Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
3
Year:
2017
Type of Events Held:
- Lecture/ Briefing
- Other
- Other: Public Lecture
- Other: Academic Lecture
- Other: Seminar
Target Audiences:
- General Public
- Other
- Patients & Caregivers
- Professionals
- University students
- Other: Faculty
- Other: Post-doc Fellows
Approximate Number of People Reached:
150
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
In celebration of Brain Awareness Week, the National Core for Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia was honored to host a series of lectures and seminars featuring Dr. Thomas Cochrane, Associate Neurologist and Senior Ethics Consultant, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Assistant Professor of Neurology and Director of Neuroethics, Center for Bioethics, Harvard Medical School. At this year’s Dana Brain Awareness Week Distinguished Neuroethics Lecture at UBC, Dr. Cochrane presented “The lights are off; is anyone home? The ethics of hidden consciousness” at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Salons. He was also a featured speaker for the Neuroscience Grand Rounds at the Vancouver General Hospital to discuss “Life-Sustaining Therapies in Neurology: The Case for Paternalism”, and held an engaging seminar at the Core together with Neuroethics faculty, researchers, and trainees to discuss a number of interesting dilemmas in clinical neuroethics.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Advertisements
- Calendar Listings (newspapers, radio, television)
- Emails
- Posters/Flyers
- Website
- Social Media
- Other
Other Publicity Methods:
Calendar listing (sponsors' websites/blogs, University and inter-department event calendars) and Eventbrite listing
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
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?
The yearly BAW campaign gives the community a chance to learn and become more aware about cutting edge brain research and important brain health concerns. It provides the opportunity for professionals and researchers to share their recent findings and to interact with those who are impacted most. Additionally, this opportunity to accentuate innovative research in Neuroethics has been essential to our presence in the local, national, international and online community.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
We suggest that organizers plan well in advance (6-9 months) and execute a sound communications campaign plan. Make sure to tag Dana Foundation’s/Brain Awareness Week and sponsors social media accounts in posts to maximize online exposure. It also helps to mention speaker and institution accounts in the posts for dissemination in the announcement. Awareness of free, heavily visited community calendar pages and local event/lifestyle blogs also boosts the campaign strategy. A registration platform where people may RSVP for the event is useful to plan for attendance and catering. Given that the event is public and free, we estimate a 20% drop out. On the day of the event itself, make sure event posters and signs are highly visible for attendees. These also attract drop-in attendees. If available, we recommend having volunteer staff for registration and general information – not only does this make the event look more professional, but having staff to welcome attendees also opens the opportunity to build a relationship with community members, and to talk about what Brain Awareness Week is. Consider videoconferencing or video recording options for audiences who are not able to attend the event.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
Yes
Was the information provided on Facebook useful?
This year’s BAW’s Facebook posts were helpful and easily shareable to promote Brain Awareness Week, in general, and our own BAW events.
