3. The City Club of Cleveland Letter of Transmittal
Forum Public Relations
2450 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
June 24, 2011
James H. Foster, Executive Director
The City Club of Cleveland
The City Club Building, 2nd Floor
850 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Dear Mr. Foster,
We are submitting the public relations campaign plan for The Hope & Stanley
Adelstein Free Speech Essay Competition.
The main purpose of this document is to outline the means by which we plan to
make the essay competition a success. We are proposing an integrated public
relations campaign targeting primarily the high school juniors and seniors who
attend schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Sum-
mit counties. We also describe how to create awareness among influential fig-
ures in their lives – parents and teachers – as well as how to utilize The City Club’s
members.
If you have any questions concerning our campaign plan please feel free to
contact Meredith Horrigan at 440-823-9113.
Sincerely,
Meredith Horrigan
Senior PR Strategist
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5. The City Club of Cleveland Executive Summary
Executive Summary
The City Club of Cleveland
Situational Analysis This year marks The City Club of Cleveland’s 100-year anniversary. The anniversary offers
a stage on which to remind the public of The City Club’s mission, and to promote an understanding and
appreciation for freedom of speech.
The Hope and Stanley Adelstein Free Speech Essay Competition is the first essay competition that The City
Club has held. Awareness and participation among area high school students is important to the overall
mission of the organization and this competition – to educate the youth of Greater Cleveland on the topic
of free speech and to inspire them to exercise this right.
The City Club’s mission is, “to inform, educate and inspire citizens by presenting significant ideas and provid-
ing opportunities for dialogue in a collegial setting.” Despite efforts to promote this mission across all gen-
erations by hosting youth programs, the club still finds it lacking participation from the younger generations.
However, if The City Club successfully inspires students to be socially aware of issues, then these students will
grow into concerned and learned citizens. Engaging students by starting a dialogue on the importance of
free speech, via the essay, will help to guarantee future relevance and membership of The City Club.
Audiences The primary audience for The City Club’s Free Speech Essay Competition is all high school juniors
and seniors in public, private, parochial, charter and home schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage, Lake,
Lorain, Medina and Summit counties. The parents and teachers of these students are a secondary audi-
ence this campaign. The tertiary audience is The City Club’s membership population.
Objectives The objectives of this campaign are: to create awareness of the essay competition among
students, teachers and administrators in at least 90 percent of high schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Por-
tage, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Summit counties; to create awareness of the essay competition among
registered home school parents and students and City Club members; and to have at least 200 high school
juniors and seniors enter into the competition.
Strategies The message strategy intended to reach all audiences is to convey how writing an essay will
augment the high school students’ studies by developing a deeper knowledge of and appreciation for
freedom of speech. Our primary audience of students must be addressed with the message strategy of
emphasizing the recognition that the winners of the essay competition will receive from The City Club. The
potential scholarship money available to the entrants of the essay competition will be communicated to
both the primary and secondary audiences of this campaign. The final message strategy, to appeal to The
City Club members’ pride in their organization as a reason to share the information about the essay com-
petition with those who are eligible to enter will address our tertiary audience.
Action strategies for this campaign include: Reaching the students through the social media channels
of Facebook and Twitter; reaching the students, teachers and administrators of area schools by sending
promotional and reference materials directly to the schools; reaching homeschooled students and their
parents through direct mail; reaching the parents and teachers through daily and weekly newspapers in
Greater Cleveland; reaching City Club members through the organization’s existing communication chan-
nels.
Tactics To reach students on social media outlets, we will update Facebook posts on our page and tweet
about the essay competition. Information kits sent to the schools will reach both the audiences of students
and teachers. These kits include fact sheets, novelties, posters, fliers and a direct appeal letter. Home-
schooled students will be made aware through home schooling newsletter articles. News releases will ad-
dress parents and teachers alike. Finally, the existing City Club website and newsletter will be used to reach
City Club members. Announcements at Friday Forums will also inform the members of the competition.
Evaluation We can easily evaluate whether we achieved our objective of having 200 essays submitted by
tallying the submissions. Similarly, we can assess the awareness in schools by having a spot for entrants to list
the school they attend. If a school had zero entries, we will follow up with a phone call to be sure they were
aware of the competition. To judge if there was awareness among City Club members, we will conduct
informal evaluations by seeing if there is any feedback from that audience about the competition.
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7. The City Club of Cleveland Background on the Client
“The City Club is the oldest continuous independent free speech forum in the country, renowned
for its tradition of debate and discussion.”1 For 100 years, The City Club’s activities have earned a
national reputation as a “citadel of free speech” and secured a place in history as an impartial,
vital center for community debate. What makes The City Club’s century of success particularly
noteworthy is its complete commitment to the principles of free speech – principles that have been
challenged over the past 100 years.
The City Club’s mission is, “to inform, educate and inspire citizens by presenting significant ideas
and providing opportunities for dialogue in a collegial setting.”2 It informs through its Friday Forums
and Special Program Series. The Friday Forums are held each week and broadcast via radio and
podcasts. Programs such as the High School Student Program, Debate Championship, and Youth
Forum Series are all sponsored by The City Club to educate the youth. It hopes to inspire other such
forums through its rich history of practicing and promoting free speech. The centennial is both a
celebration of the past 100 years and an opportunity to promote the club’s vision.
The City Club was founded in 1912 by a group of concerned citizens as a response to the multiply-
ing social, political, and economic problems that emerged in Cleveland as a result of the industrial
revolution. By 1910 the city’s leadership was overwhelmed with the challenges of supporting the
citizenry and resolution was becoming more difficult to achieve. The Founders of The City Club en-
visioned an organization where these and other topics could be discussed in an environment that
would not just tolerate but thrive on the differences of opinion among its members in the hope of
confronting and solving the compelling issues of the day.3
The organization took the stance to be not only non-partisan, but also non-advocatory and re-
mains neutral on all topics. A forum format was adopted whereby a presentation was given and
impromptu questions were asked. The intent was for the audience to become better informed
and make more educated decisions at home, at work and especially in the voting booth. Each
year more than 50 different speakers bring to the podium an array of ideas and insights that form
the mosaic of contemporary life.
More than 5,000 speakers have addressed The City Club about a vast array of topics – political and
social issues affecting Cleveland, the U.S. or many nations. Their hall of fame represents its most
notable guests: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, every president since Jimmy Carter,
Geraldine Ferraro, Richard Cheney, Robert Reich, Jane Fonda, Henry Louis Gates, Margaret Mead,
Lester Thurow, W.E.B DuBois, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sandra Day O’Connor, Robert Kennedy,
Cesar Chavez, T. Boone Pickens, Ross Perot, Michael Milken, Rosa Parks, Lee Bolinger, John Kerry,
Condoleezza Rice, Cardinal McCarrik, Henry Kissinger, Ken Burns, Henry Louis Gates, Francis Collins,
and many more.4
Today, The City Club is a $1.3 million non-profit organization. Nearly half of its budget, roughly
$550,000, comes from contributors such as grants. Membership dues constitute another $14,000
and ticket sales from the programs $22,000. The rest is comprised of Forum Foundation support, un-
related business income, catering income, etc. After such fixed costs as salaries, taxes, and facilities
and equipment, catering expenses are the largest expenditure at $166,000. The cost of putting on
programs, which is primarily paying the speakers, comes to $114,000, and TV and radio production
for these programs costs $39,000.
Just 20 employees put on all of the many Friday Forums and special events that the organization
has. Under The executive director, James Foster, are the directors: director of operations, Gary
Musselman; director of development, Christine Alexander; public relations and program manager,
Carrie Miller, and the 100th anniversary director, Elizabeth Horrigan.
1 http://www.cityclub.org/AboutUs/tabid/162/Default.aspx
2 http://www.cityclub.org/AboutUs/tabid/162/Default.aspx
3 http://www.cityclub.org/AboutUs/History/tabid/163/Default.aspx
4 http://www.cityclub.org/Programs/tabid/171/Default.aspx
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9. The City Club of Cleveland Situational Analysis
The City Club of Cleveland is an organization that strives to fulfill its mission of informing, educat-
ing, and inspiring citizens across every generation. However, it is also an organization that is un-
derappreciated by younger audiences. The City Club recognizes this and, in an effort to ensure
future success, offers programs particular to these audiences.
For young professionals, the New Leaders initiative allows for these “emerging leaders to develop
dialogues with established leaders as part of the city’s ongoing business and civic growth.”1 The
hope is that the New Leaders Committee will increase participation of younger members in its
special programming and membership recruitment to support The City Club’s future.
Students at local universities are engaged through City Club on Campus. Having the Forum
format on the respective campuses gives students, “accessibility to City Club programs, member-
ship and outreach initiatives.”2
The City Club makes an effort to appeal to high school students through hosting the High School
Debate Championships, and providing opportunities for involvement. The Youth Forum Coun-
cil plans five Youth Forums a year, which allows both council members and attendees to delve
deeper into pertinent topics. The Student Program at The City Club invites students from local high
schools to attend a regularly planned Friday Forum, but to stay after and have a private question
and answer session with the speaker.
Despite these efforts, the club still finds itself lacking participation from the younger men and
women. However, if The City Club successfully inspires high school students to be socially aware
of civic issues – locally to globally – then these students will become concerned and learned
citizens. These traits mirror the audience that the club is most likely to attract. Therefore, engaging
students by starting a dialogue on the importance of free speech will help to guarantee future
relevance and membership of The City Club.
This year marks The City Club of Cleveland’s 100-year anniversary, and it is hosting a myriad of
events to celebrate – some are new installments of previously successful programs, as is the case
with Power of Ideas2, and some are firsts for the organization.
Each of the events, however, does not merely seek to commemorate this organization’s centen-
nial. The anniversary offers a stage on which to remind the public of The City Club’s mission, and
to promote an understanding and appreciation for freedom of speech.
The Hope and Stanley Adelstein Free Speech Essay Competition is the first essay competition that
The City Club has held. Awareness and participation among area high school students is impor-
tant to the overall mission of the organization and this competition – to educate the youth of
Greater Cleveland on the topic of free speech and to inspire them to exercise this right.
Writing an essay is one of the best vehicles for such scholarship, and that is why The City Club
chose this particular event.
Any high school junior or senior in Cuyahoga and the six surrounding counties is eligible. Each en-
trant will submit a 300-word essay on what “freedom of speech in the U.S. Constitution” means to
him or her by February 15, 2012. Twenty top essays will be chosen for varied award levels: first prize
is a $1000 scholarship, second is $750, and third is $500. The top three essays will be read aloud at
a City Club Forum, which is also broadcast on radio, television, YouTube, and The City Club web-
site.
1 http://www.cityclub.org/NewLeaders/tabid/241/Default.aspx
2 http://www.cityclub.org/CommunityOutreach/HigherEducation/tabid/250/Default.aspx
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11. The City Club of Cleveland Audience Definition
Primary Audience: Students
The primary audience for The City Club’s Free Speech Essay Competition is all high school juniors
and seniors in public, private, parochial, charter and home schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Por-
tage, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Summit counties.
Those who will choose to enter the competition are confident in their writing and communication
abilities. They are interested in history and writing, and are likely in such clubs as newspaper or
yearbook. They look at this competition as a chance to show off their abilities and to produce a
writing sample for future use.
These students are highly motivated, competitive people. They want to achieve at high levels
and, therefore, look forward to higher education opportunities. The scholarships offered help to
fulfill the student’s need to pay for college, but it is the recognition as a top-twenty finisher and
the chance to present their work at a Friday Forum that will entice these students to participate.
Secondary Audience: Parents
The parents of these students are a secondary audience of The City Club’s campaign. Although
most of the entrants will be self-motivated, there are many students who will require extra con-
vincing from their parents.
The parents want the best for their children and support them in all academic endeavors. They
will recognize the value in participating in the competition, even if their children do not, initially. If
the parents are well-educated and active citizens, then it is likely that they have heard of The City
Club. They will support its mission to educate, inform, and inspire their children.
Beyond the inherent benefits of knowledge and personal growth, however, the parents will ap-
preciate the opportunity for their children to earn scholarship money. Often, regardless of their so-
cioeconomic status, parents’ hopes for their children’s educational future depend on their ability
to pay for college. Therefore, the parents encourage their children to pursue any and all avenues
for funding of college expenses.
Secondary Audience: Teachers
Teachers all share a common desire for their students to continually gain knowledge outside of
the classroom. An essay competition is one such opportunity for their students to augment their
resume and studies. Any teacher will be happy to promote the competition and support any
participants. Another motivation, although distant, is the small cash prize for the teachers of the
top three winners.
Tertiary Audience: City Club Members
A fourth, and much smaller audience, is the current group of City Club members and patrons.
Although many of them are older, it is likely that they know someone fitting the eligibility require-
ments – children, grandchildren and family friends. They know and support The City Club’s mis-
sion and want to help celebrate its 100th Anniversary. They will encourage anyone they know to
participate in the competition. This word of mouth promotion is invaluable.
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13. The City Club of Cleveland Goals
Overarching Goal
To inform, educate and inspire regional high school students by providing opportunities for them
to present significant ideas and for dialogue in a collegial setting.
Goal 1
To motivate high school students to participate in The Hope and Stanley Adelstein Free Speech
Essay Competition.
Goal 2
To educate high school juniors and seniors on the history of free speech in this country so they
might be better prepared to discuss the topic.
Goal 3
To inspire an interest in and appreciation for sharing complex ideas that might otherwise be ne-
glected by high school juniors and seniors.
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15. The City Club of Cleveland Objectives
Awareness Objectives
To create awareness of the essay competition among students, teachers and administrators in at
least 90 percent of high schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Sum-
mit counties.
To create awareness of the essay competition among registered home school parents and stu-
dents.
To create awareness of the essay competition among City Club members.
Action Objectives
To have at least 200 high school juniors and seniors enter the competition.
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17. The City Club of Cleveland Strategies & Tactics
Communication Strategies
Message Strategies
Convey to all audiences how writing an essay will augment the high school students’ studies by
developing a deeper knowledge of and appreciation for freedom of speech.
This message strategy is intended for all audiences of this campaign – students, parents, teachers
and City Club members.
Students who are particularly interested in history, government and/or writing will take the oppor-
tunity to advance their skills and expand their understanding.
Parents and teachers will encourage their children’s/students’ participation in hopes that they will
grow up to become learned and productive members of society.
City Club members, being advocates of freedom of expression, will appreciate the aforemen-
tioned hopes because they believe in and practice their right to free speech.
Emphasize the recognition the winners of the essay competition will receive from a prominent
Cleveland organization.
This message strategy is meant to reach the primary audience for this campaign – high school
juniors and seniors.
Students who will be persuaded to enter the essay competition are more than likely strong stu-
dents who strive to be recognized as excellent in every endeavor. The privileges of being named
a winner include having their essay posted on The City Club website, being invited to a special,
broadcast Friday Forum at which they will share their essay, and receive a one-year City Club
membership and a Certificate of Recognition.
Communicate to each audience the potential scholarship money available to the entrants of the
essay competition.
This message strategy is planned to reach the primary and secondary audiences of this cam-
paign – students and their parents and teachers.
Students are often motivated by extrinsic incentives. Those who desire to continue on to higher
education are often concerned about how to pay for it. Therefore, students will be inclined to
write a 300-word essay for the opportunity to earn scholarship money.
Parents have their children’s best interests in mind, and these often include the pursuit of a col-
lege degree. However, at every socioeconomic status, this audience must consider how to pay
for higher education. They will encourage their children to apply for any and every scholarship
opportunity available.
Teachers, although less concerned with each student’s finances, realize the importance of schol-
arships. They will promote any prospect for scholarship of which they are aware. This audience
has a chance to earn a small cash award, as an added incentive, if their student is a top-three
winner.
Appeal to The City Club members’ pride in their organization as a reason to share the information
about the essay competition with those who are eligible to enter.
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18. The City Club of Cleveland Strategies & Tactics
This message strategy is meant for The City Club members.
The City Club members are proud to be a part of the longest running free speech forum in the
country. They are not the only people who appreciate freedom of speech and the marketplace
of ideas, but they actively exercise this right by attending weekly forums to become more edu-
cated and effective community members. They want to see The City Club last another 100 years
and they recognize that this requires new generations to become just as involved. Therefore, the
current members will want to spread the word about this competition.
Action Strategies
Strategy
Reach the students through the social media channels of Facebook and Twitter.
Our primary audience, high school juniors and seniors, are well connected and tech savvy. The
opinion leaders of this audience spend a lot of time disseminating their views via social media
channels, Facebook and Twitter in particular. These sites allow for instant and informal dialogue
between The City Club and the students, who are almost constantly online. Therefore, The City
Club must also have a presence on these same channels.
Tactics
Facebook Posts
We will create a City Club Free Speech Competition Facebook page on which all of the guide-
lines for the contest will be available. Beyond information, however, The City Club will consistently
post topical questions and facts to stimulate ideas and discussion surrounding free speech.
Tweets
Twitter will be used in much the same way as Facebook. The same questions and facts can be
shared on this channel; however, the information will have to be shared in small pieces and
act more as reminders about deadlines and such. A “hashtag” (possibly #CityClub) will also be
started in hopes of having the competition become a trending topic, and therefore be seen by
more students.
Strategy
Reach the students, teachers and administrators of area schools by sending promotional and
reference materials directly to the schools.
An information kit – consisting of fact sheets, novelties, posters and fliers – will serve to reach both
area high school teachers and their students. These tactics will work well together in getting the
attention of the audiences because it covers those who want all of the facts or those who pay
closer attention to visual appeals.
Tactics
Information Kit
Included in these kits will be a fact sheet, novelties, fliers and posters.
Fact Sheet The fact sheet will inform all audiences of the competition’s specifics: eligibility,
essay requirements, deadlines and prizes. These will be distributed to the teachers, who will
present the sheets as an introduction to the competition, and then offer to share them with
interested juniors and seniors.
Novelties The novelties, customized City Club pens, will be created. It is likely that the stu-
dents will both appreciate the souvenir and keep it throughout the year, which will be a
good reminder.
Fliers The fliers will include much of the same information as the fact sheets, eligibility, essay
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19. The City Club of Cleveland Strategies & Tactics
requirements, deadlines and prizes.
Posters The posters will be simplified fliers, and include the name of the essay competition,
prizes and deadlines.
Strategy
Reach homeschooled students and their parents through direct mail.
Because a mailing list is available for all registered homeschooled students, we can send materi-
als to them directly through the mail. In the interest of conservation, we will only send information
kits to those who ask for more information.
Tactics
Newsletter Article
This article will be sent to a newsletter that home schools might subscribe to. The information
included in the newsletter article will be much the same as that of the news release. It will an-
nounce the competition and list the guidelines. It will also direct the reader to The City Club web-
site for further information and/or contact information.
Direct Appeal Letter
A direct appeal letter will fully inform the parents on specifics of the competition (eligibility, essay
requirements, deadlines and prizes) and let them know that an information kit is available if they
would like to have one sent to them.
Strategy
Reach the parents and teachers through daily and weekly newspapers in Greater Cleveland.
Parents of the high school students are more likely than their children to consume this traditional
form of media, so it is another valid channel through which to appeal to our secondary audi-
ence.
Tactic
News Release
We will write news releases for daily and weekly news publications in Greater Cleveland detailing
the purpose and guidelines of the competition. There will be two sent: one when the competition
is announced, and another as the deadline approaches, to serve as a reminder.
Strategy
Reach City Club members through the organization’s existing communication channels.
We do not want to overlook the influential audience that is The City Club’s membership. These
members are likely parents, grandparents or family friends of someone who attends an area high
school. In an effort to maximize exposure, The City Club’s current resources will not be wasted.
Tactics
The City Club Website
There is a landing page on the club’s website specific to the 100th anniversary events. A link to
essay competition details is will be created and maintained to provide further insights than the
Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The City Club Newsletter
The current newsletter will be utilized. Each month, a small article on the competition will be pub-
lished.
Friday Forum Announcements
Before each Friday Forum, the host will announce the competition to the members.
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21. The City Club of Cleveland Calendar
August 2011
Aug. 1 Write News Release
Create Flier
Aug. 5 Create Poster
Aug. 13 Create Art for Pens (Submit for Production)
Aug. 15 Write Direct Appeal Letter
Aug. 20 Write Fact Sheet
Have Pens Produced
Aug. 22 Duplicate Fliers
Duplicate Posters
Aug. 24 Duplicate Fact Sheet
Duplicate Direct Appeal Letters
Aug. 25 Create Facebook Page
Create Twitter Account
Aug. 28 Assemble Information Kits
Aug. 31 Distribute Information Kits
Distribute Direct Appeal Letters
Distribute News Release
September 2011
Sept. 1 Write Newsletter Articles (Distributed Monthly)
Sept. 1 Begin Friday Forum Announcements (Weekly)
December 2011
Publish Newsletter Article (Monthly)
Make Friday Forum Announcements (Weekly)
Dec. 1 Create Banner
Dec. 15 Write Second News Release
Dec. 20 Duplicate Banners
January 2012
Publish Newsletter Article (Monthly)
Make Friday Forum Announcements (Weekly)
Jan. 1 Distribute Banners
Jan. 15 Distribute Second News Release
February 2012
Feb. 15 Deadline for Submissions
April 2012
April 1 Choose 20 Award Winners
April 5 Notify Winners
April 6 Begin Evaluations
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25. The City Club of Cleveland Evaluation
Awareness Objectives
If The City Club plans to hold another essay competition, then we must evaluate which chan-
nels of communication were most effective. To do this, we will send surveys through direct mail
to each entrant. In these surveys, we will ask questions to ascertain where they had heard of the
competition.
To create awareness of the essay competition among students, teachers and administrators in at
least 90 percent of high schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Portage, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Sum-
mit counties.
To measure if we managed to create awareness among at least 90 percent of the high schools,
we can create a simple tally by incorporating a spot for each entrant’s school in the submission
process. If we received an essay from a school, it is reasonable to assume that the teachers and
administrators at that particular school were aware of the essay contest.
The City Club will contact by telephone those schools that had zero students enter the contest.
To create awareness of the essay competition among City Club members.
An informal evaluation will be conducted through City Club directors to evaluate whether mem-
bers were aware of the essay competition. We will ask if they have heard any feedback regard-
ing the competition.
To create awareness of the essay competition among registered home school parents and stu-
dents.
To determine whether registered home school parents and students were made aware of the
competition, we will see if any submissions came from such schools. If there were none, we will
then assess whether the direct appeal letters received any responses/requests for further informa-
tion (in the form of information kits).
Action Objectives
To have at least 200 high school juniors and seniors enter the competition.
We will measure if at least 200 junior and senior high school students participated in the competi-
tion by tallying the total number of essays submitted.
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