Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
1
Year:
2019
Type of Events Held:
- Exhibit
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
- General Public
- High School students(9-12)
- Middle school students(6-8)
- Patients & Caregivers
Approximate Number of People Reached:
200
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
We set up tables in a very open area in our local mall on a busy Saturday. We had activities for kids of all ages. We switched out the candy neurons we’ve done in the past for pipe cleaner neurons, after meeting with NWNoggin at SFN. We also had brain hats for kids to color and wear. We brought equipment that our department uses for classroom demos, like mirror tracing apparatus (kids of all ages like that, and we brought mazes for them to do in the mirror of varying difficulty, while we explained striatal learning), and the Howard-Dolman depth perception device, which older folks liked. We had the Backyard Brains EMG device, which people of all ages enjoyed, and optical and auditory illusions, which a cognitive psychologist explained as people went through them. We also had a poster on myths about the brain, and students would talk them over with visitors. As always, our mascot, Brainy the Robot, would interact with kids, who could play a game to control Brainy that tied together brain structure and function. Everyone left with a goody bag of official BAW material!
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Calendar Listings (newspapers, radio, television)
- Press Release/Media Advisory
- Social Media
- Other
Other Publicity Methods:
While Edinboro University advertised for us, most of our visitors were just people who happened to be at the mall.
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
Of the Dana Foundation publications/resources distributed at your event(s), if any, please indicate the three most popular. Please choose up to three. If "other," please indicate below:
- BAW Stickers
- BAW Pencils
- Brain-shaped Erasers
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Logos
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
Hard to tell, because we can’t follow up with people who stopped by. We were on the local news discussing mental health and brain research, and got great coverage! And many parents seemed thrilled that their kids wanted to do something fun that was also pretty sciency!
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Again, it’s great being where the public is. Then, kids walked around the mall with our brain hats and neurons. Putting BAW material in a goody bag for ease of carrying around also helps in this kind of setup.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
Yes
Was the information provided on Facebook useful?
Just keep posting BAW events. It’s great to get ideas from others!
