Here to help!

A guide to working with the new

CNIB AB+NWT Communications Team

Here to help!
A guide to working with the CNIB AB+NWT Communications Team
As a national organization with a strong local presence that relies on
local support, we need to raise and maintain our profile in our division
and all team members have a role to play in making this happen!
Whether youre in service delivery, advocacy, fund development or any other
specialized area within our team, there are ways you can help us identify
opportunities and for us to help you communicate and market your
services to your respective audiences.
This guide will focus on four main areas:

Workflow: An ideal workflow that will show you a typical process on

how the communications team supports another departments project
or campaign.
Alerts: Alerting the communications team on newsworthy events or
initiatives.
Social media: A background on our divisional social media properties,
including how team members can appropriately help increase the level
of social media engagement.
Media relations: A brief overview of spokesperson and media
relations protocols.

Of course, this is meant to be a guide only and we are always open to your
questions, comments or suggestions. Please contact any of us after all,
were here to help!

Jung-Suk Ryu
Manager, Communications

Emily Kiss
Communications Coordinator

 Remember to seek approvals through the appropriate channels.

When in doubt, always check with your supervisor to gain the proper
approvals for the fnal product. This means that it is not the
responsibility of the communications team to seek approvals, unless
previously agreed upon.
For example, all communiques with our Executive Director or
Board's signatures must be approved through the Executive
Director's ofce.

The assigned team member will present preliminary drafts of copy or

design with the requesting staf member and/or department. We will
make changes if required.
We will then handover the fnal product to the requesting staf
member and/or department unless additional steps are required.

Approval

Review

Communicati
We will assign a communications team member to your project.
ons work
The assigned team member will consult with the requesting staf
begins
member and/or department on preliminary copy or design.
The assigned team member will develop a project plan or strategy (if
appropriate), assign certain budget implications (if appropriate), and
move forward with developing the copy or design.

Email the communications team with your request. Use

communications-ab@cnib.ca.
Be very clear with what you are requesting, including an appropriate
deadline, specifc requirements, and other pieces of information that
would be helpful to the communications team.

Contact

So here is a simple flowchart that can help you think about how we can work
together to get you the product that you want.
With a wide range of programs, services, funders, community partners and other
stakeholders, we understand that all team members juggle various priorities
throughout the day. We understand that and thats why were here to help!
Think of us as your consultants. We are a part of the team with experience and
knowledge in the areas of communications, marketing and media relations.

This page will answer questions like:

I need something designed/edited/drafted how can I engage
the communications team to get their assistance?

Workflow

Alerts
This page will answer questions like:
How can we contribute suggestions to the communications
team?
Can we try and assess if our suggestions are valid?
For our communications team at CNIB AB+NWT, ideas are key to our
success, and we need your input to keep our content and approach fresh
and relevant!
Always remember the following factors should be considered when it
comes to communications:
Human
Interest

Impact

Novelty

Prominence

Proximity

Do you have an idea for a feature story about

someone with vision loss? This could be an opportunity to
present their challenges, concerns or achievements in an
interesting way.
For example, the Edmonton Journal's piece on "Blind
Fashion" with our own Diane Bergeron was a great "human
interest" piece.
Does it involve or affect a large group of people?
Events like 2014 Eye Care Day are good examples of
"impact" stories.
Do you have rare or surprising news? Did you discover
an article about a revolutionary technology that will have future
impact? Did you hear about a unique fundraising event
pertaining to vision loss?
A great example would be the "Blind Touch Tour"
event with the Cavalia show in Calgary featuring our children
clients.
Is a CNIB sponsor or donor holding an event,
appearing in the community, or addressing the media? Will a
notable celebrity guest be attending an upcoming event?
For example, Paralympic champion Brian McKeever's
keynote address at 2014 Visions is a prominent story.
Is it specific to Alberta and/or the Northwest
Territories?
While we sometimes share information about national
CNIB events, or focus is to keep local audiences engaged and
up-to-date.

Superlative

Is it the biggest fundraiser out of any others this

year? Did we receive a very generous donation or gift from a
sponsor? Have we broken a record?

Social media
The next two pages will answer questions like:
What is social media?
How does our division engage in social media activities?
Can I play a role in promoting CNIB through social media?
Although we often identify social media with branded platforms like Twitter
and Facebook, social media is fundamentally about giving audience members
the ability to contribute to and share information.
For us at CNIB AB+NWT, we are beginning an ambitious social media
strategy because we know that this is an effective way of sharing
information to a broader audience in multiple formats. Most importantly, it
allows our stakeholders to be engaged with us by asking questions,
sharing our information, or liking us!
As of August 2014, our divisions primary social media tool is Twitter
(@cnib_ABNWT), and our communications team works with staff members
to determine if Twitter is another effective way to reach out to respective
stakeholder groups. We are also using two secondary social media tools:
YouTube (CNIBAlbertaNWT) and SoundCloud (cnib_ABNWT).
How you can help with our social media efforts
As our team continues to push information out into the social media world,
we rely on our audience groups to be engaged with us and actively share
information to their networks.
To this end, divisional staff members are encouraged to follow us on Twitter,
favourite our posts, and re-tweet posts on your own Twitter account. You
can also sync your Twitter account with Facebook so that any tweets or retweets appear on your Facebook page.

Views are a crucial part of YouTube and SoundCloud! Share a video or audio
clip you like on our YouTube or SoundCloud channel. You can either copy and
paste the URL into a Facebook post, or use one of the share buttons
featured on each page.
And remember, with social media content is everything! Do you have an
upcoming event or any exciting news about your work? Please let one of the
communications team members know and well Tweet it!
Using common sense
Remember, when in doubt ask!
Like most other major organizations, we employ several protocols to ensure
that our messaging is consistent and that our reputation remains intact.
Consider some of the following rules but also refer to the Staff Social
Media Guidelines on the Portal:

Use a disclaimer that states that your social media channel is

for personal use, and that opinions expressed are personal and not
those of CNIB.
Protect your privacy and remember that anything thats posted
online can never be fully erased!
Think before you post. If you post negative comments about other
individuals or organizations even on a personal account this can
negatively impact CNIBs reputation.
Respect the confidentiality of CNIB business and clients. Use
caution and common sense when posting about our organization.

Need a hand? Were here to help! Ask a communications team member to

give you a quick walk-through of how to create a social media account and
share content from our social media channels.

Our media relations policy

This

page will answer questions like:

What happens if I get a call from the media?
Who are the official spokespeople for our division?
Can I speak to the media?

As we continue to raise our profile, we hope to be in a position where media

looks to us as their primary source of information! Although most outlets will
contact one of our communications team members directly, there is a
possibility that you may get a phone call. Here are some things to
remember:
When you are contacted by the media, take down their information and
tell them that you will alert someone on the communications team. You can
also provide them with the following primary media contact:
Jung-Suk Ryu, CNIB AB+NWT Communications
780.901.6779 or 403.261.7215, jung-suk.ryu@cnib.ca
Please also share this interaction with Jung-Suk at the earliest opportunity.
Sometimes you may be contacted by the media on a completely
personal (i.e., non-CNIB related) level. However, if the topic of
discussion is in any form related to the work that we do, you must alert the
communications team of the opportunity and seek approval. Remember
that you are ambassadors of CNIBs brand and reputation at all
times.
The official spokesperson for our division is John McDonald, our
Executive Director and Regional Vice-President. Think of him as the external
face of our organization. The secondary (back-up) spokesperson for our
division is Jung-Suk from the communications team.
There will be times when the communications team reaches out to
subject experts (e.g., O&M or ILS specialists). We will make the request
directly to staff and set up a time to go through key messages and
preliminary media training.