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| Aurora likes to talk. We talk to friends, colleagues, milkmen and the lovely sandwich shop staff in Camden on a daily basis. But something has been niggling at us. We don't get to talk to you enough. Talking is a two-way thing - we can't expect you to do all of the work - so please allow us to open the dialogue with a little bit about what we've been up to recently. |
| Lightning strikes! |
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As you may have seen in the current issue of PR Week (13 July), Aurora was recently frazzled when a bolt of lightning hit our north London office and knocked out power and phone lines. The blast spread across NW1, with Koko (formerly Camden Palace) at Mornington Crescent also being hit. The Kings of Leon were due to play at Koko but cancelled fearing the bolt from the blue. Unlike our musical counterparts, Aurora battled on and harnessed the power of mobile phones to communicate our clients' vision. |
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| The lightning strike is just one example of the abnormal weather that we've experienced this summer. The torrential down-pours have opened up the climate change debate in our office. Aurora has been fortunate enough to talk to leading public health experts about the potentially disastrous impact of climate change on health unless energy consumption is lowered. Sir David King, the government's Chief Scientific Advisor, gave a fascinating lecture about this issue at the Faculty of Public Health's (FPH) annual conference, click here to view it online. |
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Making the most of regional media. Aurora recently conducted a successful media relations campaign for the FPH to support its annual conference (26-28 June) in Eastbourne. The conference opened with a celebration of the smoking ban and congratulated all members of the public health community for their role in pushing the legislation through. As part of this celebration, Sir Liam Donaldson, the government's Chief Medical Officer, received an award from the World Health Organization in recognition of his work towards the ban. In order to maximise coverage, Aurora organised an 'Ashtray Amnesty' in the Eastbourne area and invited local businesses, bars and restaurants to come and hand over their redundant ashtrays for recycling. The ashtrays were collected in a giant, Aurora-produced ashtray and used for a photocall with Sir Liam Donaldson and Professor Alan Maryon Davis. The stunt secured regional print and broadcast coverage and the entire communications campaign, including coverage in The Independent, exceeded objectives and increased traffic to the FPH website by almost 40% in one week. |
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| Third sector drive. Aurora has also been beavering away on behalf of the Children's Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) to raise awareness of prolonged jaundice and the potential link to childhood liver disease by commencing communications with GPs, midwives, health visitors and nurses. Aurora is raising awareness of a resource pack that has been developed by the charity to support healthcare professionals. This programme will be fully evaluated with audience awareness studies before and after the campaign in order to assess impact against objectives. |
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| Integrated comms. Aurora and Advocate, the first dedicated healthcare policy and public affairs consultancy, implemented an integrated PR-PA campaign earlier this year on behalf of UCB Global that provided an innovative and effective communication platform for European affiliate offices. See page 59 of Communiqué 20 for a case study of how effective a joined-up campaign can be. |
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| Roller coaster! |
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And finally, Aurora held its 2007 team 'fun day' at the Magical World of Alton TowersTM during June. The rain stayed away long enough for a member of the team to be chased around the park by a caveman and for the team to be horizontally propelled from 0 - 100mph in 2.5 seconds. A fun day was had by all, although someone thought that they were too cool for a plastic, rain poncho.
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So that's a little bit from us to you! We would love to hear from you. Why not call us on 020 7424 7940 for a chinwag?
Take care, Team Aurora
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© Aurora 2007
Aurora Healthcare Communications Ltd Registered No. 5591618 England and Wales.
Registered office at 85-87 Bayham Street, London, NW1 0AG, UK.
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