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Case Study: Diamond Light Source

Communicating the science of the Diamond Light Source synchrotron

Area of expertise: Science
Client: Diamond Light Source
Project: An education and outreach programme at the BA Festival of Science

The brief

The Diamond Light Source is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for over 40 years. This giant machine, called a synchrotron, could be described as a series of "super-microscopes".

Following the recommendation of Firebird Public Relations, Diamond took part in the BA Festival of Science for the first time in September 2007. The Festival is organised by the British Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of Europe's largest science festivals. The event helps promote public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences and engineering.

Objectives

To raise the profile of Diamond amongst media and the wider scientific community
To communicate interesting science stories to a media audience

Strategy and plan

We developed a programme of events and communications activities to maximise PR opportunities for Diamond, including:

festival preparation, consisting of the development and distribution of publicity materials, audience development, briefing of speakers, media relations and liaison with the BA team
a drinks reception at the National Railway Museum - attended by Diamond staff and guests from government, funding councils, scientific societies, business, the media and academia
a dinner hosted by Diamond's CEO - attended by Diamond staff, the government's Chief Scientific Advisor, selected media and academic guests
a 2-part lecture programme presented by Diamond staff and users - a morning session of talks about the facility and its applications, followed by an interactive afternoon session where the audience were able to vote for research projects that they would choose to fund
a press conference and resulting media activities

Evaluation and measurement

We secured:

coverage in seven national newspapers with a combined audience reach of 8 million, yielding an Opportunities to See score of 24 million individuals, and an advertising value equivalent of over £31,000 for these articles alone
a total of ten radio interviews including Material World on BBC Radio 4, Science in Action on BBC World Service, and The Science Show on ABC Radio National (Australia)
worldwide coverage via news services, scientific journals and websites

On the day of the press conference, Diamond's 'Dead Sea Scrolls' story was featured on BBC Online and was ranked the 5th most popular story worldwide. Over the following three days, the story appeared on over 60 websites, including www.channel4.com, Nature Online and MSN News
25 journalists attended the press conference representing all of the national broadsheets and tabloid media, BBC TV and radio, Independent Radio News, BBC World Service, the Press Association and a number of foreign press including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Over 100 guests, including 42 media correspondents, attended the drinks reception
Approximately 100 people attended the lecture programme

Read online coverage of Diamond Light Source's 'Dead Sea Scrolls' story on the BBC website

PR Services provided

Successes

Extensive national and international media exposure
Raised brand awareness
Closer government relations
Enhanced industry contacts

Testimonial

"Firebird have been a valuable resource over the past three years for Diamond and have been strategically used as an extension of the in-house communications team. They were instrumental in setting-up Diamond's presence at the BA Festival of Science in 2007 - from media liaison to managing a VIP reception. They offered a professional approach and a high degree of flexibility. A particular highlight for us was the extensive coverage secured at the festival for our Dead Sea Scrolls research story. I have no doubt that Firebird's enthusiasm and determination were a significant factor in making this story thoroughly successful."

Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke
Head of Communications, Diamond Light Source