Workshop at the National Animal Rights Conference
The Vegan Activist Guide to Strategic Communications
People don’t act on information; they act on what they care most about.
Join VegFund in Washington, DC, for this not-to-be-missed, free workshop for vegan activists. The Vegan Activist Guide to Strategic Communications takes place Thursday, July 25th, in conjunction with the 2019 Animal Rights National Conference (July 25–28).
Learn science-based communications strategies for engaging new audiences in vegan living during this hands-on workshop presented by Ann Christiano, Director, and Annie Neimand, Ph.D., Research Director, of the University of Florida’s Center for Public Interest Communications.
The workshop will equip activists with skills to think strategically about their events, campaigns, and communications. Ann and Annie will share five principles, rooted in academic research and activist experience, and will lead exercises for participants to experiment with these ideas.
Details: VegFund will host The Vegan Activist Guide to Strategic Communications workshop on Thursday, July 25th, from 12:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. in the Terrace Ballroom at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, the venue for the Animal Rights Conference. A box lunch is included. Registration is required. Registrations are limited, so secure your spot now!
Course Synopsis
The scientific evidence is piling up: people don’t act on information; they act on what they care most about. The presenters have distilled five core principles from behavioral, cognitive, and social science that you can apply to inspire others to adopt a vegan lifestyle. In this lively and hands-on session, participants will learn how to build a strategy around their theory of change, including how to identify communities to engage, how to design effective calls to action, and how to share stories that capture attention and inspire action.
Participants will gain a framework they can apply to their own projects and share with their fellow activists. They will also receive access to the Vegan Activist Guide to Strategic Communications following the event. The guide offers a deeper dive into the insights shared and more exercises for applying the ideas to their work.
Workshop objectives
- Learn how to develop a communication strategy to engage new audiences in veganism
- Learn a science-driven approach to strategic communication for belief and behavior change
- Through hands-on exercises that include games, worksheets, and role-playing, participants will experiment with how to apply these ideas to their work
Presenters
Ann Christiano is Director for Public Interest Communications, Frank Karel Chair in Public Communications, and professor in the Department of Public Relations at the College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida.
In that role, she is developing a first-ever curriculum in public interest communications, connecting practitioners and scholars who are already working in the field, and nurturing and sharing research that can advance this newly emerging academic discipline. Public Interest Communications uses science-driven strategic communications and storytelling to foster positive social change.
Annie Neimand, Ph.D., is Research Director for the Center for Public Interest Communications at the College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida. Annie Neimand studies social movement messaging, tactics, and mobilization, as well as how movements can use the science behind how people think and behave to design for social change. Neimand is an expert in the science of social movements and works with social change organizations to apply those insights to their efforts.
The Center for Public Interest Communications
The Center for Public Interest Communications, housed in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is the first of its kind in the nation. Launched in February 2018, the Center is designed to study, test, and apply the science of strategic communication for social change. The Center partners with government agencies, universities, foundations, and nonprofits to craft effective campaigns and ensure that science-based communication is built into their program design, strategy, and content. The team uses systems thinking, human-centered design and behavioral, cognitive, and social science to discover and develop messages and communication strategies that support change efforts.