Just to throw another idea into the discussion, it struck me this morning
that such a post could be arguably similar to Cathrin Cassarchis' post as
lottery adviser, in that it is for the good of the whole profession and
requires skills which archivists don't necessarily have themselves and where
they could benefit from some professional guidance. It also seems clear
that such a post would be too onerous for an honorary position, and that it
should be paid. Now that Helen has provided us with a ballpark figure,
perhaps one of the Society's Council members could comment on the
feasibility (or otherwise!) of funding this, and whether this is something
the Society and the National Council of Archives would consider
collaborating on, as they have so successfully with the Lottery adviser
post.
Lucy Jones
BT Archives
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Helen Osborn [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 07 March 2000 16:01
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: RE: Media Relations
>
> I thought both Gary Collins and Caroline Shenton made some excellent
> points.
> What we need is a consistent approach that combines education of both the
> general public and media, with some traditional PR type activities, like
> establishing relationships, making contacts, etc, thinking of "stories" to
> draw interest. I think a number of interesting points arise from this:
>
> Susan Davies hit the nail on the head on Friday when she pointed out there
> could be an opportunity to plan some useful content for the National Grid
> of
> Learning to provide a well-focused introduction to archives. Perhaps
> someone from the Archives in Education Group might have a view on this?
>
> It is not just about education of the media, but education of everybody,
> ie
> all our users, using outreach to the best of our collective abilities.
> More
> and more people are visiting archives and are keen to learn, they are a
> captive audience - some of them might even be journalists and programme
> makers (!)
>
> I thought others might be interested to know exactly what figures we might
> be looking at so I have done a little research amongst a small and
> friendly
> PR consultancy that I happen to know. Obviously, it would depend on
> exactly
> what was wanted but a regular retainer is what they would suggest and
> would
> probably prove cheaper than one-off projects. A figure of £12,000 pa was
> suggested. (£7 each per SoA member per year) The image problem is not
> going
> to be corrected by one-off reactions to TV shows (tho' that can't harm)
> but
> by a long term drip feed of information into the right hands.
>
> This subject has obviously touched a nerve and excited quite a bit of
> interest among us, how can we progress it?
>
> Helen Osborn
> Archivist & Records Manager
> Young & Co.'s Brewery, P.L.C.
> The Ram Brewery, Wandsworth, London SW18 4JD
> e:mail - [log in to unmask]
> Tel: +44 20 8875 7000 Fax: +44 20 8875 7100
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