TC01 is charged with providing information on ICG activities to the wider public and also ensuring effective communications inside ICG and with outside organisations
ACTIVITIES in 2019
With regard to the book Teaching Glass Better, the initial print run was 1000 copies and enough have now been sold to cover the initial printing costs; further sales will be at a profit. The normal distribution routes for ICG books has been through DGG and SGT, but the Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Associations have also become suppliers. Copies can also be preordered for delivery at an ICG conference. ICG has also considered through the good offices of its president, Prof Duran, an alternative distribution route through Amazon and an agreement has now been reached on this approach. An e-copy of Teaching Glass Better has been under discussion, possibly as an alternative to a reprint.
PRESS RELEASES during 2019:
10 releases concerning ICG and 8 more giving NEWS from elsewhere have been published on the ICG web site. Several were advertiseing post-doctoral vacancies and studentships.
ICG press releases were widely distributed by Dr Klaus Bange and made available for publication in other journals and e-media.
During the past year TC01 published 18 press releases, including one for the ICG2030 Project. The ICG web site and lists of TC chairs have been regularly updated. TC01 suggests that SteCo members should reflect upon the issue of company logo display as part of any sponsorship agreements to decide whether it is appropriate to display 3 or 4 company logos on the front page of ICG files. ICG press releases offered a good opportunity to advertise, eg. PhD. applications, and was extensively used by different groups within ICG. The opportunities this provides needs should also be given more consideration.
ADVERTISING MATERIALS
An important TC01 activity has been the preparation of advertising matter especially for: the triennial ICG congress and the Vitrum trade fair in Milan. For the first time the ICG Congress organisers displayed TC posters electronically. TC chairs submitted Powerpoint displays with detailed information about their activities which the conference organisers edited to produce a standardised format. A few TCs failed to submit material and a simple poster listing title, TC members and contact information was prepared so that all TCs were represented.
A0 posters and A5 leaflets advertising TC activities, books and schools were circulated specifically at the Boston Congress and for the Vitrum Trade Fair in Milan in October. The Vice President of ICG, Prof Conradt, represented ICG at the latter event.
Prof Inoue, chair of CTC initiated a fresh approach by encouraging each TC chair to produce a one-minute video advertising their committee. CTC vice-chair Prof Jones advised on content to give some uniformity of approach. 6 videos were submitted and collated by CTC vice-chair Prof Jones for display throughout the congress. In principle the creation of such videos should not take long and requires little more than a smartphone to achieve satisfactory results. The sharing of the large files generated though did cause some headaches. The success of the exercise confirmed its value and more TCs were invited to have a go.
The frequent contact made with TC chairs for annual reports, posters, and videos has undoubtedly meant that TC chairs have felt a degree of strain in preparing and submitting information on time.
PLANS for 2020
Many actions are undertaken on a continous basis:
- Updating the web site
- Generating Press Releases
- Adding council members’ details to the address book
- Developing the ‘What is Glass’ section, with educational material in mind, such as Utube videos
- Using Google Analytics to understand better the audience
- Enhancing the web site with more images and more links to social media such as Twitter feeds
- Encouraging ICG committees to promote their activities by creating Press Releases
- Increasing the visibility of ICG by representation at Trade Fairs.
- Maintain and develop links to ICG members and associate members e.g. by advertising their activities on the ICG web pages
- Providing NPOs with News items from the ICG.
- Encouraging TCs to help maintain the currency of the conference web page
- Optimising promotion of ICG at these events
- Promoting ICG through Entries on Wikipedia as time permits.
Web site planning for 2020
The ICG web site has been widely criticised and new models for creating and updating the site have been suggested. This has caused a degree of planning blight, delaying the normal updating process. Although a new site was promised for the end of the year this has not materialised and future developments are unclear.
A key issue is that many people view web sites primarily through their smartphones and the ICG web is not ideally constructed. Secondly many younger people are more concerned with Social Media rather than the Web and ICG is not active in such arena. Having a presence there would demand an admistrative input and currently this is not available.
International Year of Glass
During the last year ICG has taken a central role in a submission to the United Nations proposing 2022 as an International Year of Glass. Further information can be found on the web site: www.iyog2022.org. TC01 has assisted in the creation of this web site and in the preparation of publicity material.
Committee Members
Bange, Klaus
Brauer, Delia
Duran, Alicia
Hehlen, Bernard
Nicoletti, Fabiano
Ana Candida, Rodrigues Committee Position: Chair
Peron, Gabriele (Mr)
Committee Contact Details
TC01. Communications
Rodrigues Ana Candida
Federal University of São Carlos / Brazil