Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
1
Year:
2016
Type of Events Held:
- Other
- Other: Neuroscience Trivia Night
Target Audiences:
- General Public
- Professionals
- University students
Approximate Number of People Reached:
40
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
Our objective was to bring regular trivia participants and bar patrons together with neuroscience enthusiasts for a night of educational fun. Since this was the first time we attempted this sort of event and we had a decent turnout, free food for participants, and prizes, I thought it went very well. The key was providing food, I thought. Without this, there would have been very few attendees. The added benefit was that awareness of the event itself wasn’t required to participate, since we convinced several people who were at the establishment for other reasons to participate and they expressed to us that it was a lot of fun. The only thing I will do different next year is start advertising MUCH earlier (at least a month) and make sure to reach out to advertisement opportunities outside of college campuses in order to increase public participation.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Emails
- Posters/Flyers
- Social Media
- Other
Other Publicity Methods:
Word of mouth
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:
- Other
Other Dana Foundation Materials Distributed:
- The materials did not arrive in time for the event.
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?
We bridged a lot of the gap between scientists and the general public. One major problem with neuroscience awareness is that people feel that neuroscientists are not just normal people and that neuroscience is beyond their own capability. In a VERY casual setting like a bar, they could see we just like to have fun and talk to people too. I had many great conversations with the bar usuals about neuroscience and how cool it is.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Plan far ahead of time for advertising and do as many different types of advertising as you can (social media, flyers, newspapers, etc.) Be aware of advertising deadlines! Get the bar/restaurant to perhaps donate prizes or food if you can (at least ask – ours did and we were able to provide more food than possible with our budget). Get feedback! We had people fill out slips of paper with a handful of questions on them (how they liked the food, the trivia questions, would they come again, and comments). We got a lot of good feedback that way and knew who we were reaching as a result of the event.
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