Outreach

Science Friday Educate Outreach

The first groups I reached out to were already familiar with Science Friday and our educational resources. I shared the initial Sun Camp page with the Science Friday STEM Educator's Lounge. I also created an event in the group to further highlight the program. I also sent an email to those subscribed to our Educate Newsletter, specifically explaining the program and inviting them to participate. The 37% open rate showed there was considerable interest.

Radio Outreach

Because Science Friday is a radio broadcast, I had the unique opportunity to have a promotion for Sun Camp air on public radio. I wrote a short promo script following advice from a radio producer. He said, "I think the main thing is to hit Ira's voice, so it sounds like he's just inviting you to do a thing rather than reading promo copy. So short and sweet, a little bit breezy. Don't say teacher-y things like 'enrichment' or 'curriculum'. 4-5 sentences."

I wrote, "I know the days are getting shorter, but we’ve got a great way to bring some extra sun into your life. For five weeks, starting October 19 we’re hosting SUN CAMP for families and educators with kids ages 5 to 9. There will be conversations with sun scientists and hands-on activities to try on your own... and yes, it’s free. We even have materials available. To learn more and sign up, visit our website at ScienceFriday.com SLASH SunCamp. That’s ScienceFriday.com SLASH SunCamp." This promo aired on September 23.

A specific UTM was not included in that promo, but we know we had visitors. Due to various events, the initial website for Sun Camp did not have a registration page. Instead, it sent people to the Newsletter sign-up form. We increased the newsletter subscriptions by 260 people in the 72 hours after the promo, which is excellent traffic.

We are trying another promo for October 7. This time I set up a UTM so we can track the traffic to the website. And of course, the registration form is now active. This week's promo will read, "t’s World Space Week and people all over the Earth are celebrating as they learn more about the Universe. Here at Science Friday, we’re exploring a little closer to home. For five weeks, starting October 19 we’re hosting SUN CAMP for families and educators with kids ages 5 to 9. There will be conversations with sun scientists and hands-on activities to try on your own... and yes, it’s free. To learn more and sign up, visit our website at ScienceFriday.com SLASH SunCamp. That’s ScienceFriday.com SLASH SunCamp."

School and District Outreach

Because we wanted to encourage marginalized groups to participate, I did research into public elementary schools that had high populations of minoritized children and children living below the poverty line. I used government websites to create an initial data set based on those criteria. Once I had that list, I used it to find the associated districts and look for elementary curriculum, science, or STEM coordinators. My goal was to find 50 touchpoints that met my criteria. Then I emailed them a letter explaining the program and inviting them to participate. I included a UTM code in the link provided for registration so that I could track how many people used the link so that I would know if the outreach was productive. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like anyone has used the link in the email. So I'll need to re-evaluate how I reach out for the next program.

I seemed to get more engagement by posting information about the program to STEM Education Facebook Groups. Given that it takes much less time to find said groups and post in them, this may be the best way forward. However, the outreach is not nearly as targeted.

These are some of the resources I used to help me determine what populations to focus on.

• Spatial inequalities leave micropolitan areas and Indigenous populations underserved by informal STEM learning institutions

• Areas Of US Lack Equitable Access To Informal STEM Learning, Study Says

• National Center for Education Statistics

• How Science Friday Used A/B Testing To Guide Audience Engagement

Organization Outreach

In an effort to connect with community organizations and professional groups working with our target populations, I compiled a list of groups that I thought may have interest in our programs. Unfortunately, I did not know how to create UTM codes when I sent these emails, so I am unable to track the results. However, I did have multiple groups from this outreach contact me for further information or to offer to include the program information in their newsletter or social media.

The most successful part of the outreach was to libraries. I posted information about the camp to several Facebook groups for those who run makerspaces in libraries or who plan library programs. We had an immediate increase in library enrollment as a result. On the Friday before I posted we had no libraries enrolled. I posted the information on Sunday. By Monday morning 14% of our group enrollment was libraries, representing about 20 groups. This again makes me think that we can use Facebook groups more effectively to share our content.