Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Assignment C - Optimized Press Release









For immediate release: October 11, 2012



Erin Carrier, Assistant Director of Communications,

Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development
(780) 913-6614
                                                                    Erin.Carrier@gov.ab.ca







ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS TAKE STEPS TO IMPROVE OUTDOOR AIR QUALITY IN CANADA

With a new Air Quality Management System (AQMS)



Lake Louise – October 11, 2012 Federal, provincial and territorial Environment Ministers are taking further action to protect the health of Canadians and the environment with measures to improve outdoor air quality in Canada, through a comprehensive new Air Quality Management System (AQMS). 

"There is nothing more fundamental to Canadians than clean air," said Diana McQueen, Alberta's Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.



“The AQMS builds on measures that jurisdictions already have in place, and helps to align the actions of federal, provincial and territorial governments to deal with air quality issues,” continued McQueen.





The AQMS includes:

  • Standards to set the bar for outdoor air quality management across the country;
  • Industrial emission requirements that set a base level of performance for major industries in Canada;
  • A framework for air zone management within provinces and territories that enables action tailored to specific sources of air emissions in a given area;
  • Canadian Regional airsheds that facilitate coordinated action when air pollution crosses a border; and
  • An intergovernmental working group to improve collaboration and develop a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

Over the next year, Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) members will continue to work together to improve the environment by addressing water, air and waste issues. 

CCME is the primary minister-led intergovernmental forum for collective action on environmental issues of national and international concern.

More information: 
www.CCME.ca
The Air Quality Management System: Qs and As 
@CCME
#AQMS 

       



________________________________________________________________________________

The audience was intended to be industry professionals and politicians, but I also wanted it to be useful to Canadians in general who are interested in our climate. The social media would probably be for the general population while the websites would be more for the industry professionals.

What I Did:

  • Checked for keywords. It seems they did their work on that fairly well. The underlined words have been added to narrow down the competition in searches.
  • Added a link to: "The Air Quality Management Systems: Qs and As."
  • Added the social media icons with links to their sites and searchable information.
  • Moved the contact information to the top of the press release so it's easy to see.
  • Pulled a block quote to grab attention.
  • Completely edited out the material that does not relate to the heading. This information can be in the blog and could also have separate news releases.
  • Added an interactive map to add attention and people can check the air quality for their area.
  • Organized the "More information" topics under the one heading.

Assignment - Pinterest

What do you think of examples of Pinterest?

People like visual images. Something that catches the eye and it's easy to share, and leads you to other similar pages/pictures of interest. That is part of their name "Interest".  The site answers what are you interested in? Food? Fashion? Music? Dance?..just search and see.

The site keeps you entertained and educated visually - there is always something to see and PIN to keep as a memento to look back later. You can even store the pins in categories you are interested in. How organized is that. Plus, you can even comment on the pin or share it with followers or on other forms of social media, such as Facebook.

If you find something you like, just click on it and it'll take you to the site to learn more. Pinterest keeps the person engaged/entertained - but takes you to the source. Like this picture? Want to see more of who or what it can do - click here. Great for organizations or individuals to get people to their website.

For a brand, this could be wonderful - since you hooked them with a visual lede and now they have clicked onto your website to learn more.

Also, somewhat of a search engine - if you are looking for a particular item and you see it, you wonder how to make it, get it or learn from it. You can find sites that are similar to your interests you can follow outside of Pinterest.

Pinterest can keep you captive (trust me) for a while if you let it. Some people, me included considers it slight obsession. You can spend a long time looking, scrolling and pining items. 

Another bonus - Pinterest is easy to use.

Not a stranger to pins, I have 30 of boards and 4,8 K of pins. Yeah, slightly obsessive. 



Who do you follow on Pinterest?

I follow my friends, family and various food bloggers such as: 101 cookbooks and Julie Van Rosendaal, Various organizations/nonprofits (animal advocates mostly). The Sparkle and many others. 

Can you share with us a board of an NGO/Nonprofit that exemplifies good use of Pinterest?

Edmonton Humane Society.

They have 13 boards that range from: 

  • Adoptable animals, 
  • staff/volunteer recognition, 
  • treats/toys DIY, videos, 
  • educational 
  • and funnies to give more reach and engage  people with their pins.


The boards for adoptive animals can get a large reach, since there is the cute picture and information about the dog and cat. When you click on the PIN, it takes you to their site to get more info.  Or, if you want to share the adoptable animal with a quote from you - you can.

Entertainment value - everyone loves humour. Adding a board with funny animal pictures gets people laugh. Works on their demographic of individuals that like animals. We always love getting a few funny pictures from our friends to cheer us up or wind us down.

The human factor. Their slogan is 'Completing families one life at a time' touches the human emotion. They are not selling, they are reaching heart strings.  

This also resonates with recognizing the staff/volunteers they have working for them and the donors that support them. EHS is saying Thank you and we appreciate these people. 

Inspirational quotes - more heartstrings. Getting their message out there to have people adopt rather than shop.

Education - Videos, treats, toys and helpful tips for potential adopters and current animal lovers. These boards educate people on what they can do or get for their animals to look after them. The images goes to other sites that help people learn more. Information sharing.

They are also following other animal rescues, which they can share and engage together with images/links.

I think EHS does a pretty good job on engaging and getting people interested in their organization and what we can do to help their main clients - families.



With Pinterest it keeps the person captive and engaged with pictures and its educational.

Did I tell you how much I like Pinterest? D Rhodes

Tuesday, 20 October 2015



I rarely use Pinterest, but when I do I enjoy sites that showcase high quality images of decorating or food – these really shine on a social media tool like Pinterest.

“Chocolate!!!” is the world's greatest site for a chocoholic. I particularly enjoy the board that features a flowchart to walk you through that age old question, "Should I have another piece of chocolate?"




Naturally (and thankfully), the answer is always yes.

The other boards are filled with images to drool over and titles like "DIY chocolate bars," and "36 towering layer cakes."

There's a simple "follow this board" call to action, recipes galore, and just an insane devotion to chocolate. Its single-mindedness impresses me.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation site makes great use of Pinterest, managing to include boards that educate, entertain, and fundraise at once. The site features a broad selection of bright, high-quality images and infograms, which present information about Parkinson's disease in a clear, captivating, and accessible way:




The site also has its call to action prominently displayed, asking the viewer to “follow” the page.

It’s well organized, allowing the user to quickly scroll through and select a board of relevance to them, and combines serious topics (research progress) with light-hearted topics (Halloween Spirit fundraiser pictures). It is a one-stop approach to understanding Parkinson’s disease, learning about the resources available through the Michael J. Fox foundation, and browsing the foundation's gift shop. The "Shop Fox" board also allows the user to easily purchase items: one click on an item takes the user to a payment screen. The entire site feels optimistic, full of important resources, and accessible to anyone.

Assignment C - Press Release

Big Rock Brewery Celebrates 30 Years of making Great Beer!




Everyone is welcome to the Big Rock Birthday Bash
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Time: 10 am – 7 pm
Main Brewery: 5555 – 76 Ave SE, Calgary
Follow: #BigRock30

Calgary, AB | September 15, 2015 On Saturday, September 26th, Big Rock Brewery will be hosting a community celebration at their main brewery, located at 5555 - 76th Ave. SE. Free admission and open to all ages. Bring your family and friends to this event.
“This is an opportunity for us to thank this community for embracing Big Rock and supporting us throughout the years. By swinging the doors wide open on the brewery it’s a great chance to get a behind the scenes look at how craft beer is made and meet the passionate people behind it,” says Gautreau, Brewmaster, Big Rock.
Paul Gautreau, Brewmaster displaying his work. 
Big Rock Brewery Inc. headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, produces premium, all-natural craft beers.
As Canada’s leading craft brewer, Big Rock boasts a family of exceptional ales and lagers, Rock Creek Cider®, and an ongoing selection of seasonal beers released through the Brewmaster’s Edition. Big Rock products are sold in nine provinces and two territories in Canada. 
In 1985, Big Rock found a small space to set up shop, imported their first brewmaster Bernd Pieper, and started creating the beers everyone liked. The first three beers were a Bitter, Porter and Traditional Ale. Of the three, Traditional was an instant hit, and continues to win praise and converts today.
The community engaged company is named after a multi-tonne quartzite glacial deposit located outside of Okotoks, Alberta. This "big rock" in the middle of the prairie is known as an erratic, and  fit perfectly with Big Rock’s mission to brew deliberately different beer.
Now, Big Rock has three breweries. The main brewery, capable of producing batches of 200 Hectolitres; the Kaspar Schulz, where new brews are created, and the custom built Nano Brewery for the barrel program, to allow customers to brew their own creations.

Birthday Bash Event details:
     10 am - noon - Free breakfast from our great friends from Stampede Caravan. http://caravan.calgarystampede.com/
   1 pm & 3 pm - Free brewery tours and tastings. Must be 18 years or older.  Please drink responsibly.
   1pm - 7 pm - Our outdoor craft and community artisan market and various YCC Food Trucks. Also, The Big Rock Grill will be serving up tasty bites. http://bigrockgrill.com/ Bring an appetite.
   4 pm - 7pm - Free Live music featuring artists from the Folk Fest circuit, feature band: The Dead South. http://www.thedeadsouth.com/
    Retro pricing of the original 3 beers: Traditional Ale, Porter and Bitter (1985 variety pack).  https://bigrockbeer.com/
    In conjunction with Alberta Beer Week, members of The Alberta Small Brewers Association (ASBA) will be pouring guest drafts in our beer gardens. All proceeds from beer gardens sales will be going back to ASBA. http://albertabrewers.ca/alberta-beer-week-2015/

Please promote or tweet this event with #BigRock30 on Twitter and/or Instagram

For further information, visit our main site:  https://bigrockbeer.com/events
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BigRock30BirthdayBash
Follow us on Twitter: @Bigrock       Search: #YYCBeer



Media Contacts:
Joe smith, Public Relations,
ABC PR Agency, 403.464-9914 sfox@bigrockbeer.com

Brewery Contact:
Paul Gautreau and CEO Robert Sarto,
Big Rock Brewery, 403-123-4567 info@bigrock.ca
Blog: https://bigrockbeer.com/connect/blog






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For EXSM3988 - Diana Rhodes 
Original Website press release:

Thoughts on Pinterest

I love Pinterest but it has only been through taking this citation that I’ve learned that Pinterest could be used for more than just collecting cake recipes! 
I mostly follow boards pertaining to kids’ crafts, cooking and fashion but I’m interested in finding examples of  organizations and non-profits that are using Pinterest. I’m currently working with a local sporting group and I suggested that we start sharing regional resources through Pinterest. We have a shared Google drive but no one ever uses it – I think Pinterest would a great way to share resources and inspire each other!
I just discovered the Edmonton Public Library pinterest board. Yay for book nerds!