Congress 2007 was an overwhelming success in terms of media coverage -- more than 13 million exposures through more than 160 newspaper radio and television pieces.
"Never before has a Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences had such strong response from so many media outlets," said Caitlin Kealey, Communications Officer for the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The groundwork was laid by an extremely successful Federation tour of national media outlets in Toronto. The Federation also worked with Montreal’s Le Devoir to arrange for a supplement on Congress.
Back in Saskatoon, the Congress Communications Committee began to implement its strategic communications plan for Congress promotion and media coverage which included arranging for a special 12-page StarPhoenix supplement, targeted story pitches to numerous media outlets in the lead-up to Congress, billboards, ads on buses, a Globe and Mail ad, and lining up numerous interviews.
An opening reception featuring Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert and Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison and the opening of the U of S Innovation gallery http://www.usask.ca/research/100yrsinnovation/index.php by Advanced Education Minister Pat Atkinson garnered media coverage. Local media outlets – print, radio and TV – responded with tremendous coverage of the eight-day event. The StarPhoenix ran several stories each day on Congress presentations.
The Congress press room team, directed by Kealey with support from U of S research communications, put out daily news releases and was inundated with more than 360 requests from media for interviews with researchers and speakers. Accredited media included reporters from the National Post, the Globe and Mail, CBC radio and television, the APTN (Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network), the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, CTV, Inroads, Academic Matters, University Affairs, Global TV, Planet 'S', The Sheaf, and On Campus News.
For the first time, the Globe and Mail sent out two reporters to cover Congress and gave prominent play to the stories. Journalist Michael Valpy interviewed many U of S Aboriginal researchers for a major news feature story and colleague Elizabeth Church highlighted Saskatoon’s economic boom. The National Post ran Congress stories almost daily.
CBC Radio broadcast both its Saskatchewan Morning Show and its flagship national show The Current, hosted by veteran journalist Anna-Maria Tremonti who was also a Congress breakfast speaker, from Saskatoon.
The U of S internal community and key external stakeholders were kept informed of Congress planning progress through the "Road to Congress" newsletter http://www.usask.ca/research/communications/congressnewsletter.php, the U of S home page, and by articles in On Campus News and items in Research News. During Congress, the whole campus was kept informed of daily events through the Congress webcast created by the Division of Media and Techology.
The Government of Saskatchewan provided funding for a Congress ad in the Globe and Mail newspaper and agreed to co-sponsor the Innovation Gallery to showcase U of S research, scholarly and artistic work during Congress and the U of S Centennial year.