Media Relations

Are you wondering how you can get the word out about the cool new inventions you and your team are working on, or how you can promote your upcoming competition or member recruitment event? Find out the various channels through which you can best communicate and market your news and events in this News and Publicity guide compiled by Applied Science Communications and UBC Public Affairs.

Publicising your team for new members:

There are several different mediums through which you can advertise for your team through UBC Engineering and the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS).

Social Media—Applied Science and Engineering

e-nEUS

Digital Signage - Promote on the screens!

If you would like to promote your event using the TV monitors throughout UBC and Engineering buildings, please follow the instructions below:

  1. For the template and tips on how to create the slides for the digital system, please go UBC Digital Signage for design/content tips and sign templates.
  2. Decide on your target audience:
    • For campus-wide distribution contact the UBC Digital Signage team (they require 2 weeks notice).
    • For engineering-building distribution submit prepared high-res .jpg or .png files to communications@apsc.ubc.ca​ for approval. (Note: to be approved, your submission must be a 16:9 oriented, high resolution .jpg or .png file.) Once approved, please allow for 2-5 business days to upload to the system.

  3. If you wish your slides to show exclusively on a specific monitor, please specify the building/monitor in your request:

    • Kaiser atrium, 2nd Floor Kaiser lounge & Macleod atrium
    • Engineering Design Centre
    • Chemical & Biological Engineering building
    • Civil Engineering (CEME Building)
    • Mechanical Engineering (CEME Building)

News—UBC Public Affairs & Applied Science

Applied Science Communications is the main channel of communications and marketing for the Faculty of Applied Science, and UBC Public Affairs is the university’s conduit to the media. Both units support students and faculty by helping assess if a story has news value, identifying the best media outreach strategy, and writing and packaging stories.

Applied Science Communications promotes news through our APSC and Engineering websites, e-newsletters and social media (Twitter and Facebook).

UBC Public Affairs deliver news to the media through our UBC News website and several formats: media releases, Q and As, media advisories, expert advisories and social media (Twitter).

Student engineering teams work with UBC Public Affairs, Applied Science Communications and the news media when they are preparing for competition and planning a media event to showcase their work and innovation. UBC News may issue a media advisory to invite journalists to attend the event and provide some details on what they will see. Applied Science Communications amplifies Public Affairs efforts through our various channels.

Tips for working with UBC Public Affairs and the news media:

  • Timing: Contact Public Affairs before you hit a major milestone or head to a competition. Journalists want to tell these stories when the news happens, not after. Make sure to give us enough time to work on the event and advisory together. When you contact PA, please let us know what sort of timing we’re working with.
  • All stories are worthy – not every story is newsworthy. Identify what makes this story newsworthy and any news hooks. What’s particularly interesting or quirky about what you’re doing?
  • Identify what the implications of your work/findings are. Ask yourself, why should readers of the Globe and Mail, or the Vancouver Sun care?
  • Use language that you would use for speaking to the general public – try to avoid the use of technical jargon.
  • Multimedia: Journalists are more likely to cover stories if we can provide good photos and videos. Try to document your building process so you can provide video and photos of the entire process to journalists.
  • Spokespeople: Identify a few people in your group who will do interviews. 
  • Key messages: Develop three key messages that you want to share with media.  These can address the question: what are you doing? Why are you doing it/what are the implications of your work?  What comes next in this field?  Make sure the spokespeople know the key messages and practice saying them out loud before they do interviews.  Use these key messages in interviews to help reporters tell your story.

A final word: the media provide a great opportunity to convey your story widely. Once you have prepared yourself for interviews and sent out your story, you need to be available and responsive to media, and sensitive to their deadlines.

For your news needs, contact the APSC Communications Team at socialmedia@apsc.ubc.ca.

Publicizing your event/competition for Attendance

e-nEUS

e-nEUS is a weekly email newsletter that goes out to all current UBC Engineering undergraduate students.

The e-nEUS goes out on Sunday evenings, from September to April, and on a monthly basis in the summer. Articles are accepted up to 12 noon the Wednesday before the e-nEUS comes out!

The e-nEUS is a great way to get word out about:

  • EUS events
  • Engineering Student Services/Co-op/Faculty notices
  • Industry Announcements

e-nEUS Submission form

Contact the e-nEUS Editor:eneus@apsc.ubc.ca.

Social Media—Applied Science and Engineering

Contact the APSC Communications Team at socialmedia@apsc.ubc.ca for the following:

  • For UBC Engineering Facebook page (primary audiences: current students, alumni, general public)
  • For Twitter, @ubcappscience and @ubcengineering (primary audiences: general public, industry, current students, alumni, journalists)
  • For UBC Engineering Facebook groups (primary audience: current students

APSC This Week

APSC This Week is Applied Science’s weekly e-newsletter for APSC faculty and staff. Please submit your newsletter items by 8 am on Thursday for inclusion into next week’s edition. If you have any questions about this newsletter, please contact lillienne.zen@ubc.ca.

APSC This Week Submission Form

UBC Events Calendars:

Contact the APSC Communications Team at socialmedia@apsc.ubc.ca for the following as well:

  • UBC Events—Applied Science calendar: Applied Science has its own UBC Events calendar in which events that pertain to the entire UBC community are advertised. You may promote an event that has a UBC-wide appeal on this calendar.

  • Applied Science & Engineering Events Calendars: APSC and Engineering event calendars are hosted on the APSC and Engineering websites. You may request for an event to be posted.

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