Special Olympics Latin America held its first-ever regional Public Awareness Workshop 14-16 April 2004, in the Hotel Panama, in downtown Panama City, Panama, the new location of the regional Special Olympics Latin America headquarters. The Workshop laid out an ambitious three-day agenda for its two dozen participants, representing each of the 17 Latin American Programs.
A cutting-edge, unified Public Awareness campaign is key to the region's strategy for reaching its goal of 195,800 athletes by 2005. Regional and Program staff across Latin America concur that a strong Public Awareness campaign is one the most promising and efficient means of simultaneously recruiting both athletes and sponsors.
Workshop themes included proper use of the logo, standardization of the regional image, marketing techniques and statistics, the basic elements of fundraising, and media relations. The common focus that links these strategies is the incorporation and integration of the region's Special Olympics athletes in all elements of public relations, from photographic images to press conference speakers. Moreover, the region will work to capitalize on the unique vision and targeted work of all Special Olympics initiatives — specifically the Family Support Network, Youth and Schools, and Healthy Athletes — so as to specialize regional messaging and more effectively target and attract specific demographics as well as promote the breadth of Special Olympics activities.
On Wednesday, 14 April, Special Olympics Latin America held a Press Conference in the Hotel Panama in Panama City, Panama, to publicly announce and discuss their inaugural event. Master of Ceremonies and Special Olympics Panama athlete and Global Messenger, Alfredo Grimas, guided the conference, introducing the four other speakers: Yolanda Eleta de Verela, President of Special Olympics Panama; Dennis Brueggemann, Managing Director of Special Olympics Latin America; Divia Lewis, Special Olympics Panama athlete representative; and Pablo Acuña, Special Olympics Costa Rica Global Messenger. General speeches of introduction to Special Olympics Latin America and a specific outline of the goals and proceedings of the week's events were presented to the 16 members of the press present at the conference. In addition, two new regional videos "Hermanos" ("Brothers") and "Meta" ("Goal") were debuted before the press, athletes, staff and family members who attended the event.
Program participants represented a diverse background of resources, experience, and positions in Special Olympics — some are full-time Program staff, while others are part-time volunteers. The individual public awareness initiatives launched by each of the Programs also exhibit this diversity, in addition to the unique national character of each country. While these differences in fiscal and human resources may provide a few initial obstacles to a unified regional campaign, metaphorically they will ultimately aid the region by providing a wide variety of knowledge, creativity, and networking options.
New to the Special Olympics Latin America team, Claudia Echeverry, Manager of Public Relations for Special Olympics Latin America, has facilitated the seminar proceedings after nearly half a year of preparation. In addition to the knowledge gained from the discussions and presentations, each participant will return to their national Programs with enough resources to start a multi-media library.
Resources will include a Graphic Standards Guide, including all imaging guidelines for Special Olympics Programs; a Public Relations Guide, a comprehensive guide that gives background information, step-by-step planning guides, and tips for successful public relations; a participant workbook that includes specific logo and imaging information for each Program as well as a comparative look at each of the nation's previous public awareness initiatives; and 7 CDs that contain an electronic version of the aforementioned resources, as well as presentations, new promotional videos, radio clips, music, and photos.
For more information please contact Claudia Echeverry, Public Relations Manager, Special Olympics Latin America,
cecheverry@cwpanama.net.
