whom Poly Fly Fishers are trying to reach in the San Luis Obispo Community. Poly Fly Fishers wants two different audiences to be reached: those to join and Fly Fish, and those to be a part of the Poly Fly Fisher’s advisory council. Poly Fly Fishers wants to create an advisory council of members in the community whom have been fly fishing for a long time. Those whom can come to the Fly Fishing Club and give advise to those members, as well as sponsor some of their events. Poly Fly Fishers are looking towards senior citizens to be the Poly Fly Fisher’s Advisory Council. In seeking actual club members, Poly Fly Fishing is looking for San Luis Obispo residents within Generation Y (born 1982-2000). While Poly Fly Fishers want to reach out to those in the San Luis Obispo community, they specifically want to make sure to focus on reaching Cal Poly students first. Therefore, we are reaching out to an audience of seniors, and Generation Ys. Informational Objectives

• To hold monthly group meetings to create favorable attitudes among more than 50% of both active and inactive members by December 12, 2011

• To increase attendance of the monthly Poly Fly Fishers meetings by 15%

through producing monthly newsletters and creating an active blog for the club by December 17, 2011

• To recruit 15 potential members between the ages of 18-25, live in San Luis

Obispo County, and who will attend one Poly Fly Fishers clinic. At the clinic members will be prepared to communicate the club’s goals for the upcoming quarter between November 4, 2011 and December 17, 2011

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Motivational Objectives • To improve communication between officers and members by creating a

calendar which will include all volunteer opportunities, club meetings, clinics, and demonstrations offered that month by November 12, 2011

• To create a strategic plan for the “Fishmas Eve” event at the next Poly Fly Fishers meeting on November 13, 2011

Established Timeline Gaant Chart This section will outline our team’s order of implementation and outline Poly Fly Fisher’s long-term goals. As the key above indicates, blue boxes note our time lines to conduct and implement the campaign, and red boxes are events or goals created by Poly Fishers (which parallel our goals and objectives). RED: Poly Fly Fishers Deadline BLUE: Journalism 312 Deadline

Figure 3: Strategy & Tactics

17OCT-23OCT

24OCT-30OCT

31OCT-06NOV

07NOV-13NOV

14NOV-20NOV

21NOV-27NOV

28NOV-30NOV

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DEC JAN MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY

Tactics A course of action was planned to implement strategies and achieve objectives. To gain awareness for the fundraising dinner, there will be a news release, while activities such as a silent auction and raffle will raise money for the Poly Fishers. To further promote the club a street team will be present at Farmers Market giving flyers to locals and Cal Poly students. Next, we will develop a poster for Cal Poly’s campus, to catch students’ attention. Finally, we want different campus departments to send e-mails with club information, so we can reach a wide range of students. We feel these strategic actions will enable us to achieve our goals. Budget Our Client possesses a cash budget of $500. He outlined several items he would like do to help raise awareness for Poly Fly Fishers. He would like shirts for each officer with the club logo on it. Also, he emphasized officers need to become unified to ensure the continuation of the club after his graduation. In addition, he wants to build interest with younger members of the club. With these goals in mind, we have allocated at least $150 for an officer retreat. The retreat is yet to be determined. Anything over that initial $150 will be derived from the officers. Flyers will also be printed and placed around campus to help build visual awareness for the Poly Fly Fishers. Finally, an official logo will be created by a Graphic Arts major for the same price as the Nike logo was created (Brettman,

Figure  4:  Long  Term  Plan  

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2011).

Table 2: Line Item Budget

Starting Budget $500.00 Expenses

T-Shirts for Officers (24 shirts at $7.99)

$191.76

Officer Retreat (camping, fuel fees, etc.) $150.00 Flyers $50.00

Graphic Designer to Make Logo $25.00 Remaining Budget $83.24

Implementation

Media Contacts Not applicable. Media “Supportives” Media List Fly Fishing Magazine We have already been in contact with this magazine, but it will help Poly Fly Fishers in the future with exposure to their audiences. Being in a magazine specific to Fly Fishers means that Poly Fly Fishers will be able to reach the direct audience they want to speak to. Facebook Page There are over 800 million active users on facebook today and pages are becoming more a more popular. Having a facebook page, Poly Fly Fishers will be able to reach their direct young audience because those are the people who will “like” the page. Poly Fly Fishers will be able to use this media outlet to promote events, meetings, and other information to their young audience. Radio Radio is a great way for Poly Fly Fishers to reach their older audience members. Because the older generation they are trying to reach is not completely on board with social media, radio is still rather popular within their generation, therefore still a meaningful investment. Newspaper Newspapers are a great place for Poly Fly Fishers to place ads about their club or articles about events coming up or that have happened. This can reach both young and older audiences depending on the newspaper the ad is put into. This form of media is still popular amongst all ages, even with the new boom of social media. Therefore this is a good investment for Poly Fly Fishers.

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Media Tracking Not applicable. Press Release News Release (mock form) Get Away & Enjoy Life with Poly Fly Fishers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Adam Butler - Poly Fly Fishers (760) 920 8667 Polyflyfishers@gmail.com Facebook.com/groups/169166119772064 Poly Fly Fishers Poly Fly Fishers Club, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, December 7, 2011 Who: Poly Fly Fishers What: Fly Fishing Club When: Next meeting – December 12, 2011 Why: Love Fly Fishing! Come fly-fishing and learn about the fly-fishing industry with fellow fly-fishing enthusiasts! Next Tuesday 7pm come check out the Poly Fly Fishers and get involved the what you love most: fly fishing! Poly Fly Fishers # # # Marketing Activities Our main goal was to raise awareness of the club and ultimately boost membership. To accomplish this task we used flyers and word of mouth to attract potential members to club meetings. Adam, president of the club, would use his superior fly-fishing knowledge and social ability to keep potential members interested in returning to meetings. Ultimately, the goal was to inform members and related stakeholders about the 2011 Poly Fly Fishers Creek Cleanup Day at the Electro Fishing San Luis Creek (DFG). Event Activities As mentioned above, our event activity was the 2011 Poly Fly Fishers Creek Cleanup Day at the Electro Fishing San Luis Creek (DFG). Over 50 people attended, including existing members of the club, as well as new members. We also have other events outlined for the club such as: a farmers market booth, a WOW Booth, a Fisherman’s Eve Christmas party, and an exclusive officers getaway. The first three are great avenues to generate new membership; the latter, is to develop a core team. Some of this core team will continue the club after Adam leaves, so its’ important to make Poly Fly Fishers an important part

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of their lives. Adam is very passionate about this club and most likely will implement these activities in the future. Post Event Activities Post event activities include a follow up meeting in the upcoming weeks reviewing the creek cleanup, including a slideshow of pictures taken, pizza for members, and a short survey. This survey will be used to assess the needs of members—is the club meeting or falling short of expectations? Also mentioned above, booths will be placed on campus and/or downtown at farmers market to keep up interest in the club as well as raise more awareness for Poly Fly Fishers. Success will be determined in the coming months if membership and awareness has increased in the club. Crisis Communications Plan Identify A possible crisis that could theoretically happen to the club would be a member embezzling money from the budget. This would be considered a crisis because it would be unexpected, costly, and could bring unwanted attention to the club and possibly hinder the club’s relationship with trout international. Another potential crisis would be a serious injury or death during a club activity (such as creek cleanup day). The latter would create a more serious level of scrutiny from stakeholders. Strategy The Poly Fly Fishers has a relationship with Cal Poly clubs, so the first thing we would do with embezzlement issues is to conduct an internal investigation to find the perpetrator, and then send out a press release. Because our budget is so small, the money stolen would greatly affect what the club could do, so we would make sure to include that in the release as well as an apology to the members who’s money was stolen, with a promise to raise the money back and continue to push the Poly Fly Fishers to new heights in the future. In the event of a serious injury or death, Poly Fly Fishers will have an immediate first aid kit on site, and know where the closest hospital is located. Emergency contacts would be notified immediately after dialing 911. To avoid outrageous medical expenses to the club, which can’t afford it, all participants will always sign release of liability waivers. Committee Adam Butler and the club officers, as well as the Cal Poly personnel assigned to our club. Spokesperson Adam Butler.

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Monitor Media Attention We will pay careful attention to the Mustang Daily and other local newspapers to make sure no one is writing about the incident. If they are talking about the club in a negative light, then we will call a press conference to address the matter. If they are just stating facts and being neutral, we may plan a marketing effort to take advantage of the media attention and turn a negative into a positive. Ongoing Evaluation Throughout our effort to create attention to Poly Fly Fishers through a variety of communication channels, we often had to adjust and change our timeline to better meet the needs of the club, its’ current members, its’ potential members and the most important part: our event to truly create interest and excitement in the club. For example, our first planned meeting for the club was scheduled at an inconvenient time, the RSVP turnout was not high and the available/prepared information and data about the club was not sufficient to meet and maintain the interests of current and future club members. Therefore, the event we had planned for the club was also under-recognized because club members did not have full access to information about what exactly the event entailed. Therefore, as part of our ongoing evaluation of our public relations campaign plan, we created a flyer campaign to better notify current and potentially interested club members about the first meeting date and time, the meeting’s agenda, and the upcoming event. The flyer that we created and distributed throughout campus was interesting, colorful, and ultimately did the job that we wanted it to do: grab the attention of students (this flyer can be found in Appendix C—not in color). Our club meeting’s RSVP results and ultimate turnouts were reasonable and the attendees were satisfied with the information presented at the meeting. This was because our team created an agenda that combined information that we felt was key to attracting members. The event that we had originally envisioned was altered as needed and eventually became the 2011 Poly Fly Fishers Creek Cleanup Day at the Electro Fishing San Luis Creek (DFG). Our event turnout was great, with over 50 attendees that are fully vested in becoming active members of Poly Fly Fishers. Without an ongoing evaluation of our public relations campaign plan, necessary and beneficial changes would not have been made to fully create the best possible interest and excitement in Poly Fly Fishers. Summative Evaluation Our summative evaluation defines our team’s long-term plan for the consistent evaluation of the successes and failures of the Poly Fly Fishers club. We decided that the most effective method for analyzing Poly Fly Fishers would be through a survey of likert scale questions to create quantitative results. We created a short,

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yet effective, to-the-point survey for current and future members to take after key events. The regularity of this survey ensures that our team and the club are consistently meeting all needs, and in the case that we aren’t, it allows for our team and the club officers to make necessary improvements. Gaining insight into their target customers will allow Poly Fly Fishers to continue implementing successful programs. As mentioned previously, the survey consists of seven, scaled questions and an optional free response/commentary section. Each of these questions was thoughtfully created because we felt that each question’s responses will yield valuable positive and critical feedback. Amongst the seven questions that were created by our team, we critically analyzed all aspects of three questions: 1). There are a variety of fun, relevant events to attend, 2). The club officers are doing a good job advertising/marketing the club and its happenings to students on campus, 3). The meetings are informative and exciting. We felt that the first question was very important because the entire point of the club is to hold events that reflect the club’s goals, meet the club members’ goals, and demonstrate to the community that the club can, and does, have a positive impact. If the survey results reflect predominantly “Strongly Agree or Agree,” the team of club officers will know that club members are: receiving event information, excited about what they can do toward the cause, and creating great memories and developing camaraderie with fellow members and community attendees. On the other hand, if the results reflect “Neutral, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree”, then our team and the club officers need to hone in on what members wish to get out of the events, and will need to seek opinions and ideas from members about what programs are most beneficial and fun for the club to organize and execute. In analyzing the second survey question, we felt that this was a crucial question to get feedback on because without adequate and effective communication, the club will fail. With all of the “noise” on Cal Poly’s campus, there must be new and creative ways of reaching our current club members, but most importantly, of reaching potential club members. Therefore, our club officers must work hard to create flyers, Facebook updates, a website, newspaper articles, and more in order to fully utilize each channel of communication and reach as many publics as possible. If the survey results reflect “Strongly Agree or Agree”, then our team and the club officers will feel confident that their efforts to reach all interested audiences were successful and should be continued. In addition, this will allow future club officers to have a guideline for what methods of communication are most effective; this will ultimately allow for the club to prosper for years to come. However, if the results reflect more “Neutral, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree” responses, then there is a serious problem that needs to address. In order to solve this problem, an additional survey should be

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conducted asking participants to decided what channel they prefer. As mentioned previously, breaking through the “noise” of other flyers, articles, radio announcements, etc. is crucial for a club’s success. The third and final question that we felt was most critical to analyze is very important, because it reflects the most effective communication method and the fastest way to gain interested club members: word of mouth. Despite the advanced technological communication channels available to and utilized by current and potential club members, word of mouth holds its place as the heavy weight in effective communication. If current and newly joined club members are happy with the club, they will tell their friends, and the domino effect begins. Therefore, if the survey responses to this question are mostly positive, then our team and the club officers know that everything is being done right. This is because the ultimate recommendation to a friend entails that the sender is completely satisfied with the club goals, meetings, events, camaraderie, etc. The club having the “total package” is ultimate reassurance to our team and the club officers that we are doing everything correctly and should keep doing so. Knowing what the “total package” consists of will be crucially beneficial to future club officers and members. On the contrary, if survey participants don’t feel that they would recommend joining the club to their friends, then we have failed and we need to completely reassess the club’s efforts. Ultimately, the survey and various other summative evaluation techniques will be our condensed, yet effective method for collecting, analyzing and understanding the club’s effectiveness in pleasing club members, meeting the club’s goals. Program Strategy Successes/Failures Was the activity or program adequately planned? As mentioned above in our ongoing evaluation, our event, the 2011 Poly Fly Fish Creek Cleanup Day, was adequately planned and executed. Our flyers around campus adequately promoted the Creek Cleanup Day and over 50 attendees participated and are now ready to become active members for Poly Fly Fishers. Did the recipients of the message understand it? Yes, the recipients understood the message. The amount of interested participants who showed up to the Creek Cleanup Day was a great success and we feel that the intended recipients adequately understood our message. How could the program strategy have been more effective? We feel that one area of our program strategy could have been more effective if we’d utilized the different departments on campus. We feel if we reached out to new departments at Cal Poly, which may have an interest in Poly Fly Fishers, we could have passed our message along to more students through eBlasts.

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Were all the primary and secondary audiences reached? Unfortunately, not all primary and secondary audiences were reached. We hoped to reach interested departments at Cal Poly but were unsuccessful in reaching these particular audiences. We also failed to gather the seniors of the community with an interest in fly-fishing. This was a missed opportunity that may have resulted in networking between the generations. Measuring Goals and Objectives Was the desired goal achieved? Yes, our desired goal was achieved. As a new club, Poly Fly Fishers was in need of social awareness. Through our publicity campaign we were able to gain members for Poly Fly Fishers and we’re confident with our flyers and the resulting awareness of the club. Poly Fly Fishers will continue to grow in members in continuing similar programs. Were the instructional objectives achieved? Our instructional objectives were successfully achieved. Poly Fly Fishers wanted to hold monthly group meetings in order to create favorable attitudes for active and inactive members, and increase attendance of the monthly Poly Fly Fishers meetings by 15%, and recruit 15 potential members. With our campaign we were able to accomplish all of the instructional objectives and over exceeded our expectations in the short amount of time. The remaining question, will the new members stick around? Were the motivational objectives achieved? Our motivational objectives were also achieved. In creating more social awareness for Poly Fly Fishers, we motivated officers to improve on communication throughout the club. Not only did we successfully plan the Creek Cleanup but also we were able to help create a strategic plan for the “Fisherman’s Eve”, which was our last motivational objective. Unforeseen Circumstances Some unforeseen circumstances that took place during the process of the campaign included:

• There was a lack of member meetings. The meetings that did take place were very brief and did not set a specific agenda. This resulted in a lack of participation from members.

• Poly Fly Fishers are a charter, which put restraints on what they can and cannot advertise on campus. (Unable to compete in competitions between clubs on campus).

Budget Successes/Failures As of now, the budget has remained a success. Poly Fly Fishers spent $40 at the

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Creek Clean Up day for food and promotional materials. The Fishmas Eve will run completely by donations and members’ participation. Formative Evaluation One of Poly Fly Fishers future campaigns includes the Neil Young Scholarship foundation. This scholarship will be dedicated to a well-known fly-fisher who was active in the community and also taught fly fishing lessons at Cal Poly about five years ago. Mr. Butler has begun the process already. Cal Poly has approved him; however; a minimum of 5,000 dollars needs to be in the fund before the money can be distributed. A step that will also be taken within the next year will be the process of selecting a new chapter president. Mr. Butler will be graduating in June and has received a job at Trout Unlimited. His dream is to see Poly Fly Fisher to continue to succeed and remain the only Trout Unlimited Chapter affiliated with a University. Ultimately, he hopes to pass the club onto a developed predecessor who will continue to keep the club alive for years to come.

References Brettman, A. (2011, June 15). Creator of Nike's famed Swoosh remembers its

conception 40 years later [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.oregonlive.com/business

Guth, D., & Marsh, C. (2009). Public Relations, a Values Driven Approach (4th ed.). Pearson Edu. Inc. Jensen, C. R., & Guthrie, S. (2006). Outdoor Recreation in America (6th ed.).

(Original work published 1970) Kane, S. (2010). Generation Y. Retrieved from About website:

http://legalcareers.about.com/od/practicetips/a/GenerationY.htm Who are We? (2011). Retrieved October 29, 2011, from Trout Unlimited website:

http://www.tu.org/