A. A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR THE CONGRESS

1.Communications - a last minute cry for help

The facts

The Congress as whole had already been planned, the Committees had been created and work had started on immediate preparations: and only then did we think about communication.

The situation

It was the end of May 1997.
There were only four months before the Congress (29 September) including the Summer break.
Preparation for the Congress had begun in January 1996.

Conclusion

In Communication, like sales, you have to think things through right from the beginning, that is to say, you must start to sell the product before you begin production. (For example: community involvement in a general or local chapter, awareness and existence of a document or circular from the Superior General, shared spiritual significance of canonization, the start of a management plan...).

2.From the demand for "Press Releases" to a "Communications Plan"

Requirement:

The communications media were called upon to make a contribution to the Congress in the following, or similar, terms: We need a good Press Office to issue releases to the media. Just a minute: let’s consider whether we really need it and if it can be done.

Which media will publish releases about religious life? i.e. are the media interested in religious life?
What prominence will they give to the releases?
Who will read the releases that are published?
Why not re-think the whole thing?

The choice of total communications: a communications plan.

A question about choice: Press releases for the mass media? Or think of the whole Congress in terms of communication?
Choice: think of the whole Congress in terms of communication.
Requirement: an integrated communications plan.

3.Main challenges to be faced by the communications plan

Think about the general purpose of the event:

How do you young people envisage and plan religious life in the future? That was the question on which the Congress was based. But be careful:

- "envisage and plan" means participation, involvement, freedom...
- "in the future": the future demands horizons, sensitivity and being open to new ideas, being modern...

Think about the nature and circumstances of the event:

Sharing and exchange of opinions and experiences of religious life are more important here than theory;

It will be a very big assembly; Where will it take place? in Rome: don’t forget the numerous connotations that implies: both positive and negative; in a large hotel: so, in a non-clerical, non-ecclesiastical environment. Who is it meant for? One or more target groups?

The participants in the Congress will be:

Young (and not, for example, Superiors General); Men and women together; From all over the world; Of all kinds of charism and sensitivity; Gathered in single large hall. Members of religious institutions (male and female): a great many institutions (over 1300), scattered throughout the world, immersed in their own immediate concerns. Public opinion of the Church and society at large.

Different aims for different target groups:

For the young people taking part: to encourage the maximum possible participation (both in quantity and quality), whether through meetings or dialogue, in shared testimony and in commitment to following up the Congress. For the religious institutions: to stimulate the sense of belonging to the consecrated life, to mobilize co-operation between religious; a practical example of use of communication. For public opinion (of Church and society): to bring religious life to society (in terms of public opinion) and project a fitting image (in line with vocation, commitment to the Church and the world, with modernity, with youth...)

Think ahead! to Before, During and After the Congress:

What happens at the Congress, that is, during the event and its physical preparation, consumes the greatest part of our energies.

But we also need to think about before the Congress in terms of communication: much of what happens at the event depends on the public expectations raised, either amongst direct participants or those who will follow it in the media.

And much more! We must think about what happens after the Congress: how to guarantee as far as possible the continuation and long-term effects of the event.

4.The Communications Plan for the Congress

We envisaged three levels to ensure quality and full communications coverage:

Media to create the atmosphere of meeting and sharing, belonging to the group and the group image in relation to others (church and society): for example: Congress logo and motto, music - hymn, decoration of the Congress environment (reception, main hall, meeting rooms...), items which would single out those attending the Congress (backpack, scarf, stickers, posters, etc..).

Information to provide full and detailed awareness of the event: documents, news, opinions (from inside or outside the Congress, through our own or other media).

Participation and involvement of those sharing in the event (internal and external): groups, debates, transmissions to the outside.

Criteria for putting the plan into practice:

Always look at it as a whole: no improvisation allowed. Don’t get lost in details but respond to the overall plan which has been envisaged:

But each project has a precise aim: always be sure of the ends you need to achieve, i.e. what you want to communicate and to whom. The rest will be organized around these two requirements:

Look after the external image: it’s like the front of the house, always exposed to view.

Make news: "news doesn’t exist, you have to make it". Beware of possible distractions (football matches, world events, tragedies, unforeseen events...).

The team; overall co-ordination: communication is the result of work by many people who are perfectly co-ordinated; communication doesn’t take place alongside the rest of the organization - it is a service to everyone and criss-crosses the whole organization.

5. Internet - a key point in the Communications Plan

From the long list of ideas the Communications Team planned for the Congress, let’s look at just one as innovative, powerful and meaningful for communication now and in the future of what the Congress is doing: our Internet site.

The Congress has its own web page: with approx. 5000 electronic pages (text, photos, video, music...); an address: http://www.vidimusdominum.org.