Reports & Recommendations

Public Relations Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

January 25, 2007, 10:00 am - 3 pm

Central Massachusetts Regional Library System, Shrewsbury

Committee Members Present: John Arnold, Melissa Campbell, Janet Eckert, Susan Flannery, Elizabeth Fox, David Gray, Em Claire Knowles, Kathy Lowe, Rob Maier, Pat McLeod, Greg Pronevitz, Laurie Risler, Emily Salaun, Stephanie St. Laurence.

Absent: Alex Merceron, Charlotte Rabbit, Frank Sestokas

Others Present: Facilitators: Liz Isherwood and Pam Cleveland; Marketing Consultant Zamawa Arenas

Date for the next Advisory Committee meeting:

Monday, April 9, 2007 at 10:00 am. Location: to be determined

Proceedings

David Gray, Director of Communications & Public Information:

Meeting called to order at 10:00 am

Liz Isherwood, Facilitator:

Reviewed the minutes from November 30 meeting. The PR Committee approved and accepted the minutes.

David Gray:

Dave gave a brief overview of the timeline for the presentation of the final Marketing Plan to the MBLC.

February 20, 2007 - Final draft of the Marketing Plan will be given to the Executive of the Board
March 1, 2007 - The Marketing Plan and any Recommendations that the PR Advisory Committee wants to make to the MBLC will be presented at the MBLC Board Meeting at the Plymouth Public Library.
April 5, 2007 -- The MBLC is expected to vote on the Marketing Plan at its meeting at Suffolk University.
April 2007 - The Request for Proposals to execute the Marketing Plan will be sent out, with responses requested within 40 days from the release of the RFP.
June 2007 - Proposals will be reviewed by MBLC and three finalists appear before the PR Advisory Committee.
July 2007 -- A firm will be hired to execute the Marketing Plan.

With those dates in mind, he stressed that additions and revisions to the third draft of the Marketing Plan were to be the focus on the PR Advisory Committee at this meeting. Dave also said that any changes in the Plan made by the Board will be communicated to the members of the PR Advisory Committee.

Budget concerns

Greg Pronevitz questioned whether budgetary restraints allow for the inclusion of translations of the library marketing materials as set forth in the draft Marketing Plan. It was decided that non-English speaking/reading people must be included in the Marketing Plan going forward.

Discussion also took place on the $1 million, 3-year budget allotted for the execution of the Marketing Plan. Rob Maier provided a brief overview of the BLC budget for FY08. He pointed out that much depends upon the state budget and that with state revenues down, "next year looks really rough." He noted that at this point it is not possible to determine what impact that will have on regional budgets.

Marketing messages/Strategies

It was decided to edit down the number of marketing messages per target market, as well as add four core marketing messages that should be incorporated into all promotional materials.

It was also decided to add public relations into the Strategies and Tactics section of the Marketing Plan along with "marketing tool kits," which will be a campaign education kit developed for distribution to libraries prior to the kickoff of the marketing campaign. The kit will guide library personnel on participating in the marketing campaign and provide information on how to customize marketing materials.

Recommendations

It was determined that the PR Advisory Committee would include in its recommendations to the MBLC that the Plan allow for more of the total funds to be used during the start-up phase of the marketing campaign, rather than evenly divide the available funds over the three years of the Marketing Plan.

Corporate sponsorships and the ability of the MBLC to take advantage of funds coming from private business were discussed. Examples of corporate sponsorships and partnerships were reviewed, and it was decided that the PR Advisory Committee would include in its recommendations to the MBLC that a mechanism be found, similar to other state agencies and departments, to allow for other sources of funding in addition to federal and state funding.

Other recommendations to the MBLC included making marketing and public relations a higher priority and funding it accordingly; setting guidelines for sponsorships and/or paid partnerships from outside the traditional non-profit library world to promote library programs; and investigating additional sources of state funding for library awareness and promotion.

Changes to the draft Marketing Plan were made during the PR Advisory Committee meeting by facilitator Pam Cleveland. The revised Plan was then reviewed by the Committee and approved for submission to the Executive Board of the MBLC.

April Meeting

The PR Advisory Committee meeting ended at 3 pm. The next scheduled meeting of the PR Advisory Committee is April 9, 2007. PR Advisory Committee members will be notified of the location at a later date.