Overview:

AguaClara research teams design water treatment processes that improve water quality for resource poor communities. However it is the Public Relations team that makes sure that their accomplishments are appreciated and recognized widely by potential members, clients, or stakeholders both on campus and beyond. In addition, the PR team works to convince new students to join the team while fostering teamwork in the lab.

The Public Relations team also works on posting updates to AguaClara social media accounts, recruiting new team members, creating subteam spotlights, managing merchandise sales, and creating documents for managing money transactions within the Public Relations team. The more public awareness and support AguaClara has both on and off campus, the more impact AguaClara’s research will have towards providing safe water to communities in need of safe drinking water

Current Semester - Spring 2017:

Team Member: Julien Morgan (jm2383)

Team Member: Ken Rivero-Rivera (klr227)

Team Member: Ashish Sangai (aas298)

Team Member: Jeremy Candelas (jmc599)

Team Research Advisor: Erika Axe (ena7) 

This semester Public Relations team aimed to increase awareness on Campus about AguaClara through multiple projects and to build relationships with alumni. AguaClara Public Relations team recognized the importance of spreading the news about AguaClara's work on campus. This semester, the Public Relations team achieved the two goals by focusing on five main areas: events, social media and newsletter, funding opportunities, merchandise, and special project.

Public Relations team attended multiple events, which allowed the Public Relations team to promote the team’s research and talents.  The Public Relations Team also hosted two AguaClara events this semester: the open house and AguaClara fundraiser with Cafe Pacific. In terms of social media and publications, the Public Relations team continued to actively utilize these channels to reach audiences and market AguaClara. This semester, the Public Relations team used the weekly member spotlights to connect with the Facebook audience and increase media attention. The newsletter helped with consistent communication with AguaClara alumni. This semester, AguaClara applied for Student Activities Funding Commission (SAFC) funding as a new endeavor, which proved to be worthwhile.

For merchandise, the Public Relations Team was responsible for organizing the sales and distribution of team polos, sticker, and T-shirts, which showcased the AguaClara logo and increases public recognition of AguaClara. Lastly, the Public Relations team took on a new special project to offer headshots sessions for the AguaClara team

Past semesters:

This semester Public Relations is focusing its work on a number of different projects and efforts to improve publicity on a campus and nation-wide level. 

AguaClara research teams design water treatment processes that improve water quality for resource-poor communities. However, it is the PR team that makes sure that their accomplishments are appreciated and recognized widely by potential members, clients, or stakeholders both on campus and beyond. In addition, the PR team works to convince new students to join the team while fostering teamwork in the lab.

In previous semesters, AguaClara’s PR team has focused on merchandise sales, competition applications, new member recruitment, and fundraising. This semester, the Public Relations team made general publicity its top priority. This was accomplished by representing AguaClara at various events, creating virtual and physical posters, and hosting an AguaClara Open House.

The PR team also worked on posting updates to AguaClara social media accounts, recruiting new team members, creating subteam spotlights, managing merchandise sales, and creating documents for managing money transactions within the Public Relations team. The more public awareness and support AguaClara has both on and off campus, the more impact AguaClara’s research will have towards providing safe water to communities in need of safe drinking water.

The foremost project that the team undertook this semester was the creation of a promotional video, featuring various pictures and collages created and edited using iMovie, for entry into the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Engineering For You Video Competition. Of the various grand challenges identified by the NAE, "providing access to clean water" and "restoring and improving urban infrastructure" were notable areas for which AguaClara's efforts resounded deeply. The video was uploaded to YouTube and submitted, and as of Mid-April the team has been notified that the video is moving onto the next round of judging. The grand prize for the competition is $25,000, and there are also other opportunities to win $5,000 for videos in each competition category. The final results of the competition will be announced in the Fall of 2015. The PR team also encouraged other technical subteams to apply for the Odebrecht Award and Sustainability Challenge, which carries a large potential prize for the students, faculty, and university/institution involved.

In addition to participating in these competitions, the PR team also gave presentations to various groups across campus, including the Cornell campus tour guides (explaining/discussing the role of Engineering Project Teams on campus) and visiting pre-frosh during Tau Beta Pi's Science/Engineering Fair in Duffield Hall. Both groups were well-receptive to the information shared. The team also contacted the Civil and Environmental Engineering Office in Hollister to learn about the possibility of obtaining a display case/bulletin space in the building to highlight the project team. Once a design has been created, the following PR team can send the design to one of the receptionists in the CEE office for approval for placement in the building. 

In efforts to foster cross-team communication, the team has continued the tradition of Bagel events and has been very involved in the design and ordering process for new AguaClara merchandise. This semester PR organized a Bagel Wednesday during normal team time, with the aim of encouraging various sub-teams to feast on bagels and cream cheese together. Numerous surveys and emails were sent to the entire AguaClara team to determine what merchandise members were interested in ordering. After an effort was made to clear out older inventory, the team decided on ordering quarter zip sweatshirts, staying in line with the survey results. After much work in the design process, Skyler was successfully able to order 18 newly designed AguaClara sweatshirts.

PR then shifted its focus toward the finances of the team; after running into multiple difficulties with funding for the Bagel Wednesday event and ordering the sweatshirts, the PR team decided to look into a more consolidated approach to handling AguaClara money. Team advisor Annie Cashon suggested the use of a bank account, and the team looked into the possibility, sending information and options to Felice and Skyler to potentially put in place. 

Throughout the semester the Spring 2015 team has successfully organized opportunities to both bring the AguaClara team closer together to make the AguaClara initiative and name known across campus.

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The main purpose of the Public Relations Team is to be the public face of AguaClara and raise awareness about international water related issues--specifically, the quest to provide access to safe drinking water .  On this page, our public relations group outlines how AguaClara   strives to meet these goals.

The team has organized benefit concerts at the Nines in   Collegetown. We also sent press releases to a multitude of local media outlets including the Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell Chronicle, and the Ithaca Journal. We plan to contact area schools and community groups to arrange presentations and lessons for local students. We will facilitate these presentations but everyone on the team will be required to attend. In order to make this efficient, we can develop a generic lesson plan that can be used and modified depending on the situation.

Educational materials have been designed for AguaClara. We have developed   Sponsorship Materials, Brochures, and Info Sheets along with other promotional materials. As part of getting our name seen around campus, we have designed and printed posters and created t-shirts in past semesters. For the web, a new website has been designed and the wiki is being restructured.   The website has been translated to Spanish. We are in the process of getting banners for tabling events. Also, a new brochure and sponsorship packet were created by current Public Relations team members in Spring 2013.

Tau Beta Pi also had a technical fair during Cornell Days at which   AguaClara tabled and gained lots of incoming freshman exposure.

Recruiting

We will work to recruit other people based on skills needed. This includes promoting   AguaClara within the Civil Engineering Department, the College of Engineering and also to different departments around Cornell. Potential examples include someone with video editing and graphic/web design experience for the website, blog, and informational materials, people from biological or health-related departments to organize measures of the effectiveness of our efforts, and people from social development departments to study how our efforts are affecting local communities and populations. We will make presentations to ENGRD classes and to other organizations that have expressed interest around campus, advertise in the Sundial, and put up posters in various places on campus.  Also, presentations will be made to high school and middle school aged students who are developing interests in engineering.   We can also table on North Campus at RPCC or on Ho Plaza.

Recruitment material and Public Relations Team Tools can be found by browsing Outreach Resources. 

Website

The website is a crucial component of AguaClara because it is typically the first point of contact for outsiders.  Our team created the public website in Spring 2010 in order to create a better relationship between the AguaClara Team and the general public.  We plan on using this resource to streamline the process for keeping past and current members updated on AguaClara progress and to help educate possible sponsors about our project.  The site is also used to provide general information about AguaClara, advertise for fundraising events, highlight the recent achievements, centralize a channel for online donations, and spotlight team members who are currently working on projects.

We face many obstacles in refining and updating our website.  Our complete guide to utilizing and improving the site can be found at the Website Resources page.

In Fall 2010, several changes were made to the website, including its translation into Spanish. Aguaclara had been using Google translator to reach to the Spanish speaking community. However, it was crucial to have an independent website designed specifically for people interested in Aguaclara but with no knowledge of English. Since Aguaclara's technology was designed for Latin American communities, website translation was a priority for the outreach team. We worked with a native speaker, and the website is complete and went live in January 2010.

Having an independent website in Spanish is a way to reach more people and potential sponsors. Outreach members should be careful when updating the content of the website. Since the Spanish version is independent it also needs to be continuously updated.  This should probably be done by a native speaker who is willing to incorporate the new information from the original website into the translated version or trying to adapt the content of the Spanish website to cover things that do not need to be constantly updated (such as news, student spotlights, etc).

In addition to its translation, the website has been updated with new student blurbs, new donors, and partners, and a new section under Get Involved was created: Aguaclara course credits in Fall 2010. Since a large percentage of the inquiries we get from the website are related to student participation in the project, the outreach team thought it would be convenient to have class information in the web to be accessed directly.

AguaClara on Social Media

During Fall 2010, the outreach team spent most of the time on public relations material. We tried to get the AguaClara Facebook page; updated so new members can join and it could be used to advertise outreach events, such as the concert. Old officers need to be contacted by new members so they can pass on their role and future outreach teams can update new information on Facebook.

The Public Relations Team also manages the Blogspot, which will now focus on big events/awards for AguaClara and the Twitter @CUAguaClara for team updates and other related WASH-sector news.

AguaClara's Subteam Spotlights

This semester we are doing comprehensive interviews with each team to promote their efforts and AguaClara to the world. We are addressing how their team fits into AguaClara and water sanitation at large. Each subteam has valuable information that can be used to keep other teams and the general public engaged in our efforts. AguaClara is a one of a kind project that should be shared to make the greatest impact. We want to tell AguaClara's story team by team. 

AguaClara's Merchandise

This semester we are working on designing new shirts for the AguaClara Spring 2017 team. Our goal is to have these shirts out by World Water Week which starts from March 19 through March 25. We will also be creating new stickers that people can use to promote AguaClara throughout campus. This semester we are trying to get AguaClara water bottles. We hope that we can fundraise some money for AguaClara by selling them to team members and the Cornell community.

fit Concert

In the past, the outreach team has organized benefit concerts at The Nines in Collegetown. The best way to do this is to call George, the music coordinator at The Nines, at 607-272-1888. The best time to reach him is 12-5 PM on Tuesday. During the event, The Nines will donate a percentage of sales to AguaClara, and we can decide to charge an admission fee which goes directly to AguaClara. In the past the admission fee has been $5. The Nines charges $120 to hire a sound guy for the concert which can be paid out of revenues at the event. All other expenses should be incurred by outreach team members out-of-pocket to be reimbursed after revenues have been collected. (AguaClara's proceeds) = (percentage of sales) + (admissions) - ($120 sound charge) - (reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses).

Book the event for a weekend night well in advance. Try to book student talent (bands from JAM Program House tend to work well) because student performers will help promote and bring their friends. You should not have to pay the talent; find people who will play for free for a good cause. Work with the promotional staff of The Nines to print flyers and quarter-cards. If necessary, pay for printing out-of-pocket and reimburse yourself from the proceeds. Promote online and organize volunteers from AguaClara or elsewhere to promote. Post flyers around campus and Collegetown, and distribute quarter-cards on Ho Plaza and elsewhere. Be sure to let people know that AguaClara will receive some of the proceeds from food and drink sales will benefit AguaClara as well. It might be a good idea to sell advance tickets.

The Latino Studies Program may co-sponsor the event as they did for Fall 2010. They are interested in what Aguaclara does, and they can provide a graphic designer, free color printing, and more importantly, they will advertise the event through several listservs. For more information about it, contact Marti Dense at (mfd1), the LSP program coordinator.

Posters used in previous concerts are stored under outreach resources – graphics.Spring 2015 Symposium 1 Presentation

	Challenges	Tasks	Symposium	Final Presentation	Final Report	Future Challenges
Spring '17
Fall '16
Spring '16
Fall '15
Spring '15
Fall '14
Spring '14
Fall '13
Summer '13
Spring '13
Fall '12
Spring '12

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