V
ADVANCE PUBLICITY AND ORGANIZATION
Importance of Good Advance Work
The methods used in preparing the communities to receive the train are as important a feature of the project as the visit of the train itself. On the effectiveness with which the advance work is done depends its opportunity to reach as many people as can be accommodated and to have the audiences made up of the most hopeful “prospects,” those most likely to act on the suggestions offered. Advance information that arouses interest will bring visitors to the train in a receptive frame of mind that makes it easier to present the message quickly.
One or all of the following kinds of advance work will need to be done in each place to be visited, according to the nature and scope of the campaign:
1. General publicity and advertising.
2. Specialized appeals directed to selected groups and individuals.
3. Arrangements for distributing attendance over the full period of the visit.
4. Arrangements for local co-operation in the above work, in taking care of visitors to the train, and in organizing or carrying out follow-up work later.
For convenience, the discussion of these matters is given in terms of trains, although most of it applies equally to motor tours as well.
General Advertising
The appeal to the general public in a community may be made through news items in the papers, posters, window cards, window displays, advertisements and inserts in advertisements, and slides in motion picture theaters. Of the wide variety of methods to advertise an event, these are probably the ones best adapted to advance preparation for both large and small cities and towns. It is not the purpose here to discuss the technique of preparing any of this material. Unless they have ability and training in this field, those responsible for getting work out should call in specialists to do it, or at least to advise about it.
The purpose of advertising is more than merely to get a crowd. If there is very little competition from other events, as is often the case in small towns, it may be fairly easy to secure a large attendance. It is the business of your advertising to attract the attention of persons not yet interested in the subject matter and to arouse intelligent interest in what the train or truck will show. To design posters and prepare copy that will bring these results requires skill and practise which may sometimes be obtained as a gift but is worth paying for.
Specialized Appeal
The special groups to whom your message is chiefly directed may be singled out from the general public and definite methods used to insure their attendance. While most of the trains are of general interest to the communities visited, the message of the exhibits or demonstrations is probably addressed primarily to one or a few groups, classified according to occupation, standing in the community, race, age, condition of health, or particular interests. Special efforts to reach these groups may take the form of letters, announcements, or brief talks addressed to schools, churches, clubs, lodges, or employes of factories and places of business. Committees on co-operation may be formed within the groups and delegations appointed to come to the train. A personal canvass may be made by letters, postcards, personal visits, or telephone messages to leaders of groups or members of special bodies.
Arrangements for Distributing the Attendance
The tendency of the majority of the people is to select the same period in the day as the most convenient or desirable time for coming to the train. When the program is to be repeated a number of times, it is necessary to plan special methods for distributing the attendance over the less popular hours. This may be done as a feature of the advance appeal to particular groups by setting aside periods for school children, calling conferences of small bodies of people, assigning hours when delegations will be received and personally conducted, or having program features of interest to particular groups at stated hours.
ROBBERS
AT LARGE
Peach Growers of East Texas are Being Robbed by the
Insects and Diseases that attack Peaches
SPECIALISTS WITH EXHIBIT CARS
COMING
——TO——
Winfield Texas
Thursday Nov. 20ᵗʰ
Most complete Orcharding Exhibit Train ever carried to the farmers of the South.
Will exhibit and demonstrate all phases of peach orchard work.
Three Carloads of Equipment and Exhibits
Carload of power and hand sprayers, a tractor and other modern orchard
equipment.
Two exhibit cars electrically lighted and equipped to show by pictures, lifelike
models, specimens and slides of all the dangerous diseases and insects known to
Texas orchards.
Actual field demonstrations on planting, pruning, spraying and cultivation will
be conducted in an orchard near town.
FREE—EVERYBODY INVITED
UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION
ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD OF TEXAS
Co-operating with
THE EXTENSION DIVISION OF THE TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE.
UNITED STATES AND STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE
For Further Information, See Your County Farm Demonstration Agent
Poster Advertising the Coming of an Exhibit Train
This is the type of poster that is frequently sent out in advance of agricultural trains. The posters are usually on white paper or card with black letters. The news value of the material on the poster doubtless secures readers who would not be inclined to give attention to so much reading matter if it conveyed only educational information.
Arrangements for Local Co-operation in Management
The co-operation of a local committee is needed in advertising and running the show. The extent of this co-operation will depend upon the size of the staff in charge of the train, size of the community, and the nature of the program. The duties of local committees as described in reports of various campaigns include:
1. Co-operation in advertising the coming of the train.
2. Making or checking up arrangements for the proper placing of the train.
3. Arranging for a reception committee and helpers, as described in the section on attendance (pages 55 and 98).
4. Securing such additional equipment as is called for by the program, such as a meeting hall, motion picture or stereopticon machine.
5. Arranging such entertainment as may be needed by the train staff in the way of living quarters or meals, or both. The importance of providing for the comfort of the speakers and explainers who work under a severe strain can hardly be overestimated.
Getting the Advance Work Done
The advance work is usually carried out by correspondence with a local committee or individuals, or by sending an advance agent to make the arrangements. Many tours of trains have been carried on without an advance representative, in some cases because the expenses seemed prohibitive or because of the difficulty in securing a suitable person for this work. When well-organized local groups in communities to be visited are already interested in the aims of the tour, it may be comparatively simple to handle the advance work through correspondence. But usually it is far more desirable to send an advance representative.
Arranging for local co-operation by correspondence is a slower method than working through a personal representative. The headquarters staff also have a more difficult task in preparing publicity material and letters that will arouse the same enthusiasm that the agent can instil through his direct contact with editors and other community leaders.
An example of the use of letters in place of an advance agent is the following which was sent to health officers as one of a series addressed to leading citizens by the West Virginia Public Health Council:
My dear Dr. ——:
The “Health Car” now touring the state under the auspices of the West Virginia State Department of Health, in the interest of health education and child welfare, will arrive in your city at 8.30 o’clock on Saturday P.M. and will remain till 1.20 P.M. o’clock on Tuesday.
The car is a vestibuled railway coach entirely remodeled and contains a chemical and bacteriological laboratory, a health exhibit of posters and electrically driven models and a picture machine. These, with the explanation given by a Health Instructor on the car, serve to impress on the minds of the people the principles of the promotion of health and prevention of disease.
May we count on you to secure the interest and co-operation of the medical, dental and nursing professions in your community, for a public meeting at an hour which you, in consultation with the Superintendent of Schools and a president of an influential woman’s organization, may decide? We are also very desirous of securing the attendance of the Mayor and Town Council and any other citizens who do, or should, feel responsibility for community welfare and the conservation of child life. We have also written the Superintendent of Schools and your newspapers, realizing that the medical profession, the educational people and the press are the agencies our Government is counting upon for co-operation in constructive, peace-time work.
The Health Car Corps will communicate with you immediately upon arrival in your city to learn of your plans for the utilization of their time and effort while with you. We are anxious to make their stay in each community count for the highest possible things in the interest of the public health and welfare.
The car is supplied with a number of good Health Films which we will be glad to show, free of charge, to the public if arrangements can be made with some one who has a full-sized picture machine and a hall at his disposal.
Sincerely yours,
S. L. Jepson, M.D.
State Health Commissioner.
The following report from the director of the Texas Peach Demonstration Train, described on page 13, is fairly typical of advance work done in local communities without a personal representative:
Articles announcing the tour of this train have been sent to all the large newspapers in the east Texas territory, also to the county newspapers. Individual letters have also been sent to the large peach growers, urging them to attend these meetings. In counties where there is a county demonstration agent, a great deal is being done to bring the matter to the attention of the farmers. Large posters have been put up a couple of weeks in advance of the train all through the different towns at which stops are to be made. The chambers of commerce and business organizations have been called upon several weeks in advance and furnished with full data, and they are doing all they can to make the meetings a success. The county judge in each county has given his co-operation by declaring the week in which the work is being conducted in his particular county as Horticultural Week.
The chambers of commerce have, in many instances, made arrangements for special features in connection with the visit of our train.
Qualifications of the Advance Agent
The personality and previous experience of the person needed to carry out advance work form an important factor in the success of the whole undertaking.
The agent should be able to work successfully with local committees, since much valuable publicity will be secured through their efforts. That is to say, he should be adaptable, clear, definite, and orderly in his statements and in handling a meeting, and be able to inspire enthusiastic interest in carrying out the plans he outlines.
His training and experience at best should include knowledge of publicity or advertising methods, experience in working with volunteer committees, and general information of the subject matter of the campaign. Of these three, given an alert and intelligent worker who has a moderate amount of what may be called “publicity sense,” an understanding of how to organize volunteer workers is probably the most necessary element in his or her equipment. For he may acquire in a comparatively short time a working knowledge of the subject, and may call in outside assistance in preparing the news stories and advertising plans that he carries with him. But every local committee presents new and unexpected problems, and no amount of coaching can provide what is gained by experience in adapting plans and methods to the peculiarities of a local situation, winning over a local chairman who has prejudices or skepticisms, or simplifying or expanding plans of work to fit the resources of the town as the agent may estimate them in the brief time that he remains.
The Job of the Advance Agent
The first advance work is done by the committee or individual who directs the whole enterprise from some central point, notifying local persons of the purpose and the date of the agent’s visit. If there is already a local representative of the movement in the community, arrangements may be made which will save the agent much time in seeing the editor, minister, school superintendent, and others on his list whose co-operation he must secure. If there is no local representative, letters should be sent directly to the persons upon whom he expects to call.
The agent’s visit should be timed long enough in advance of the coming of the train to allow for carrying out the publicity plans, and near enough so that there will be no chance for interest to wane in the interval. A ten-day start has been found satisfactory, especially when the way has been paved for his visit and publicity and advertising materials are ready for use. If an agent travels in an automobile, he is better able to adapt his time to local needs and still keep ahead of the train, than if he is dependent upon railroad schedules.
The Child Welfare Special of the Children’s Bureau was preceded by an advance agent and the method is described in the bureau’s report of the tour as follows:
The advance agent, who travels two weeks in advance of the car arranges the itinerary, attends to the publicity, and organizes local communities to take charge of the work. Her first step is to call together a county child welfare committee. With their aid an itinerary is mapped out, and then local committees are organized in the communities to be visited. So far as possible, the agents work through the local child welfare committees formed during Children’s Year.
These committees are asked to provide a suitable location for the parking of the Special—a spot that is centrally located, well shaded, and near a public room that can be used both as an exhibit and waiting room. They are also asked to make a canvass of their districts before the Special arrives, so that everyone may understand the purpose of the conference. Each committee member has her field of work clearly defined. A number of women are asked to serve as hostesses during the conference, receiving mothers and babies, giving them numbers for examination, and explaining the exhibit material.
The agent then distributes her cuts and other publicity material for the newspapers, printed instructions for the child welfare committee, copies of announcements that ministers are asked to make from their pulpits, and posters advertising the coming of the Special. She visits city and county officials, social agencies, editors, physicians, clergymen, farm advisers, county demonstrators, business men, and other representative citizens to explain the purpose of the visit of the car.
As a result of this work of the advance agent, the staff finds everything is in readiness on the arrival of the Special.
The Land Clearing Special of Georgia, a recent enterprise of the State College of Agriculture, was preceded by an advertising campaign designed to make the Land Clearing Demonstration the big event of the season in each stopping place. In addition to the usual methods of newspaper publicity, posters, and letters, twenty automobiles carrying signs announcing the demonstration, visited the rural districts for a week preceding the event. Telephone owners were called up on the telephone and invited, and arrangements were made to have factory and train whistles blow when the demonstrations were about to start. Information about this plan was widely spread.
Assignments of Advance Work for Local Committees
With time for only a day or part of a day’s stop in a town the advance agent has little opportunity to explain fully to the co-operating committee all the details of advance preparation expected of its members. To meet this situation, the directors of the Pennsylvania Food Conservation Train with the co-operation of the present writer prepared and multigraphed a set of instructions for local committees. The agent distributed copies of these instructions to the members of the executive committee in each town during the meeting that was held on the day of his visit. Not all of these directions were suited to every community visited, and frequently suggestions from the local committee were added or substituted. This set of assignments is quoted in full below. The features of the assignments especially worth noting are:
1. That written instructions or suggestions in addition to the agent’s personal explanation leave less to chance in getting the plans carried out.
2. That the directions are exceedingly simple and flexible.
3. That each separate assignment was printed on a separate sheet so that it could be placed in the hands of the person who was to carry it out.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT FOR LOCAL CO-OPERATING COMMITTEES REGARDING THE PENNSYLVANIA FOOD CONSERVATION TRAIN
Food Conservation Train Coming to ... On ... Quota of Attendance ...
You know the old saying, “If you want to get a thing done, do it yourself.”
But there is a new one that is much more appropriate in wartime when we should all be working together to win: “If you want to get people interested, give them something to do to help.”
There is something for everybody to do to make the Food Conservation Train a success.
Dividing the Work. The following list of assignments should be divided among as many dependable people as you can find. Try some new people who have not had a chance to help before.
Each assignment is described on a separate sheet, a copy of which may be given to the person taking the assignment. If necessary, one person may take several assignments.
AssignmentsName of committee chairman
1. Reception committee.
2. Newspapers.
3. Advertising.
4. Attendance of special groups.
5. Churches.
6. Schools.
7. Attendance of foreign born.
8. Speaking.
9. Personal canvass.
10. Motor service.
11. Miscellaneous.
RECEPTION COMMITTEE
A reception committee usually of from six to ten members should receive the visitors at the train. It is desirable to have four members on hand, usually from ten to twelve o’clock, and six members from two to five o’clock to welcome delegations, distribute literature, give information, and explain exhibits.
The committee will be given a list of expected delegations so that their leaders may be known and introduced to the train staff.
The committee will find that the train offers an excellent opportunity to tell visitors of local activities for food conservation and to invite their co-operation.
It will be well to have the whole reception committee at the train a few minutes before its first opening at ten o’clock so that they may become familiar with exhibits and have time for a brief conference with members of the staff.
COMMITTEE ON NEWSPAPERS
The advance agent will bring with him material for the local paper, to which will be added the names of committee members and of persons who are helping the committee.
Other material that should be of interest to the local papers includes:
1. A list of special delegations from lodges, churches, business groups, and others that will visit the train.
2. Accounts of talks given by Four Minute Men and others about the food train and food conservation.
3. An account of the work that is being done for food conservation by the local committee.
Editorials. Editors may be glad to take advantage of the presence of the train as an occasion for an editorial on some local aspect of the food situation, as encouraging the use of home products, regarding the food hoarders, and so forth.
Out-of-Town Papers. The newspapers in the territory adjacent to your town will carry some news of its coming. In addition to news sent to those editors from state headquarters they will be interested in your local plans and the names of your workers.
ADVERTISING COMMITTEE
One of these assignments could be given to each of several members of a committee. The more workers there are the more enthusiasm there will be.
Posters. There are probably several persons who would gladly make posters announcing the train if they were asked. Give them the facts and let them work out their own ideas. Have these posters shown in store windows and in public buildings. See that all posters sent from the Philadelphia office are placed where they will do the most good.
Window Displays. Invite merchants to have window displays on food conservation and help them with ideas. The sheets issued by the Retail Store Section of the Food Administration contain pictures of windows that are easy to copy. Be sure that the window display contains an announcement of the food train.
Ask every merchant who has a sign writer or who makes his own window cards to make up in his best style a card or sign announcing the coming of the train.
Slides in Moving Picture Theaters. See that slides are displayed in the moving picture theaters announcing the coming of the train. The following makes a satisfactory slide:
SEE THE PICTURES AND WAR RELICS
AND
LEARN WARTIME COOKERY
FOOD CONSERVATION TRAIN
FREE FREE
12th St. SIDING, PENNSYLVANIA R.R.
10-12 A.M. 2-5 P.M. JULY 15
Mention in Advertisements of Local Merchants. Local food dealers, especially those selling substitutes, should be interested in getting their customers to see the exhibits and demonstrations. Ask them to mention the train in their newspaper advertisements preceding its arrival.
In addition to the usual advertising space of food dealers your newspaper may be able to have a special page of food advertisements with a large announcement of the train in the center.
Other advertisers may also be willing to mention the food train and may find a way to work it into their advertisement as follows:
On your way to the Food Conservation Train on Tuesday, don’t fail to drop in and see our new assortment of men’s neckwear, etc.
COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL DELEGATIONS
Since only a certain number of the people can see the train during its brief stay and ALL the people should receive its message, it is important that special delegations be arranged for, with the understanding that the delegates will pass on the message brought by the train to members of their organizations.
Morning attendance is lightest. As many as possible of these special groups should be arranged for during the morning.
The director of the train and the chairman of the reception committee should each receive a list of delegations that expect to attend, also the hour when they will arrive.
If any special group promises to come at a given hour, have a committee member meet them and introduce them at the train. People will be more likely to come if they feel some special attention is being shown them.
The following groups are suggested; others may be added or substituted as the committee may decide:
Officials. An official delegation made up of members of council of defense, city officials, chamber of commerce, trades assembly, Red Cross and other war agencies, newspaper editors, and others. This delegation should be the first to come in the morning after the reception committee arrives.
Schools. Special arrangements for the attendance of school children in the morning are suggested on a separate assignment sheet, with the heading “Schools.”
Churches. See the assignment on Co-operation of Churches for a suggestion for having delegations from church societies.
Restaurants and Hotels. Managers and cooks of hotels and restaurants should come in a body at a special hour so that information and answers to questions of special interest to them can be arranged.
Food Sellers. There are exhibits of special interest to food sellers, and these persons can be very helpful in passing on information to their customers. All should be asked to attend in a body if possible. Can you arrange for the stores to be closed at a certain hour?
Employes. Employers might be willing to excuse some of their workers in stores and factories, especially if they are near the train, for a brief visit. If a factory delegation can be arranged for at the noon hour a special session may be arranged for them.
Clubs. All fraternal orders, civic, social clubs, and labor unions, should be especially urged to be represented. The men’s organizations will be especially interested in the war relics and in the maps showing important facts about food distribution.
COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATION OF CHURCHES
The Food Conservation Train aims to teach the message of brotherhood—of sharing our food with those whose need is greater than ours. All the churches will be glad to help make it a success if you tell them what to do.
Announcements. Ask ministers to have announcement of the train given at all services during the week before it arrives. Announcement forms are supplied.
Delegations. Invite church societies to send delegations to the train. Be sure that the women who plan church suppers, bazaars, and food sales are appointed among delegates. They will receive valuable suggestions.
It is important that men’s classes and societies send delegates.
Sermons. Ask ministers to preach sermons on the Sunday before the train arrives on our obligation to feed the world from our generous stores of food. They may obtain helpful information from (insert name of a food administration bulletin giving general information about the food situation), of which copies may be had from (name of local official or committee).
COMMITTEE ON SCHOOLS
School children can be of great assistance in spreading the news of the train.
Invitations to Parents. The teachers may be asked to have the children write invitations to their parents to visit the train as an exercise in composition.
Attendance of School Children. Groups of older school children (attending high school) should come with their teachers in squads of about thirty or forty at fifteen-minute intervals during the morning. Domestic science classes should come in a body.
Drawing and manual training classes may be asked to study the exhibits with a view to reproducing them at a later date for the benefit of parents and friends.
COMMITTEE ON ATTENDANCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE GROUPS
Remember those who do not speak English. We particularly wish to reach them. The following steps are necessary:
The Leaders. The committee should see and actively interest the clergymen. If they approve, they can do much to interest the members of their congregations.
In the same manner, interest the chief foreign business men. Find out what leaders among them have been revealed by the Liberty Loan and other campaigns, and reach them.
Workers. Let every employer having foreign workers and every woman employing foreign domestics advertise to and through them.
Arrange special hours for groups by languages and be sure to have an interpreter or a speaker in their own language.
Be Democratic! Above all else be democratic in your dealings with these foreign-born workers. Make them feel that they are asked to take a part in a common experience, not that the native born are “unloading” something upon the foreigners. Keep yourselves in the attitude of being willing to learn as well as to teach.
COMMITTEE ON SPEAKING
Use the Four Minute Men in advertising the train. Call upon others who can speak. Tell them what the Pennsylvania Food Administration is trying to do with the train and ask them to speak for you.
The director and staff of the train are willing to address noon meetings with the object of urging attendance at the afternoon session. Factory employes can be reached in this way. Arrange with the manager of any local corporation, particularly one employing girls, to have such a meeting.
Try to have a speaker at any gathering that is held during the week or ten days before the train arrives.
PERSONAL CANVASS
The Men. If your men are not as eager to conserve as the women, get them to come to the train and we can help you to interest them. The exhibit car especially contains war relics, pictures, and maps of interest to men. Invite as many men as you can reach personally or by telephone.
The Farmers’ Wives. The best publicity to farmers’ wives is personal. Let the committee take the telephone book, divide up the names of the farmers, and see that each farm woman is ’phoned to at least three days before our coming. Have letters sent to farmers’ wives several days before train arrives. (Forms supplied.)
If you know of interested women who are lame, or otherwise shut in, send someone for them in an automobile.
Last Minute Calls. Personal telephone calls on a day before the train arrives are an indispensable means of insuring attendance. Get some of the older high school girls to divide up the telephone directory among them and call up the numbers systematically from their own homes. They should simply announce that the Food Conservation Train is going to be in town to-morrow and give the time and place where it may be found. If the train has been generally advertised a large attendance can be insured by this method. It reminds people.
Motor Service. In order to reach the people of outlying districts, it is possible to organize a girls’ motor service. Have the automobiles go to an advertised point where they will pick up all who desire to go to the train. They can make several trips in morning and afternoon. It would be well to have automobiles doing this work carry banners advertising the train and its special work.