How Foundations
Communicate in 2012
Communicating with Key Audiences
WORKSHOP
JULIAN OLIVER, Secretary General, Fondation EurActiv
European Foundation Centre, AGA, Belfast, June 2012
OVERVIEW & OUTLINE
•
EU JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIPS
•
MUTUAL INTRODUCTIONS
•
HOW DO FOUNDATIONS COMMUNICATE
•
–
QUICK SURVEY OF PEOPLE PRESENT
–
SUMMARY OF RESPONSES TO SURVEY
WHAT DOES FONDATION EURACTIV DO?
–
INCLUDING SOME CREDENTIALS
•
EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ INITIATIVES
•
USER NEEDS: RECOGNITION, TIME SAVING, INFLUENCE
–
•
OPPORTUNITIES: COMMUNITY & POLICY-MAKING
–
•
EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATIONS
7 STEPS TO IMPROVE ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS
NEXT STEPS: EU Journalism Fellowships; Social Media, other leads.
2
EU JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIPS
2010 ......
1. Support for democracy
2. Support of training
3. Support with ideas
4. Financial support
5. Networking support
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Recruitment
Selection
International Jury
Intensive seminar
8 weeks ‘on the job’
Alumni group...
3
MUTUAL INTRODUCTIONS
4
HOW DO FOUNDATIONS
COMMUNICATE IN 2012
1.HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE?
2.SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS
•http://www.surveymonkey.net/MySurvey_Responses.aspx
?sm=aTiKuvzkrSep9oG0b8ugnYV19YJWcxy2MrzYWSqFZ
K8J9G%2b4AmOyw%2bDUxhd3mmnY
5
WHAT DOES EURACTIV DO?
CONTENT & CREDENTIALS
6
EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ INITIATIVES
Hands up if you know about ECIs
7
INITIATIVE.EU
FEDERATING STAKEHOLDERS FOR EUROPEAN
CITIZENS’ INITIATIVES
Christophe LECLERCQ
Co-Founder of Initiative.eu &
Fondation EurActiv PoliTech
Daniel VAN LERBERGHE
Social Media Director & PoliTech Founder
daniel.van.lerberghe@euractiv.com
8
"Warming up for the Citizens' Initiative”
26/01/12 - European Commission, Charlemagne Building, Brussels
ECI OVERVIEW
 ECI PROMISING BUT NOT ‘ON FIRE’ (unlike SOCIAL MEDIA)...
 INITIATIVES: MAIN STAGES & LOGIC OF GROWTH
 INITIATIVE.EU: PURPOSE & PROJECT DRIVERS
 INITIATIVE.EU: FEW RESOURCES YET, BUT GREAT PARTNERS!
 SEPARATED SPHERES? SOCIALLY NETWORKED, YES WE CAN!
9
INITIATIVES: MAIN STAGES
PHASE I:
ALLIANCE BUILDING
FEDERATING
STAKEHOLDERS:
“INITIATORS”
PHASE II:
PHASE III:
EU OFFICIAL ECI
PROCESS
EU POLICY
RESPONSE
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
REGISTRATION WEBSITE
HELPDESK?
COMMISSION /
PARLIAMENT
FOLLOW UP
NATIONAL
ePETITION
PORTALS
& OTHER MEDIA
10
ECI PROMISING BUT NOT CATCHING LIKE
(SOCIAL MEDIA) FIRE ...

Great participative innovation, amazing Treaty left-over from Constitution attempt
 Limited communication, no help desk etc…: even experts & NGO leaders know little yet
 Hopefully better by 1 April, but too late to avoid initial situation
'the good,
the bad,
the ugly’.
(meeting all criteria, lacking legal basis and support, lacking even fit with EU values).
 High 'kill rate' at registration? risk of 'control freak' image of 'Brussels’.
 Could liven-up EU debates: Not just euro-crisis, but civil society & indignés / indignados
etc …
 Process can improve: 2012: first successes,
2013: policy response & political programmes,
2014: elections, and EP + new Commission mandates.
 EurActiv family is committed to ECI.
(EurActiv.com + 15 Country Network + BlogActiv.eu + Fondation EurActiv PoliTech + EUX.TV).
 Social Media: great potential, but not supporting EU policy making yet:
we have ideas in mind …
 Initiative.eu: small but unique contribution to help “initiators”
11
ECI PROMISING BUT NOT CATCHING LIKE
(SOCIAL MEDIA) FIRE ...

Great participative innovation, surprising Treaty left-over from Constitution attempt
 Limited communication, no help desk etc: even experts & NGO leaders know little yet
 Late start by EU & Member States prior to 1 April, but too late to avoid initial situation
'the good,
the bad,
the ugly’.
(meeting all criteria, lacking legal basis and support, lacking even fit with EU values).
 High 'kill rate' at registration? risk of 'control freak' image of 'Brussels’.
 Could liven-up EU debates? Not just euro-crisis, but civil society & indignés / indignados
etc …
 Process can improve: 2012: first successes: 6 agreed since 1 April and another 6 under scrutiny
2013: policy response & political programmes,
2014: elections, and EP + new Commission mandates.
 EurActiv family is committed to ECI.
(EurActiv.com + 15 Country Network + BlogActiv.eu + Fondation EurActiv PoliTech + EUX.TV).
 Social Media: great potential, but not supporting EU policy making yet:
we have ideas in mind …
 Initiative.eu: small but unique contribution to help “initiators”
12
WHAT DOES FONDATION
EURACTIV DO?
HOW IS IT CHANGING
13
: the EU Media Network
• INTRO to EurActiv and how we seek to
become a Community Media
14
ONLINE MEDIA CHANGING FAST:
SPECIALISATION BUT DEBATES & MEDIA IMPACT REMAIN KEY
‘New Media’
Web 2.0
Online Media
+
+ blogs
+
+
Web 1.0
+ new players*
INTEGRATION
+?
esp. media & politics
+ ‘new journalism’ ***
INTEGRATED
Mobile (+PC)
+ specialised
mass
Influence
waning
Print Media
‘before’
* Incl.
+
PC (+ Mobile)
Classic electronic
media (TV, Radio)
EU Comm
Strategy
implications
**
2009
• Static
websites
• Advertising
promotion
• EP bought
Google ads
• Facebook EP
page reaches
80.000 followers
in 15 countries + ca 20 other media it could group in a ‘’bouquet ’’
communities?
Shrinking
influence
today
2012
Shrinking
influence
2014 ?
• Focus on media impact
• Provide short & fast
content: ‘‘140 Char.
campaigns’’ ?
• Likely
similar ?
• But adapt
fast !
• Cross-platform debates
** & national players like DailyMotion & Vimeo
*** Data-journalism, Wiki-journalism, Storify, etc.
The “one-stop shop”
for EU stakeholders
(advertising)
Policy sections
Dropdown menu
Newsletters
(advertising)
Daily EU news
Videos
Sponsors
16
SHAPING THE DEBATE
17
COMMUNITY OF EU ACTORS
18
AT EURACTIV START IN 2000,
3 EXPANSION DIMENSIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
POLICY TOPICS
(eg Energy, Environment, Enlargement)
COUNTRIES / LANGUAGE
(English, French, Localised German, etc.)
PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES
(eg lobbyists, eurocrats, NGO’s)
19
AFTER POLICY & COUNTRY FOCUS,
NOW COMMUNITY BUILDING
I. POLICY TOPICS: 2000 - today
 Policy Portal  Brussels  ca 20 sections (sponsor-financed)
II. COUNTRIES / LANGUAGES: 2003 - today
 Network  15 countries  incl. 7 J.V.s  initially co-financed by EU
III. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES: 2008 - 2020?
 Community strategy ? *
* First elements already: EurActiv network readership  BlogActiv.eu 
EUX.TV / YouTube  Initiative.eu  Presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn  etc.
20
EU INFORMATION ERAS:
INCREASING SOPHISTICATION
1980’s
DATA DEARTH
1990’s
2000’s
INTELLIGENCE
2010’s
?
INFLUENCE
Nickname:
“Generation…
…Black box”
…92”
…Enlargement”
…Internet”
…Social Media”
Information
quantity
(legal only)
too little
depends on
access
overload
drowning
Corporates
(via
confederations)
(via sectoral
federations)
corporate
lobbying
integrated
communication
integrated
reputation
& interaction
Consultants
-
get commission
drafts & resell
monitoring
processes
& lobbying
monitoring
internet &
communication
Media
(via agencies)
Publish
(organised) leaks
Typical support
service
“point de presse
à midi”
European Voice
EurActiv in 15
languages
Agence Europe
Community +
EurActiv &
(inter)national
media
21
to be researched 
1960’s-1970’s
LINKING TOPICS & PEOPLE - LEVERAGING EXISTING DATA
Sources
of content
EurActiv family
.com
newsletters
Partner CRM
Professional registers
IDEA, ETI, EPAD
Stakeholder.eu
Eur. Agenda, EU
consultant database etc..
Social media profiles
Facebook / Google+
Twitter / microblogging
LinkedIn / Pro networks
(Less focused sources)
eg. EP Visitors, stagiaire &
university alumni, event
programmes, etc.
SEMIPUBLIC
- ad-hoc contributions
- draft papers
- speeches/videos
- presentations
- etc.
GENERAL
SPECIFIC
PUBLIC
- reactions/tweets/curation
- press releases
- position papers
- opinions &Blogs
- relevant articles
- etc.
- general articles
- general profiles
- search results
- etc.
- WHO IS THIS  PERSON ID
- CREDIBLE?  RANKING
(org, position, profile & activity)
- WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?
TOPIC ID
- RELEVANT?
(SELF-)EVALUATION / CURATION
22
*Self validation
SUPPORT FROM POLITICS & BUSINESS:
AS IN THE PAST…
Network
aspect ?
Date
EU major
milestones
Political involvement
Typical organisations
1954
Coal & Steel
“Founding Fathers”
European Movement, Eurofer
1958 – 1965
Common Market
“Founding 6” foreign ministers
Marshall Plan OECE  OECD  EEC
1985 – 1992
Internal Market
EU Prime Ministers
ERT (Philips), Amcham EU (+consultants!)
1993-2001
Monetary Union
EU Council
AUME*
1989-2004
Eastern Enlargement
Berlin Wall + EU Council,
several governments
ERT, Amcham EU, Business Europe,
Eurochambres
2008 - ?
Fiscal Union
Berlin/Frankfurt/Brussels
+ capitals in crisis
Same+IMF+Worldbank+IFC
2012 – 2014 –
2020
“Re-set EU”
Same +
EU Commission &
Parliament
Brussels stakeholders
+selected few corporates
* Association pour l'Union Monétaire de l'Europe (AUME) :
initiated by VGE + H. Schmidt, members were banks &
industrial multinationals
Efficient interaction: EurActiv Community
23
USER NEEDS
GROWTH OF SOCIAL MEDIA
APPLICATIONS
24
Using Facebook
25
Using Twitter
26
Using Twitter
27
Using Twitter
28
Combining Social Media
29
How NOT to communicate:
mis-using Press Releases
30
7 Steps to improve
online communication
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
YOU – take it personally
Research strategy
Recruit a team
Measure everything
Remember ‘all politics is local’
Bring down silos
Get Basics right: Story/Audience/Open/Engage
31
NEXT STEPS
EU JOURNALISM
FELLOWSHIP
YES
/NO
CONTACTS
RBS &
EURACTIV
JUNE ‘12
FOR
MORE
DETAILS
SIGNATURES
IN SEPT
SOCIAL MEDIA
YES
/NO
IF YES,
REVIEW 7
STEPS
REVISE AND
REVIEW AGAIN
IN 3 MONTHS
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
JULIAN.OLIVER@EURACTIV.COM
M +32 479 44 11 58
32
BACK-UP SLIDES
• Social Media: Platforms OUT, Connections IN
• EurActiv Credentials & some statistics
33
SOME SELF-IRONY…
SHALL THE EU ALSO ‘EXPORT’ ITS POLICY DEBATES? 
Source & ©: Le Monde, 13 avril 2012 (+ headline: by Fondation EurActiv PoliTech)
34
1/2
TRENDS & RELEVANCE TO EU COMMUNITY
• Social Networks & the Power of Data: « Facebook is ubiquitous »
(Google Digital Analyst) - i.e. Facebook connect, profiling (e.g.
voxe.org, socialcompare.com), open data, geolocalisation
• « Co-creation » & « Crowdsourcing » for policy engagement &
formulation - i.e. eConsultation, eLegislation (e.g. Hungarian &
Icelandic constitutions), ePetitions (e.g. Avaaz.org), eComplaints
(i.e. Ombudsman), Participatory Budgeting (e.g. US public radio)
• Policy Modeling - i.e. serious game, argument visualisation e.g.
spigit.com, debategraph.org, scenario forecasts and complex
decision-making tools
• Stakeholders and Citizens’ Journalism - i.e. wikipedia, storify,
Huftington post (i.e. twitter, Google+, paper.li), curation (i.e. timeline)
35
2/2
TRENDS & RELEVANCE TO EU COMMUNITY
• The platform is OUT, the connector is IN - i.e. Facebook apps,
mobile apps, Storify, APIs
• Beyond Facebook: The rise of Interest-based Social Networks – i.e.
citizensinthelab.com, springeneration.eu, thumb.it (mobile)
• Any device, Anytime, Anywhere: harnesses the power of open social
media tools to pro-actively engage stakeholders, rather than building
a technical platform in the hope that users will find it!
36
“EU ACTORS” INTERACT AT 3 RELATED LEVELS:
PERSONAL, NETWORKING, OFFICIAL
PRIVATE
NETWORKING
OFFICIAL
Target
Family & real friends
Business friends &
colleagues / contacts
Policy makers, opinionleaders, stakeholders
Surveying
Private news
Personal initiatives
relevant to policy
making
Positions & reactions
Receiving
Image
Channel (main)
Remark
To be analysed further:
•
user panel by age & affiliation (esp. senior eurocrats)
•
expectations & competition
•
interface & time efficiency
37
LINKSDOSSIER  Could become WIKI DOSSIER
EurActiv’s unique Community-based briefing
TODAY:
• Journalist- produced
& updated
TOMORROW:
• Journalists-triggered
• Fed & updated by
community
• Moderated or not
38
The “one-stop shop”
for EU stakeholders
(advertising)
Policy sections
Dropdown menu
Newsletters
(advertising)
Daily EU news
Videos
Sponsors
39
Europe’s policy leaders read EurActiv
Source : Gallup EurActiv CrossLingual Readership Survey in 12 languages, 2010
Consulting
Federations &
7%
Unions
Other
12%
4%
EU Institutions
9%
Corporate
Business
24%
13%
NGO
Government
8%
15%
Education / Research
& Think tanks
23%
Other Multipliers
40%
Politics
24%
Media
9%
20 000 journalists
40
LOCALISED CONTENT & VISIBILITY ON
15 WEBSITES, 15 COUNTRIES, 15 LANGUAGES
41
Global media cite EurActiv
Country
Media
Example of Article
(EurActiv quoted)
EurActiv Policy
Section
GLOBAL
Economist.com
Charlemagne
What’s merit got to do with it?
EU Priorities
GLOBAL
International
Herald Tribune
E.U. Markets Nominee Seeks to
Reassure U.K. Finance Sector
EU Treaty &
Institutions
GLOBAL
FT.com
Tony Barber’s blog
News round-up: Lobbying
Public Affairs
GERMANY
Tagesspiegel
EU-Beitritt der Türkei bleibt strittig
Public Affairs
FRANCE
Les Echos.fr
Nucléaire : la Chine veut doubler ses
capacités d'ici à 2020
Foreign Affairs
SPAIN
El Mundo
Balkenende does 'lobby' in Brussels to
be president of the European Union
EU Priorities
UK
The Guardian
European biofuels target condemned
by leading US scientists
Climate &
Environment
(EurActiv content partner)
42
EU insiders rely on EurActiv
“I thank you for having accompanied European integration in a professional and
innovative way.”
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
“EurActiv is a well respected EU news web portal. I look forward to continue
working with you.”
Jerzy Buzek, then President of the European Parliament
“EurActiv is the outlet with the most MEP readers per week.”
Fleishman Hillard report:
European Parliament Digital Trends 2009
“EurActiv is the most trusted online source for policy analysis.”
Edelman Capital Staffers Index
November 2010
43
Measurability
The most trusted online information sources for policy analysis at the European Parliament
44
2010 Capital Staffers Index
EurActiv is among the Brussels
opinion elite’s most read sources
“Which of the following sources of information, if any, do you read at least once a week?”
Media
EU-level NGOs
Brussels-based
journalists
60 %
61 %
53 %
46 %
54 %
47 %
54%
27 %
65%
46%
54 %
41 %
40%
32%
47%
22 %
44 %
53 %
European trade associations
“EU Digital Pulse” 2