Ocean Decade Conference
Three years after the start of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), also known as the 'Ocean Decade', Barcelona hosted the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference, where the entire community came together to celebrate achievements and set joint priorities for the future of the Decade. The Conference took place at the Barcelona International Convention Center (CCIB) from 10 to 12 April 2024, although more than a hundred events were prepared throughout the week under the title 'Ocean Decade Week'.
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) organized the entire event jointly with the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council, through the Barcelona Nautical Capital Foundation, and the National Committee of the Spanish Ocean Decade, led by the Ministry of Science, Universities and Innovation through the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
Intermèdia Comunicació was in charge of communication for the whole event, with the aim of achieving local, national and foreign media coverage of the Conference and informing the public that this is not only an event that brings together the scientific community, but that it is also a global forum for governments, leaders, maritime sectors, philanthropy, universities, the private sector, NGOs and society in general from across the world.
In order to publicise the Conference in the media, the communication was divided into two phases: the first in February, linked to the presentation to the media, and a second phase in April, related to the organisation of the event itself.
Intermèdia decided to hold a press conference in Barcelona in February, an action that UNESCO had not initially envisaged, and which served not only to publicise the general programme of the Conference and highlight its objectives and structure, with more than a hundred parallel events, but also to establish initial contact with the country’s media prior to the start of the Conference.
In April, Intermèdia liaised with UNESCO’s central press office in Paris to agree which Spanish and Catalan media outlets should be offered the possibility of interviewing the new Executive Secretary of IOC/UNESCO, Vidar Helgesen, in addition to agreeing with the Conference organisers which of the more than 40 speakers should be presented to all the media through interviews.
In terms of online communications, during the Conference a series of videos were produced for social media in which different attendees were interviewed to gather their opinions and answers to matters related to the Conference programme.
- Creation of a database of Catalan, Spanish and foreign media. For this third part, we started with a list of media with correspondents in Spain, expanding it to include the media that travelled to Barcelona to cover the Conference.
- Organisation of the press conference held in February, together with the rest of the conference organisers, and coordination with the press teams of the Catalan Government, Barcelona City Council and the CSIC.
- Preparation of a press kit for the press conference. This document was expanded as the date of the conference approached and the organisers confirmed the information (detailed programme, speakers).
- Preparation and sending of the press release for the press conference presentation.
- PR clipping of the presentation press conference.
- Creation of a press kit on the parallel events organised around the Conference, with special emphasis on the free cultural activities open to the public.
- Creation and sending of a press release the week before the Conference.
- Design and production of several banners requested for use in different City Council and Catalan Government media, with different formats and uses.
- Media management and assistance from the beginning of the project until its completion, to handle accreditations, requests for interviews or any other issues during the Conference.
- Sending of a press release on the launch of the Conference.
- Preparation and sending of a press release with the main conclusions regarding the event.
- Proposal of content for social media from February onwards.
- Coverage of the event in the digital sphere through the Instagram account.
- Recording and editing of videos for the various social media accounts.
- PR clipping of the Conference.
As for the results, a key achievement was the clippings, both in terms of quality and quantity. In total, we notched up 945 media hits with an economic value of around EUR 8 million and an estimated audience of 5.4 million people. News about the event was also broadcast in popular mainstream media outlets across the world, with the resulting high audience figures and corresponding economic value.
Another key achievement was the media attendance, with 150 accredited journalists from around the world, exceeding the maximum capacity available (and meaning that we also had to make provisions for all the media outlets left without accreditation).
XIII FemCAT's Forum - Catalan Legacies
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