EUPRIO AWARDS ENTRY FORM 2016

Transcription

1 o Institution name (name and website): Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA), o Contact name (name, address and telephone number): Kjersti Thoresen, Kjersti.thoresen@hioa.no, phone: o Project description ( words). This should include: o Purpose and objectives of the project o Details of key audiences o Detail of project budget and resources (hours and staff) For the Euprio Awards 2016 HiOA nominates the podcast Viten + snakkis. The podcast title roughly translates to Science Chatter and is a play on words with HiOA s print and online research magazine called Viten + Praksis which means Science and Practice, and symbolizes the institution s profile within the applied sciences. The purpose of the weekly podcast is to reach out to the neighbour next door with knowledge and facts about topics that are relevant for people in their everyday lives. This includes trending stories in the media, things people discuss over lunch, and subjects related to situations and challenges everyone meets in family life, work life and in our spare time. Each podcast episode, one or two researches from within HiOA are invited to discuss the topic of the week. The researchers are either from one of the faculties or one of the five research centres at HiOA. Five communications advisers from the Department of External Relations and Communications take turns hosting the podcast, and are responsible for publishing, blogging and promoting the episode in HiOA s other communication channels. The podcast was started in April 2015, as an additional channel to supplement the already established platforms for science communication. The print and online research magazine had already been well received by its audience, and the purpose of the new channel was to broaden the reach and appeal of the content. The podcast is available on the blog and through ITunes which makes the podcast available for subscription in all podcast apps. With HiOA s large and broad portfolio of academic disciplines, there are endless stories to share with the help of experts and researches in a variety of fields. This makes it easier to both pick topics brought to light in the news cycle, and plan the podcast episodes according to an annual cycle of events. 1

2 It is important to gain the attention of journalists and media, especially online media outlets, in order to reach as many people as possible with the podcast, and most importantly spread the content and knowledge shared. Since the episode topics are often relevant for magazines, the press is offered to embed the episode in their online articles. One example of this is the episode about homebirths featuring Norway s first professor in midwifery where the online magazine Foreldre.no ( Parents ) embedded it, resulting in a considerably increased reach. Because our main target audience is the neighbour next door, we strive to maintain an informal tone of voice and to keep the conversation with the experts light. Each episode is between 15 and 25 minutes, short enough that people can listen to an episode during a bus ride, while doing dishes or other chores around the house. HiOA s strategy emphasizes that the institution must strengthen its efforts to take part in the public realm. The Department of External Relations and Communications contributes to this objective through advising the academic staff on dissemination, and creating opportunities for research to be shared through a wide variety of arenas and in a mix of communication channels. The end goal is to reach out to the public and media with new knowledge within our academic fields. A few examples of podcast episodes produced: o Brexit what will happen? o Stress how to reduce and handle it? o Eurovision and fashion before the Norwegian national finale of the song contest. o What s up with the soccer parents? o Easter candy how bad is it, and are there healthy alternatives? The amount of time spent on the podcast project is limited. The five communication advisers in the podcast group spend 30 or 60 minutes together every Monday morning to decide what will be this week s (and possibly next week s) topic. Afterwards, one or two of the advisers are responsible for contacting relevant researchers, and for planning the recording. The recording takes place every Friday at 10 AM, for immediate publishing around noon. Fortunately, two of the advisers in the group have audio editing skills, and are able to take turns editing the work. The studio and recording equipment from the Institute for Media, Journalism and Communication studies at HiOA is borrowed for the podcast recording. As a result, apart from the few work hours needed every week, no additional resources are required for the project. Furthermore, it is possible to record a podcast without this kind of professional equipment and studio used at HiOA. 2

3 Describe how your entry meets the four EUPRIO AWARD criteria (maximum of 200 words in each): 1. Originality (That the concept is one that demonstrates fresh and innovative thinking) Podcasts are still a relatively new format and platform for communication. To HiOA s knowledge, no other Norwegian University or College institution had a podcast like this when HiOA started the project. Some media outlets produce podcasts, but since HiOA s podcast team is in-house, they are able to set the agenda and quickly produce material about a specific and timely topic. 2. Creativity and Quality (That the project makes use of methods and tools in a novel way and demonstrates best practice in its execution) The podcast project supplements HiOA s existing channels, and strengthens the creative multi-channel science and expert communication. With its informal style and down-to-earth-approach, it tries to make science available for all, and make people realize that research is relevant for their everyday life. HiOA use Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to promote each episode, by giving listeners insight into how the podcasts are produced. Many of the topics are not typical university issues, but HiOA believes in showcasing that the institution s researchers have relevant knowledge that can be applied to many fields. In addition, by talking about everyday issues in a non-academic way, HiOA minimizes the gap between academia and people s everyday life. 3. Project success (That there is clear and empirical evidence of success in meeting the project's stated goals) Since inception, the episodes have been downloaded more than times, and this number is expected to rise faster as time goes on. We can justify this claim by the fact that the podcast continues to gain subscribers. Podcast data is not as detailed as other digital analytics and is therefore not precise. HiOA s number is an estimate of how many times each episode is downloaded from HiOA s itunesu-server. This is a long-term project. There are other significant effects worth highlighting: - HiOA s researchers get free (otherwise expensive) media training by participating. This is a way for them to ease into talking to journalists about their research. It is therefore useful in other situations, and is essential in order to reach the overall strategy to become more visible in the media and public debate. 3

4 - When journalists are notified about an episode, they get the chance to see for themselves how the person acts and performs in a radio/tv studio, and this increases the likeliness that they will invite the researcher for another opportunity to talk about the same or similar topics. - HiOA has more than 1500 academic staff members and through planning the weekly podcast, the team gets to know many of them. This is extremely useful for traditional PR activities. - The podcast gives the researchers publicity externally, but also internally within the large institution. The latter is very important in order to build a stronger internal culture and awareness of the work colleagues in other parts of the organisation do. In addition, it strengthens the researchers attitude towards science communication as an import part of their work. 4. Cost-benefit (That there is a beneficial balance between the project's impact and the resources/budget required to achieve that impact) Without spending additional resources, HiOA gains benefits through PR, internal pride and free media training. The podcast is an excellent way to supplement this field and the activities done regularly. In addition, the reputation HiOA develops from being an early adaptor of new technologies and platforms is valuable and beneficial in other contexts as well. It improves the internal reputation for the Department of External Relations and Communications, and makes it easier to get in touch with researchers. The way HiOA organizes the podcast project through regular meetings and an editorial approach, provides key findings and best practices that can be applied to other areas of the communications department. Most departments at HiOA are not organised or prepared to handle projects in a time sensitive manner, building the case for utilizing an editorial approach when considering how to best organize the External Relations and Communications department. Include with your entry form! Pdf of the poster (A1 size or smaller) to be presented at the conference poster session Poster is attached.! Links to relevant websites, videos, programmes 4

5 ! Pdf of any other relevant supporting material Not included. Mail to: Martin Herrema, President of the Jury: Hard copies of magazines, brochures have to be send to Jan Dries, University of Antwerp Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: AUGUST 22,

6 A Research Podcast for Everyday Life! We reach out to the neighbour next door with knowledge useful for understanding trending stories in the media, topics discussed around the lunch table, and situations and challenges each and everyone faces in daily life. At low costs and with a high return, the University College reaches the public, promotes its researchers, builds a reputation with the media, and contributes to a positive internal attitude. And we have a lot of fun making it. A few examples of podcast episodes we have produced: + Brexit what will happen? + Stress how to reduce and handle it? + Eurovision and fashion before the Norwegian national finale of the song contest. + What s up with the soccer parents? + Easter candy how bad is it, and are there healthy alternatives?