Spring 2012 PR Research by sean stewart

Research & Recommendations for

MASC 425 - Spring 2012

Table of Contents Executive Summary

Organizational Structure

1. Mission

2. Riverrock Survey Focus Group Content Analysis - Story Focus Content Analysis - Timeliness

4 18 22 28 30

3. Kids Challenge Survey

33 37

4. Dauber Dash Content Analysis Focus Group

41 46 48

5. Donations Focus Group

50 54

6. PULSE

Appendix

Suhaer Attalah Robert Black Candice Corrigan Christian Dorn Chelsea Gary Vanessa Hawkins Curtis Holt

Seren Lass Christine Pagani Jeremy Rider Megan Love Marissa Wilhoit Instructor: Sean Stewart

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Public Relations Research is a senior-level course in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. Between January and May of 2012, its students conducted content analyses, focus groups, communications audits and surveys to assist the communications efforts of Sports Backers.

Key findings from the research include the following:

Six research questions were provided by the communications staff at Sports Backers:

- Riverrock is loved among participants, but the current advertising strategy doesn’t always clearly communicate what the event is to newcomers. A more active social media campaign is needed to reach relevant publics for each event.

1) The Sports Backers have recently expanded its mission to be the most active community in the country. How is it best to communicate this message and is the media beginning to understand this message? 2) How do you best target messages for Dominion Riverrock, an event that appeals to so many different niches? 3) What is the awareness level of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge among Richmond area school teachers and administrators? 4) With the abundance of mud runs/ adventure races in the area, what branding strategies should be used to differentiate your event from the competition? 5) What messages increases the likelihood of donations? Do these messages need to be tailored to appeal to different audiences (i.e. businesses, foundations, individuals, etc.)?

- The expanded mission hasn’t been communicated by Sports Backers in any of its communications thus far, and it is still unclear how the organization can begin to promote itself without alienating its current sponsors

- The Kids Challenge seems to have a high-level of awareness among P.E. teachers in public and private schools in the Richmond metro area, but more incentives and classroom materials are needed to promote it. - The Dauber Dash suffers from a logo that doesn’t stand out among competitors and the reasoning behind the name of the event isn’t clear. - The donations page on the Sports Backers website needs to be redesigned with an emphasis on why people should give. - The content of the PULSE newsletter is appreciated by readers, but some would prefer more original writing about being active in the Richmond area.

6)Among target audiences, what are their perceptions of the PULSE newsletter? What do they want/expect to see in it?

Organizational Structure

1. MISSON The Sports Backers have recently expanded its mission to be the most active community in the country. How is it best to communicate this message and is the media beginning to understand this message?

Situation Analysis + Opportunity Statement Situation: Richmond is ranked fourth as one of the most active metropolitan areas. Sports Backers wants to communicate this to the surrounding communities and encourage people to be active. Opportunity: Sports Backers has the opportunity to be the organization leading the most active metro area in the country; Richmond is already ranked fourth with not far to go. Sports Backers can be recognized as leading some of the most popular races and events in the Richmond community. Research Objectives To find out what specific steps Sports Backers has taken to expand its mission by asking questions and collecting data from the Sports Backers staff and examining current communications relating to the mission and vision through the website, social media and other collateral. These messages can be analyzed and the effectiveness can be determined through a communications audit. Communications Audit Fit into mission and vision Sports Backers’ main goal is to promote an active lifestyle within the Richmond area. However, recently Sports Backers has expanded its mission to further reflect this goal and to make Richmond the most active community in the country. Sports

Backers has previously communicated its goal by hosting, as well as sponsoring, numerous sporting events in the Richmond area. Research question one also measures the success of the mission and vision statement thus far. It embodies the hope of the vision statement, while evaluating the media’s perception of the newest goal. By helping Sport Backers communicate this message more effectively, there can ultimately be an increase of awareness and influence among Richmonders to become physically active. Therefore, this question directly reflects Sports Backers’ mission and vision statements and how the organization can use these statements to carry out its goals. Current communications practices Sports Backers’ campaign to make its audiences aware of its mission change was completed in December 2011. There has not yet been a formal announcement to inform community members that Sports Backers wants to make the area the most active community in the country. The primary way that Sports Backers is currently communicating the vision of the Active RVA campaign is through the Sports Backers website. A few media outlets have picked up on the Active RVA campaign and Sports Backers’ mission change. One outlet did report on the overall plan, including the mission to make Richmond the most active community in the country. The other outlet reported on one aspect of the Active RVA initiative -- an income based training team. These stories are included in the appendix.

Since Sports Backers tends to let event sponsors take the spotlight at events, the mission has not had a chance for dissemination through the events. With the intention of promoting the new mission, Sports Backers will launch its Active RVA campaign through postcards and donation opportunities. The postcards will detail the RVA initiative. Sports Backers plans to disseminate a case study to potential donors to explain the Active RVA campaign and to generate support. Sports Backers also plans to promote Active RVA through event sign-ups and registration forms. Maturity of communications The included “practice maturity scale” [see Appendix A-1 on page 70] will be used to explain how Sports Backers communications relate to its mission and vision and how the communications rate on the practice maturity scale. Sports Backers’ performance in each of these categories on the “implementation” chart [see Appendix A-2 on page 70] will be evaluated based on materials provided by the organization as well as information on the website and social media sites. Each category on the implementation chart will receive a score according to the practice maturity scale. For categories where information may not be readily available, like training of messengers, inferences will be made about the current practices. Each of these categories in the implementation chart will receive a rating according to the description of each stage on the practice maturity scale. The practice maturity scale will rate how advanced the communications practices

are and show what will propel Sports Backers’ communications to a higher level of communication. Develop Effective Materials Sports Backers’ implementation of its new mission and vision by developing effective materials rates at stage two, or the planned stage, on the practice maturity scale. The organization is deliberately communicating its new mission and vision, but materials to promote it are still ibeing developed. Because the mission and vision change was just recently announced, communications are still being planned and created. Sports Backers needs to develop effective printed and multimedia materials to promote its initiative. A comprehensive plan for its new mission was finished in December, but little has been done to promote it. Currently, the program is only promoted through the website. Promotion of the newest mission needs to be clearly visible on the organization’s social media sites. Sports Backers could even purchase newspaper and TV ads to promote the mission and vision, as well as pitching stories to media outlets. Sports Backers should carry out its intended plan to promote the new mission and vision through communications at event sign-ups, postcards and a formal announcement. Build Valuable Partnerships Sports Backers currently rates at stage one, or the “ad hoc” stage on the practice maturity scale in regards to research question one. While the organization has many partnerships in the Richmond

community and among the media, it is not currently coordinating with these partners to spread the mission and vision change. The resources are there, but are not being used yet. Sports Backers has built valuable partnerships externally. The organization heavily promotes its event sponsors, instead of the Sports Backers brand. The company’s leaders are active in the community and have access to many influential people. Sports Backers can use these partnerships to get its message across. Because Sports Backers has a great relationship with the Richmond Times Dispatch, the RTD has already picked up parts of the Active RVA initiative. Going forward, these partnerships will be an integral part in helping drive the Active RVA campaign and reaching Sports Backers’ goals. Train Messengers Because the Active RVA initiative is so new, company representatives and stakeholders have not been given the chance to really deliver the new message to relevant publics. The internal and external stakeholders have probably been informed of the message and how it should be carried out, but delivering the message is not consistently performed. Those who are responsible for getting the messages across are most likely knowledgeable of their task, but have not begun to disseminate the message. Therefore, Sports Backers rates as a two on the planned stage on the practice maturity scale Some of the communication problems

reflect the fact that Sports Backers has not had a formal announcement to explain the Active RVA initiative. Any kind of changes to an organization may take a while to catch on -- even internally. Proper training and internalization of the messages to Sports Backers’ messengers may take some time. Conduct Steady Research Sports Backers has tried to conduct a steady outreach to inform its audience of the new goals through different outlets. Sports Backers’ current strategy is to promote its mission through social media and its website. There does not seem to be a method to the timing and consistency of the messages. In this category, Sports Backers fits in at stage two or the planned stage on the practice maturity scale. Messages to the audience are deliberate and planned, but are not regularly performed or available through multiple outlets. Monitor and Evaluate Sports Backers has not regularly monitored or evaluated communication efforts and whether messages are meeting the intended audiences. Sports Backers rates at stage zero, the “not performed” stage, on the practice maturity scale for the monitor and evaluate portion of the implementation chart. Sports Backers is still learning how to maximize its output, especially through social media. Once its new mission and vision have been communicated further and have had a time to be disseminated, monitoring and evaluating the communications efforts will be easier.

Overall Rating Sports Backers’ communications relating to research question one average to reflect stage two, or the “planned” stage, on the “practice maturity scale.” Its messages relating to the new mission are deliberate and planned, instead of being simply responsive. Also, resources to move the initiative further have been allocated and responsibilities have been assigned. The main thing that holds Sports Backers back from rising on the maturity scale is the fact that its communications relating to the new mission do not occur regularly. SWOT analysis and areas for improvement A SWOT analysis details the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. A SWOT analysis can be performed in relation to research question one by analyzing both internal and external aspects of the organization and the current situation. The SWOT analysis allows for an objective view of what requires improvement. This also provides an accurate account of what things are being properly implemented. Strengths Strengths include the internal critique of what the organization is excelling in relating to communications about Sports Backers’ mission and vision. The strengths are viewed as advantages that Sports Backers has in communicating its mission and vision.

A strength of Sports Backers’ goal to make Richmond the most active metropolitan area is that Richmond already ranks fourth in the nation among most active metropolitan areas. Internally, the Sports Backers staff is motivated and they have the resources to accomplish the organization’s goals. Its staff members are very involved in the community and have relationships with stakeholders that can help get the Sports Backers message across. Also, the organization’s events are highly attended and recognized in the community, even if the Sports Backers brand is not. This will prove to be a strength of the organization as it begins to communicate more about its brand. For the organization to realize that it needs a new mission is another strength in itself. It is not easy to become aware of what your organization lacks and approach the new direction with such openness and willingness to change. Weaknesses Weaknesses also refer to internal matters relating to Sports Backers’ mission and vision change. While the decision to change the mission could bring great value to the Sports Backers brand, it may have been premature to do so without having a clear strategy to implement it. Without an easily understood and adopted communications plan, the opportunities for reaching the target audience is greatly reduced. Internally, Sports Backers needs to decide whether everyone is on board with promoting the brand to push the Active RVA initiative. Because Sports

Backers has previously pushed to have its sponsors in the spotlight, making the switch to focusing on its own brand may cause mixed emotions within the organization. Also, because local media picked up on information about the mission change even though a formal announcement had not been made, it shows that the media is interested. Having relationships with and plans for communicating with the media could help spread the word locally and create buzz nationwide; however, this tool is not being used to its full potential. Opportunities Describing opportunities relating to research question one can help to show how improvements can be made and how to create a positive change within the organization as a whole. Sports Backers has a lot of external opportunities that pertain to communicating its mission and vision. Because Sports Backers is really the only sports commission in the Richmond area, it has the opportunity to communicate its vision without distraction from similar organizations. This creates the opportunity to bring Sports Backers great publicity and notoriety as the pinnacle of its industry. If it widely communicates its new mission, Sports Backers will have the opportunity to reach a larger demographic of donors that are in return seeking a healthier image for themselves and their community. By expanding and being more in tune with its new mission, Sports Backers can reach more of the individuals that would potentially participate in Sports

Backers events. Richmond is already full of organizations for active people that can support the Sports Backers mission. Richmond also already provides a great amount of amenities for active individuals. Sports Backers has the opportunity to capitalize on what is already here and use these resources to reach its goals. As part of the Active RVA program, there is the opportunity to bring people together and build pride in making the area the most active in the nation. Also, the government frequently heads initiatives to make its citizens active. There is the opportunity to use government initiatives, such as Michelle Obama’s Play 60 campaign, to help promote Sports Backers’ mission. Finally, because many of Sports Backers’ events are well known and enjoyed, it is more likely that the new initiative will be welcomed. Threats A threat describes external factors that could affect the accomplishment of Sports Backers’ new mission and vision. By acknowledging and analyzing these potential threats, Sports Backers can view where future issues could surface. Threats to fulfilling the new mission and vision may include problems with the message, competitors or the environment. There is the possibility that the members of the media will not accept the message any further and will not communicate it with their audiences. Also, in placing one’s self within a public setting, negative feedback from the public is always possible. Other sports commissions may also attempt the same feat as Sports

Backers. If a competitor enters the market or gains ground, there is the possibility that the organization could obstruct Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mission to be the driving force behind making Richmond active. Sports Backers is working with the local government to make Richmond friendlier to active people. There is the possibility that the government cannot provide the money to make the needed improvements that would propel the campaign forward.

announcement or educational events surrounding the process of creating an active community.

Suggested Strategies 1. Sports Backers should decide who it wants the message to be targeted to and make it known. If the organization primarily wants sponsors to know the mission, it should target messages to the sponsors. If it wants to share the message so that Richmonders will be encouraged to become more active, it should target the message to Richmonders and the local media. 2. Sports Backers needs to back up its new mission by promoting what it is doing in the community to reach its mission and goals. This could be done through Sports Backers and Active RVA events or becoming more visible in existing events. 3. Sports Backers should print its mission statement everywhere to make it known what the organization is trying to accomplish. Also, it should let volunteers and staff members become spokespeople for the new mission. 4. Sports Backers should also create a formal PR campaign announcing the comprehensive plan for Active RVA. The organization could include a formal

2. RIVERROCK How do you best target messages for Dominion Riverrock, an event that appeals to so many different niches?

Situation Analysis + Opportunity Statement Situation: Dominion Riverrock is a festival with a collection of multiple events that are all promoted simultaneously instead of separately. Opportunities: If messages are targeted appropriately to these different niches, then a larger variety of people may participate in the events and turnout might increase. Research Objectives ● To explore advertisements, social media promotion, website content, flyers and other collateral related to Dominion Riverrock in order to determine its reach to niche audiences. ● To gather public opinion about messages relating to Dominion Riverrock and how the different niche audiences prefer to receive information about such events through an online survey. ● To determine whether current communications have been effective by conducting a focus group to gather opinions about Riverrock ads and collateral materials. ● To determine the story focus and timeliness of news stories, blog posts and other media relating to Dominion Riverrock by conducting a content analysis. Communications Audit Fit into Mission and Vision This huge event appeals to many different niches and a wide variety of

people. Dominion Riverrock enables Sports Backers to reach a more diverse audience, thus allowing the organization to increase its number of participants in the Richmond area. It is more than likely that Dominion Riverrock will have at least one element that will appeal to most people. The event also attracts a large crowd of spectators that may become inspired to become active by watching the events. Research question two supports Sports Backers’ mission and vision statements because it simply embodies the company’s main goal for the RVA community. Dominion Riverrock is one of Sports Backers’ major events to celebrate and promote an active lifestyle. Also, because there are so many different interests associated with the event, it helps to realize Sports Backers’ goal to get everyone in the Richmond area active. New and returning participants train regularly to compete, helping to keep Richmonders active all year. Current Communications Practices Sports Backers has previously segmented audiences and communicated with them through emails to past participants and fan databases, billboards, social media postings, website stories, online and print advertisements and to the media through news releases and interviews. The audiences have been segmented by their interest in specific Dominion Riverrock events. These audiences and the corresponding event interests include: • Dog owners (Ultimate Air Dogs) • Climbing/bouldering fans (Boulder Bash) • Trail Runners (Mud Run & James River

Scramble) • Mountain Bikers (Urban Assault Mountain Bike Race and Dirt Crit) • Freestyle bike fans (Freestyle Bike competition) • Kayakers (Freestyle kayaking, kayak boatercross) • Stand Up Paddleboarders (SUP cross and SUP enduro) • Music and concert lovers • Photographers (Photo contest) • Videographers (Video contest) Social media campaigns are one of the primary ways that Sports Backers communicates with these audiences. The Dominion Riverrock event has its own dedicated Facebook page and Twitter account. These pages give the majority of information and updates. On Facebook, Sports Backers will sometimes post messages that relate to the event on their friends’ Facebook walls. Sports Backers is able to tailor these messages to the niches for each specific event because of the ease of crafting social media postings. Sports Backers focuses on social media relating to this event from January 1st until two or three weeks after the event. There are some communications the rest of the year though social media, but they are irregular. Most of the Riverrock printed media and advertisements are targeted towards the more general Riverrock audience. They contain pictures of many of the Riverrock events and general information, such as dates and the link to the Riverrock website. These advertisements may be in magazines, online, on the radio or TV or on billboards. Riverrock’s local ads go out

three weeks prior to the event to generate interest. Some of the Riverrock materials and advertisements have been targeted toward the niche audiences. Sports Backers makes postcards that highlight each individual event and distributes them to target audiences. For instance, Sports Backers designs a postcard featuring the Air Dogs event that it distributes to local pet shops and veterinarian clinics. It distributes postcards featuring the Boulder Bash to gyms that have climbing walls and organizations affiliated with climbing. Ads are also targeted to the niche audiences through sport-specific magazines and websites. Sports Backers works with national media partners that cater to the niche audiences of Riverrock. Maturity of Communications Develop Effective Materials Sports Backers has developed effective materials to promote the Dominion Riverrock to all of the different niches. Sports Backers rates on level five, the “optimized” stage on the practice maturity scale [see Appendix A-1 on page 70] for research question two. Riverrock materials are attractive, widely distributed and available in many different formats. Because Sports Backers wishes to further target its communications, this shows that the organization has optimized its communications and is ready to improve. Sports Backers has evaluated how the materials go over with its audiences through tracking event attendance and demand for printed materials such as brochures and flyers.

To maximize its exposure and visibility, Sports Backers plans to continue to reach its audiences through emails to past participants, billboards, mass emails to databases, and PR through interviews, news releases and social media. Build Valuable Partnerships Sports Backers has built relationships with many companies that target the different niches through many different outlets. Sports Backers has partnered with Outside Magazine, Rock & Ice magazine, Dead Point magazine, Trail Runner magazine and Dirt Rag magazine to spread the word about Riverrock. Most of the major news outlets in the area report on the event because it has become so well known. Also, the main sponsor of Riverrock, Dominion, widely disseminates messages related to the event. Each different media outlet and partner has its own audience. Sports Backers is able to target audiences through this partnership. However, evaluating how well each partner did this has probably been difficult in the past. Accordingly, Sports Backers falls in at stage three, the “institutionalized” stage, on the practice maturity scale for the partnerships aspect of the implementation scale. Sports Backers has not yet evaluated how well its partners target messages to niche audiences, but could easily do this. Asking past attendees of Riverrock how they heard about the event through a survey would be an easy way to measure how well each outlet distributed messages. Train Messengers Sports Backers has trained its

messengers that communicate about Riverrock well. Previous attendees and volunteers can explain the atmosphere and logic behind the each Riverrock event vividly. The messengers realize that the event is targeted to many different niches and can clearly explain how the different events appeal to different audiences. While Sports Backers seems to have communicated with its messengers how to best reach niche audiences, this progress and effectiveness probably has not been tracked. Because of this, Sports Backers ranks in the third or “institutionalized” stage on the “practice maturity scale.” It is probably difficult for Sports Backers to track how well its messengers are communicating with niche audiences. Most of this communication is probably done through partnerships that Sports Backers has built, instead. Communications through partnerships can be tracked. Conduct Steady Outreach As noted earlier, Sports Backers reaches out to many different media outlets and advertising sources to target messages for the Dominion Riverrock event. The organization is able to measure the effectiveness of its steady outreach by how many media hits it receives and also by the attendance at the events. Sports Backers ranks at the fourth or “evaluated” stage on the practice maturity scale. The aspect that holds Sports Backers from ranking at the “optimized” stage on the “practice maturity scale” is the lack of continuous communications relating to Riverrock. Sports Backers deliberately promotes Riverrock to the niche audiences

a few months before the event, but fails to keep interest throughout the year. Even though Sports Backers fully understands the need for continuous improvement, as show by the development of this research question, the drop off in communications after the event causes it to rank lower on the “practice maturity scale.” Monitor and Evaluate Sports Backers is able to monitor and evaluate its communications to a certain point, based on the amount of attendees and participants in the events. It can measure how many communications went out to each specific audience through its intended advertising placements and news release distribution. Sports Backers’ monitoring and evaluation of targeted messages ranks at the fifth or “optimized” stage on the “practice maturity scale.” Sports Backers has gathered information about its participants and how well it has been targeting the different audiences. The organization realizes it can improve on targeting audiences through regular reflection on its current communications. Overall rating Sports Backers’ communications relating to research question two fit in at stage four, the “evaluated” stage, on the “practice maturity scale.” Sports Backers can more or less evaluate how well its messages were received by audiences by turnout at the Riverrock events. Sports Backers collects information about participants and attendees of the event, which helps measure which groups have been targeted well and who needs to be targeted. Because the organization is

deliberate in sending communications to specific channels, it has a better sense of who it is reaching. At this stage, Sports Backers realizes what it wants to do with its communications and how it wants to target its audiences. Room for improvement lies in the continuity of communications after the Riverrock event ends. SWOT Analysis and areas for improvement SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis details the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and weaknesses of an organization. A SWOT analysis can be performed in relation to research question two by analyzing both internal and external aspects of the organization and the current situation. The SWOT analysis allows for an objective view of what requires improvement. This also provides an accurate account of what things are being properly implemented. Strengths Strengths include the internal critique of what the organization is excelling in relating to communications regarding how to target niche audiences for Riverrock. The strengths are viewed as advantages that Sports Backers has in relation to targeting Riverrock audiences. Sports Backers’ strengths relating to being able to target audiences for Riverrock come from within the organization. It has the money and resources to put out advertisements and communications

with many different outlets to reach all of the audiences. Also, the event has been successful in the past and continues to grow. Because the event already has a good reputation, it will be easier to reach specific audiences who may have already heard about the event. Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; saturation of the sports market gives it access to many different media members and outlets to target its audiences. A lot of the Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; staff members are young, active and have many different interests. This also serves as a strength because the staff can better determine how to target audiences relating to how they would like to be targeted themselves. Weaknesses Weaknesses also refer to internal matters relating to Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to target audiences for Riverrock. Although Sports Backers is taking many positive actions to reach audiences, there are two things that it needs to address internally to improve these messages. First, Sports Backers needs to determine internally what it wants the main, overreaching message of Riverrock to be before it segments communications. Currently, there does not seem to be a main attraction or specific portion of Riverrock that is included in messages for all audiences. Second, because Riverrock is a somewhat new event, more diverse planning and communication among people in the organization is vital. Since the event is still in the process of being perfected because it is so young, there is room for disagreement and a breakdown of communication.

Opportunities Describing opportunities relating to research question two can help to show how improvements can be made and how to create a positive change within the organization as a whole. Sports Backers has a lot of external opportunities that pertain to helping target messages for Riverrock. As there is great potential for a heightened relationship with the local media, Sports Backers has the ability to make connections with local athletes and sports enthusiasts on a grander scale. Richmond is already an active place that has many local sports teams that can work as partners. The presence of differing demographics in the Richmond area presents the opportunity to easily target many different niches. These people are already here; they just need to be spoken to. Also, Sports Backers can use its other events to collect information to help target audiences for Riverrock. Its community presence presents an opportunity to do research for Riverrock as well as communicate to different audiences. Sports Backers also has the opportunity to reach many of these niche audiences through its Facebook and Twitter followers. The Richmond area is very active on social media, so these outlets can be a great tool for targeting information. Sports Backers could even use these mediums to reward its audiences and create a bigger following. For example, a points system could be used: The more a person mentions a specific event on social media that includes Dominion Riverrock, the more

points they earn. As points are tracked and collected, the participant would print out the concluding sheet and present it the day of the event to receive a reward. Not only will the individuals become aware of the upcoming event, but also others that are connected to them on the social networking site will see the information. The opportunity to further engage audiences and reach more people is readily available to Sports Backers.

As a result, this creates a hierarchy of attention and financial support. Each event cannot succeed without the full interest and consideration of importance from the communications team. If success of the events decline, it is very possible that Dominion, one of Sports Backers most supportive donors, will pull its financial obligations.

Threats

1. Sports Backers should make the Riverrock social media pages more navigable and user-friendly. It could make the links to the pages more visible on the main website, along with the other events. People need to be able to see from the start that each event has its own dedicated social media site. Through social media, Sports backers can reach out to organizations that cater to the different interests of people that attend Riverrock.

A threat describes external factors that could affect Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to target messages for Riverrock. By acknowledging and analyzing these potential threats, Sports Backers can view where future issues could surface. With any type of event, there is the possibility of competition with surrounding organizations that have the same goal in mind. There may be other sports groups, although smaller, that provide a few of the specific events that are part of Riverrock. Some participants may find a decentralized environment less overwhelming than Riverrock and feel more at ease with a smaller event. On the other hand, suppose there is no competition and the message simply gets lost within itself. With so many events, the target audience may not end up being the audience at all. In the attempt to reach a specific demographic, others may be left out or they may bypass the given information. Another issue that may arise includes the limitation of resources. Some events, or one in particular may be neglected in comparison to the others.

Areas for improvement

2. Sports Backers should promote the spectator-side of the event more. This will help to target families and those who are not necessarily athletes. If Sports Backers highlights the event as being a family experience, it can grow this niche that seems to have been overlooked in the past. This will also help to get the mission in front of more people and potential donors. 3. Sports Backers needs to keep its audienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest after the event ends. This can be done by sending surveys to attendees, soliciting recommendations for improvements, or even giving teasers about the upcoming event. Targeting the

different niches and personalizing the messages can help to retain interest until the next Riverrock. 4. Sports Backers should send messages to each event audiences that explain changes for next year, new elements of the events or give helpful information relating to that specific event. This could be done through emails to the specific audiences or news releases to interestspecific organizations and publications. Conclusion This communications audit reveals that Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; communications are on the right track, but could use improvement in relation to both areas that the research questions cover. Sports Backers has almost mastered communications related to the Dominion Riverrock event, but needs to make a communications plan relating to the Active RVA initiative.

Backers should determine the main message for this event and work on promoting that message year round. Perfecting communications relating to Riverrock will make it easier to see where messages are excelling and where they could use improvement. With a little work, Sports Backers can reach its goal of effectively targeting each Riverrock audience. Overall, Sports Backers has the necessary resources to take its communications to the next level. The organization understands the elements of communicating and reaching its audiences. Perfecting communications relating to its mission and Dominion Riverrock will help Sports Backers to quickly accomplish its goal to make Richmond the most active metropolis through events like Dominion Riverrock.

In order for the media and community to acknowledge Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new mission statement relating to the Active RVA campaign, Sports Backers should put itself in the spotlight more than it previously has. Sports Backers gives most of the credit for its events to other organizations. By not promoting its events, Sports Backers is losing an opportunity to reach its audiences and disseminate the new mission and vision statements. Since Sports Backers is the only sports commission in the Richmond area, there is no competition from similar organizations in getting its message across. Concerning Dominion Riverrock, Sports

Survey This survey was conducted in order to answer the following question: How do you best target messages for Dominion Riverrock, an event that appeals to so many different niches?

- Social media - Email - Text - Radio or TV - Word of mouth

A large diverse group of Richmond locals was the targeted audience for our survey on Dominion Riverrock. One group member emailed 45 co-workers requesting them to take the survey. One group member’s father emailed 3,000 coworkers. Five VCU Greek organizations were contacted totaling 376 people via Facebook. Facebook friends of 3 group members were contacted totaling 3,597 people were contacted. Facebook members who “like” the Dominion Riverrock and Sports Backers Facebook pages were contacted totaling 7,528 people. The VCU MASC Public Relations Facebook page was contacted totaling 62 people. The Mass Communications Advising Facebook page was contacted totaling 1,380 people. The main reason the audience was selected was because they were most accessible and diverse. A total of 15,988 people were potentially exposed to the survey. About 130 people, or around 81%, actually attepmted the survey.

Rationale: It is necessary to know how people are hearing about upcoming news/ events in the area to focus PR efforts.

The Internet was the primary tool used to reach our audience. The main reason the Internet was selected was because it reaches an extremely large amount of people. Questions used for survey

4. If you have heard of Dominion Riverrock but never attended, what was the main reason? - Competition cost - Limited parking - Schedule conflict - Dislike outdoors

1. How do you normally hear about events happening in and around Richmond?

Rationale: It is necessary to know what has kept people from attending in the past.

2. How did you learn about Dominion Riverrock? Newspaper Billboard Blog Sports Backers e-newsletter Friend TV Radio I have never heard of Dominion Riverrock Other Rationale: It is useful to know which medium is most effective to reduce costs and streamline communications. 3. Have you: - Attended Dominion Riverrock once - Attended multiple Dominion Riverrock events - Never attended Dominion Riverrock Rationale: It is important to learn audience familiarity levels with the event..

5. Which Dominion Riverrock events appeal to you? Dog jumping Kayaking Trail/mud run Bouldering Paddle boarding Slacklining Freestyle/mountain biking Music Concerts Rationale: It is helpful to know which events are of most interest to spectators and participants. 6. What events would you like to see at Dominion Riverrock in the future? [Open ended] Rationale: We need to know if a popular event has been overlooked. 7. Which do you prefer? - Participating in sporting events - Viewing sporting events - Both Rationale: It is relevant whether more spectators or participants attend Dominion Riverrock. 8. What genres of music would you like to see featured at Dominion Riverrock? [Open ended] Rationale: Being aware of which music is of most sought afrer and/or what can be eliminated is beneficial for planning. 9. Gender: - Male

- Female Rationale: It is vital to know the demographic information for advertising/ sponsors. 10. What is your age? Rationale: It is vital to know the demographic information for advertising/ sponsors. Interpretations of Data The crosstab correlation for the survey questions related mostly to the age of the people who answered the questions. Age is important in this survey because the event targets to a specific age range. It was interesting to see most people who hear about events in Richmond are mostly from social networking sites and blogs. Most people who had heard of Dominion Riverrock had heard of the event through a friend versus social media or television. This is interesting because most people answered that they learned of things mostly through social media and blogging. However, most responded they knew nothing of the event at all, and 54.5% of people who heard of it through a friend were aged 25-34, just slightly over the age range that the event is targeted. Most people who completed the survey answered they had never been to the event. About 81.1% of people aged 18-24 never knew about it and 77.8% of people aged 55-64 had also never heard of it. One thing all ages agreed on was the reason for why they never attended. They all answered they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t attend because of a schedule conflict. Interestingly

enough, 14.3% of the people who didn’t attend didn’t like the outdoors. Their age range was 35-54. When it came to the preference of viewing or participating in sporting events, 67.3% of 18-24 year olds said they would do both, but only 6.1% said they would actually come to be a part of the events. 66.7% of 55-64 year olds said they would rather watch, but had 11.1% said they would actually participate. More females than males responded to the survey in 3 of the age groups. 70.6% of the people who responded were women between the ages of 18-24. How results can be used by the client: The data collected from this survey can be very useful to Sports Backers in a multitude of ways. One of the main attributes that is worth noting is the age of people that responded to the survey. Out of 140 respondents 53 (39.5%) of them are in the 18-24 age range, 34 of them are in the 25-34 age range, 44 are in the 34-54 demo and 9 fell in the 54- 64 age range. This is important in seeing what each demographic was answering what in the survey. When survey takers were asked how they usually get their information about events going on around Richmond 94 (67.1%) answered “Social Networks.” Most of the people who answered this were those in the 18-24 demographic. This is expected, but it should be a hint to Sports Backers that it needs to do more with their social networking skills. Its Facebook and Twitter accounts keep people up to date, but it should really reach out more to people.

Another interesting statistic that Sports Backers could possibly use is the fact that most people that never attended Riverrock did so because of a scheduling conflict. This is interesting because Riverrock is a multiday event. Either these people work a lot or they did not know that Riverrock lasts for more than one day. This can be easily fixed by making sure people know the exact time of the event and what days it falls on. It would also be beneficial to promote the event months ahead of time to give people time to schedule around it. The point of this survey was to see how to reach demographics specific to the different events that take place in at Riverrock. For this reason all events were listed in Riverrock and respondents were asked to choose each one that interests them. The stats show that most people really like most of the events in Riverrock. The two most popular events where the Mud Run and the musical concerts. What Sports Backers needs to focus on though is reaching out to the various publics that correspond to each event. A method for doing this would be tied into what was stated earlier about making partnerships with organizations that have to do with the events. For example, in order to reach the publics that like Dog Jumping it would be beneficial to partner with an organization like the SPCA or the Richmond Animal League. All it would need to do is go to one of these organizations events and pass out flyers or have banners around if they partner up with them for the event. For events such as the mud run, it would help to look at what age liked this event the most. The 18-24 demographic are the ones who seem to like the idea of the mud runs the most. This demographic would be

the easiest to get to because there are so many colleges around Richmond. A simple event would greatly increase knowledge of the event and Sports Backers as well. If Sports Backers follows this method for each event (looking at the Demographic that likes them the most) then targeting these demographics will be no problem.

Focus Group Introduction A focus group is an informative way to qualitatively measure opinions on a certain issue, product or even event. Because of the interactive setting of a focus group, participants can build on ideas of others in a relaxed atmosphere. Participants are encouraged to freely express their ideas and elaborate on the ideas of others in the focus group. A focus group was conducted for Sports Backers related to the following research question: How do you best target messages for Dominion Riverrock, an event that appeals to so many different niches? Dominion Riverrock is a yearly event hosted by the Sports Backers in alignment with its mission to make Richmond the most active metropolitan area in the country. The three-day event includes over 15 athletic events and activities for participants and spectators to enjoy on Richmondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s riverfront. The goal of this focus group was to gather opinions about Sports Backersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; communications to the niche audiences of Riverrock. This focus group set out to measure current awareness of Dominion Riverrock and attitudes towards current communications pieces among collegeaged students. By observing attitudes relating to descriptions, ads and media pertaining to the event, Sports Backers can see where its current messages are succeeding and where there is room for improvement. Being able to successfully

target college students will be important for Sports Backers since this active demographic is very likely to attend and participate in Dominion Riverrock events. A video recording of the focus group session is available. Selected Public The public selected for this focus group was college-aged students, the majority attending VCU. VCU students have a variety of interests and make up a large part of Richmondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s active community. It is especially important for Sports Backers to understand how this demographic receives messages because of the variety of outlets young people have available. The members of the younger demographic were also more willing to participate since they did not have to travel to the focus group or make an intense effort to attend. Also, the incentive of a free t-shirt or water bottle helped to attract them. Most of the participants were randomly solicited in and around the VCU Cabell Library and were chosen based upon age, gender and racial diversity. Two class members canvassed the area asking students if they would participate in a focus group session about a fun event in Richmond. They were not told what the event was or asked if they had attended in the past. This allowed an open door to those who had and had not heard of the event and had and had not attended. Participants were told the focus group would last approximately 20 minutes and they would receive a free gift for giving

their opinions on a few simple questions. As they agreed, they were directed to the designated room, given a brief introduction then shown a PowerPoint presentation. The focus group was comprised of nine students, which included undergraduate, graduate and non-students. There were three males and six females. Originally, participants were targeted through Dominion Riverrock and Sports Backers’ Facebook and Twitter pages. Also, class members asked their Facebook friends and members of organizations they were a part of on Facebook to attend. After unsuccessful attempts to reach the 25 people who expressed interest, two class members rallied four of their friends to participate and the other participants were encouraged to attend moments before the focus group. Focus Group Prompts 1. How do you hear about most of the events that you attend in the area? Do you use things like online calendars or hear about them through word of mouth? Explain. Rationale: This question was selected to help Sports Backers see how this demographic receives information about events in the area. By knowing where they look for information, Sports Backers can make sure information about Riverrock is available via those outlets. Sports Backers needs to know this information so they can deliver the messages to the audiences, instead of the audiences seeking out the information.

2. Have you ever heard of Dominion Riverrock? Rationale: By asking this question, it will be obvious how well Sports Backers has targeted this audience in the past. If it seems that the majority of participants have not heard of Dominion Riverrock, Sports Backers can see that messages have not been targeted effectively to this niche audience. 3. Have you ever attended Dominion Riverrock? Rationale: Knowing whether participants have attended the event will show not only how well this demographic has been targeted for communications, but also how successful those communications were in compelling the audience to go to the event. Knowing the participants’ background knowledge of the event and experience of attending will also help the flow of the focus group and the direction that the prompts take. 4. What’s appealing about this video? After watching it would you want to attend the event? “Dominion Riverrock Commercial” http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yp8vIn2vq3Y

Rationale: The video is a 0:32 commercial from Sports Backers’ YouTube channel that gives a glimpse into what the event offers. This particular video was introduced the first year that the event was held. Asking participants their opinions of the event relating to the video will show how appealing this communication is to this demographic and how well it conveys the essence of the event.

5. After watching the video, what kind of people (demographics) would you expect to be at the event? Rationale: Asking this question about aforementioned video will help gather opinions about who these participants think the event is targeted to. If they think the communications are targeted more towards families or older people, they may not be interested in attending. This question will help Sports Backers to see how well this communication piece is targeted and if it is sending the right message to audiences about the event. 6. Read the following description of Dominion Riverrock:

look inside one of Sports Backers’ methods of communications relating to Dominion Riverrock. This description is given on the main event page for Riverrock and is used as a general overview of the event. This description needs to target the wider audience, so this question can measure how well it does this. This question can measure the clarity and attractiveness of the description to this particular audience. Sports Backers can then see what it needs to do to further tailor the message to this audience. 7. What do you think about Dominion Riverrock after looking at this poster? Does it look like an appealing event to you?

Dominion Riverrock is the East Coast’s premier outdoor lifestyle festival, bringing athletes, spectators, musicians, and even dogs to Brown’s Island for a three-day festival against the backdrop of downtown Richmond’s urban riverfront. The festival features a variety of outdoor sports including trail running, kayaking, biking, bouldering, stand up paddle boarding, and dog jumping. The event was designed to promote Richmond’s unique riverfront, downtown trails and whitewater rapids to outdoor enthusiasts. As a result of the creation of Dominion Riverrock, there is a stronger appreciation for the value of outdoor recreation throughout the entire Richmond region. Does this description make the event sound like something you would be interested in attending? Why or why not? Rationale: This question gives another

Rationale: This question further examines Sports Backers’ ability to create attractive materials that effectively target Riverrock audiences. Analyzing opinions relating

to this piece of communication can help Sports Backers improve and further target its communications in advertisements. Also, intermittently showing graphics to the focus group members will help to break up the all-text questions and keep them interested. 8. These are the events that Dominion Riverrock offers, is there at least one that appeals to you? Which one is most appealing to you? Trial Run Mud Run Adventure Race Ultimate Air Dogs Dirt Crit Freestyle Bikes Mountain Biking Bouldering Dyno Comp Slackline Kayak Boatercross Kayak Freestyle Sup Cross Sup Enduro Photography Contest Video Contest Concerts Rationale: This question will help to point out how appealing the events, as a whole, are to a group of people with a variety of interests. One of the aspects of Riverrock that Sports Backers promotes is that the event has something for everyone. This question can be used to make sure that the event is actually appealing to a broader audience, and then find out what the smaller niche audiences break down into as well. Knowing how the participants answer the question, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What event is

most appealing to you?â&#x20AC;? shows how different niches within the overall public of college students can still be attracted to something about Riverrock. Knowing how these audiences are divided by event will help Sports Backers to further target communications. 9. If you have heard of Riverrock, how did you first find out about it? Rationale: This question will help to see what communications to this group have been successful. Sports Backers can then improve and expand on these communication channels to further target niche audiences in these ways. Again, knowing how audiences receive their information is key to making sure the messages are delivered to them. 10. Would you suggest this event to your friends? Why or why not? Who else would you suggest it to? Rationale: After presenting the participants with information about Riverrock through actual communications pieces, it can be shown if, taken all together, they were successful in educating the public about the event and getting them excited to attend. This question can also be used to see who else participants would suggest this event to. This will reveal if they think the event would attract many different audiences and demographics. If their thoughts are in line with what Sports Backers had in mind for the event, the communications can be seen as successful. If the answers were not what Sports Backers was aiming for, communications can be altered to further reach out to audiences.

General interpretations of the data Out of the nine randomly selected students, only two had heard of Dominion Riverrock prior to the focus group. Of those two, only one of the students had actually attended Riverrock in the past. From this, it can be assumed that a majority of VCU students are not aware of Riverrock and are not hearing about it on campus. The one participant who had attended the event in the past heard about it by word of mouth, not from a Sports Backers advertisement or promotion. She commented that she does not see advertisements for the event anywhere, but solely knows about it through word of mouth. “I always forget what website I need to go on to find out about the event,” she said. “I always have to hunt for it.” The focus group participants were shown a poster and a video from previous years’ Dominion Riverrock events. When asked what they thought of them, the general consensus from the people who had not attended in the past was that they were confused as to what Riverrock actually is. One participant said, “I feel like the poster has too much going on.” Since Riverrock has so many different events occurring simultaneously, the advertisements were interpreted as being too cluttered and busy. It wasn’t until participants were shown the promotional video a second time that they were able to pick out which events appealed to them. On the other hand, the participant who had been to Riverrock in the past said that the advertisements were accurate representations of the event. “I feel that the poster is actually really appropriate,”

she said. “When you go [to Riverrock] everything is going on at once.” It appears that people who do not know much about the event are confused by the advertisements, at least initially. It’s possible that the event could be explained better by not overloading the viewers with too much information. The interests of the focus group participants in certain events differed, but there were some general trends. Males seemed to be more interested in the mud run event. Also, there were many people who said they are not as interested in the sporting events, but they would be interested in the concerts. Even people who would not describe themselves as active showed interest in the event solely to be spectators and listen to the live music. At the conclusion of the focus group, the participants seemed very interested in attending Riverrock, which shows they may have attended in the past had they known about it. Suggestions for how the results can be used Throughout the production and performance of this focus group, the main goal was to collect data that will be beneficial to Sports Backers and its Dominion Riverrock event. The focus group has led to numerous conclusions about what can be done to better the advertisement and promotion of this event. For instance, Sports Backers will want to attract individuals that have previously participated in the Dominion Riverrock; however, there is also an abundance of other groups that would be receptive

to information about Riverrock. Many focus group participants shared they had never heard of the Dominion Riverrock. If Sports Backers is not making the effort to tailor information to those who have not attended, new participants are less likely to be reached. Because focus group participants had not attended Riverrock and did not understand what the event is, the publicity materials that were presented to them did not prove to be very appealing and clear. This leads to the suggestion that Sports Backers should create advertising materials that clearly present all of the activities the event has to offer to someone learning of the event for the first time. These individuals made it clear that the current materials are confusing and make it difficult to decipher exactly what Dominion Riverrock has to offer. On the other hand, the one individual that had previous experience with the Riverrock said that the materials captured exactly what the event was about. Since Riverrock has so much to offer, all of these things should be included, but there should be a balance that ensures that the message is understood by all publics. It seems as if the message is currently lost because too much detail has been added to promotional materials. Group members agreed that they had not witnessed advertisements for Riverrock on the VCU campus, which may suggest that VCU and surrounding area campuses are not being effectively reached out to. With an abundance of possible participants that fall within the age demographic Dominion Riverrock is geared toward, college campuses are the perfect prospective

locations to promote such an event. These areas are filled with countless students, groups, and organizations that enjoy not only outdoor activities but also the atmosphere that events such as Dominion Riverrock offer. In addition to campuses, there are also many community groups that should be targeted. This will bring an influx of observers as well as participants. There could be opportunities for these community organizations to set up tables, which would bring out an additional surge of participants from those organizationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; networks. As a result, this can create a lasting bond between Sports Backers and its surrounding communities.

Because focus group participants had not attended Riverrock and did not understand what the event is, the publicity materials that were presented to them did not prove to be very appealing and clear. In the realm of social media, Sports Backers could take more proactive steps toward promotion in the cyber world. Currently there is a well kept and maintained Facebook page; however, the creation of a Dominion Riverrock Facebook event will allow a specific focus on inviting people to this event. There is also a great opportunity to capitalize on the abundance of Richmonders on Twitter. Mentions of Dominion Riverrock on Twitter are few and far between at the moment. Partners should be encouraged to push promotional campaigns via Twitter as well. This is a free form of advertisement that has the potential bring support from multiple locations.

Content Analysis - Story Focus Introduction A content analysis is an informal research methodology that breaks down messages and analyzes their purpose. Within a content analysis, messages are encoded based on different components. A main category used to classify messages is the story focus. The story focus is the main point of the article. Methodology of the Content Analysis The methodology of this content analysis began by using data and links aggregated from articles found through Google. After which, data was analyzed and the story focus was interpreted. Each article was summarized and cited and the main point that the article was trying to convey was recorded. The data that was analysed in this content analysis were stories chosen from various online blogs, newsletters, and websites. These sources were chosen because of Sports Backers absence in other forms of media such as TV and newspapers. The Internet on the other hand is ripe with articles on Sports Backers and its events. This makes it easy to evaluate what the public is saying. The categories for focus were the various events of Riverrock. Each article was put into a category so that Sports Backers can accurately see how many times each event is mentioned and determine its relative popularity. The population from which the articles are drawn range from RVA News, Richmond.

com, Virginia.org, and ClimbingNarc. com. These are just a few of the specific sources the information came from but all were selected from Internet search engines and databases. One drawback of content analyses is the fact that you only get what the article offers. If there is a need for certain information, it may not be offered. the target of the inferences is to see what events are being focused on about Dominion Riverrock. The purpose is to see which events do Sports Backers need to focus on marketing more. General Interpretations of the Data The content analysis was conducted for twenty Dominion Riverrock online articles as well as magazine articles. Twenty sources were chosen on the content frame “story focus.” Articles about Dominion Riverrock appeared in numerous magazines, including Outside Online, Midlothian Exchange, Richmond Magazine, Style Weekly and Dog Sport Magazine. For the most part there was an overlap in the story focus from article to article, however a few did report on some different components of Dominion Riverrock. Outsideonline.com and cvatrailblazers. com wrote articles about Dominion Riverrock’s Filthy 5k Mud Run and gave instructions on how to register for the event. Richmond Biz Sense wrote an article that featured Dominion Riverrock’s High Flying Kayaking Event. Dpmclimbing. com and ClimbingNarc.com both had articles about Dominion Riverrock’s Boulder Bash 2011 event and how it has an anticipated return at next year’s event. Bushleague.com wrote an article

that featured a Virginia based band that was scheduled to perform at Dominion Riverrock for the first time. Dog Sport Magazine also featured an article about the Ultimate Air Dog event at Dominion Riverrock and how interested participants could register. Midlothian Exchange, Richmond Times Dispatch, Richmond.com, Virginia. org and Rapid Magazine all featured articles that shared the full schedule of events this year at Dominion Riverrock. Activewomantraveler.com, Facebook.com, Sportsbackers.org and Jamband.com wrote articles that explained all the events offered at Dominion Riverrock and how people could register for them. Finally, there were a few magazines that had miscellaneous articles about Dominion Riverrock. Style Weekly wrote an article about the forecasted weather on the day of the event. Vail Daily News featured an article about Subaru of America being the new sponsor of Dominion Riverrock. Photos of the Canal Crasher event were also posted in an RVA News article. Suggestions for how the results can be used by Sports Backers Based on the results of the data, the story focus that appeared the most was: â&#x2014;? Schedule and itineraries â&#x2014;? Overview of events and things to do The client can use this information to answer some of its questions, such as: do people look at Dominion Riverrock for their

specific event that they may be interested in, or are most people interested in the Dominion Riverrock as a whole? Based on the sample of approximately 20 sources, schedules were the most reported (five times). The second story focus that was repeated a few times throughout the collection of articles is an overview of events. This story focus was repeated four times throughout the articles that were evauluated. It is safe to assume that the majority of the articles published focus on the attraction that the Dominion Riverrock brings as a whole, rather than a particular event. This is a very good thing to hear, because the Dominion Riverrock has been promoted in the past as a combination of exciting events. Although, its important to promote Dominion Riverrock as a whole, its also equally important that Sports Backers promotes each individual event under Dominion Riverrock to avoid confusion or lack of awareness. Also, a good way to measure the above statement is by looking at how many competitors in relation to spectators that the Dominion Riverrock brings in. There are 25,000 spectators, but less than half of that compete in an event. Therefore, the festival, although inherently attracting music, marathons, climbing, and kayaking niches will also attract the general public as well. See Appendix B-1 on page 71 for the articles used in the Story Focus Content Analysis.

Content Analysis - Timeliness Introduction A content analysis can be used to track communications and quantify them into systematic categories. Putting communications pieces into these categories can be useful in measuring things like the effectiveness, frequency, accuracy and timeliness of a companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s communications. There are different ways to approach content analyses including evaluating the actual message within the communications or just evaluating standard characteristics of a message. The following content analysis used a standard characteristic of communications: timeliness. Methodology For this content analysis, a search was performed for online news articles that pertained to Dominion Riverrock via Google search, LexisNexis and Academic Search Complete. The types of sources for the stories used in the analysis were blogs, TV news stories, magazine articles and newspaper articles. Out of the articles, 20 were chosen at random to be included. These articles were evaluated according to the coding frame: timeliness. Timeliness relates to when the story was published in relation to the date of Dominion Riverrock. Since the first year of Dominion Riverrock was 2009, there were only articles from this year forward available. Timeliness â&#x20AC;&#x201C; News stories are sorted into the following categories based on the date the story was published: 1) Month prior to Dominion Riverrock

2) During Dominion Riverrock 3) Month after Dominion Riverrock 4) Other Dates of Riverrock: 2009: May 15-16 Month prior: April 15 - May 14 Month after: May 17 - June 16 2010: May 14-15 Month prior: April 14 - May 13 Month after: May 16 - June 15 2011: May 14-16 Month prior: April 14 - May 13 Month after: May 17 - June 16 2012: May 18-20 Month prior: April 18 - May 17

Coding the articles according to timeliness will give Sports Backers a good idea of when news coverage is taking place. For example, if a majority of the news coverage is taking place during the month after the event (due to the availability of video footage and photos), then Sports Backers would want to put more focus

on its communication efforts prior to the event. It could offer videos and photos from previous years to media outlets the week prior to the event. Also, it’s important to know when the event is being reported about because if the coverage is too early, people may quickly forget about the event. Analysis of Articles A list of the individual articles along with the category each fell into are attached as Appendix B-2 on page 73. The following is a summary of how the articles fell into the different categories in the content analysis: ● ● ● ●

Month prior to Riverrock: 10 articles Month after Riverrock: 1 article During Riverrock: 4 articles Other time: 5 articles

General interpretations of the data It can be inferred that participation and turnout rate is correlated to how much media outlets publish information about Dominion Riverrock, as well as the quality of the information shared. In this study, articles such as, “Big Name Climbers Descend on Richmond for Boulder Bash” provided extremely detailed information foreshadowing the Dominion Riverrock. Not only do the publications prior to the event foreshadow the activities that encourage participation, but also provide background information for the event. Many articles go as far as including links to the Sports Backers’ website. Some sources even provide two separate articles, showing the versatility of this event to its readers and public.

On the other hand, articles that fell into the category of “during” included more specific quotations from individuals that were “currently” enjoying the event and the activities they were observing or participating in. Quantitative data such as attendance and registration of certain activities tend to be more factual than predictions stemming from previous years. A lot of these articles also offer positive true-life accounts of the Dominion Riverrock. A positive illustration of the event by actual attendees will be beneficial for Sports Backers because readers are likely to feel more connected to what is being shared and thus be more inclined to want to have variations of these experiences themselves and attend Riverrock. Stories that are retrieved beyond a month after or before the month of Dominion Riverrock present an alternative summary of data. These articles seem to be less focused on the promotional aspect of Riverrock, but concentrate on a more specified portion. For instance, one story directed its focus toward the concerts available at the event, while another chose to cover environmental groups that would be present. In both, the necessary “who, what, and where” background information is included but only serves as a backdrop for the article. Suggestions for how the results can be used Sports Backers can use this data to determine if its advertising and PR efforts are effective. Media outlets in and around Richmond have to hear about events in

enough time to write or broadcast the details of the event. The data should prove that there needs to be a strong partnership among Sports Backers’ PR staff and the media to spread the word to the community. Repetition is important for creating excitement. The more the public sees or hears about Dominion Riverrock, the more likely they are to attend.

valuable information in improving future events and the community’s overall festival experience. See Appendix B-2 on page 73 for the acticles used in the Timeliness Content Analysis.

The time that the articles are published can be seen as a direct result of how well Sports Backers has pitched to the media. If Sports Backers PR people believe that it is important for most of their audiences to be reached a month prior to the event, then they can use the content analysis to make sure the majority of communications are delivered in this time frame. Sports Backers can also see what outlets are still talking about the event well after it takes place. It can improve on communications all year by pitching stories to these outlets and seeing where there are gaps in continuous communications. It’s important to know what the media is reporting before, during and after the event. Positive and accurate information during the event can lead to increased turnout. If the information posted about dates/times is inaccurate, it could have a detrimental effect. Sports Backers should conduct regular searches online, through TV and print media to see what is being reported about Dominion Riverrock. Lastly, post-event feedback can shed light on what went well and what didn’t. Sports Backers should use the information to improve the event in any way possible. If there were injuries, logistical issues or complaints about the event, it’s all

3. KIDS CHALLENGE What is the awareness level of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge among Richmond area school teachers and administrators?

Situation Analysis + Opportunity Statement Situation: Sports Backers has a close relationship with a small number of schools and more participation is desired. Opportunity: Establish a closer connection with elementary schools and increase participation in the Sport Backers Kids Challenge which will help Sports Backers reach their mission statement. Research Objectives ● To determine if and how school teachers and administrators are made aware of the Kids Challenge by conducting an online survey to be distributed through email to discover who has been exposed to information about the Kids Challenge. ● To analyze current communications about the Kids Challenge by looking at past emails, flyers and correspondence between Sports Backers and the schools as well as website content. The communications will be examined through a communications audit to determine the effectiveness of the communications. Communications Audit: Fit into Mission and Vision In order to achieve the goal of making Richmond the most active community in the nation, the awareness level of the Sports Backers Kid’s Challenge among Richmond area school teachers and administrators must be known. Communicating with elementary school teachers and administrators will aid in exposing children to active lifestyles.

When people are made aware of how to live an active lifestyle at a young age, they are less likely to develop habits that are destructive to their activity level. In evaluating the awareness of the Sports Backers Kid’s Challenge among elementary school teachers and administrators we will know how many kids are benefiting from the program. Current Communications Practices Currently, Sports Backers utilizes an email list to inform local schoolteachers and administrators about the Kid’s Challenge. The PR Manager and the PR team maintain the list. Sports Backers reaches out to 8 school districts in the area. These districts are: - Henrico - City of Richmond - Hanover - Chesterfield - Powhatan - Prince George - Colonial Heights - Goochland It’s PR manager and team states that the organization communicates through email usually to inform them of details relevant to the Kid’s Challenge when the event is coming up. Sports Backers also has a link on its website’s page that offers details about the Kid’s Challenge, however the Kid’s Challenge is not listed with their other events. There is no Facebook or Twitter page devoted solely to the Kid’s

Challenge, nor was it apparent that they had mentioned this event on the Sports Backers Facebook and Twitter pages. Sports Backers does not currently have representatives attending school events such as field day or assemblies that are directed towards the increase of physical activity. Information is included in the appendix. Maturity of Communications The maturity scale [see Appendix A-1] and implementation chart are used to determine where the organization stands on how it distributes its information. We are evaluating how the organization develops effective material, developing valuable partnership, developing and having trained messengers to put out the message, and outreach of participants. Developing Effective Materials When it comes to developing maturity scale effective materials Sports Backers falls at a 2 on the maturity scale. Sports Backers does use an email list and information about the event and it is distributed through emails. There is no indication from the client that messages are sent on a clear schedule, such as daily, weekly or monthly. There is also information listed on the Sports Backers website that describes the event; however, it too is not regularly updated. Developing Valuable Partnerships When it comes to developing valuable partnerships for the Kid’s Challenge event, Sports Backers also receives a 2 on the practice maturity scale. Sports Backers is only currently in contact with teachers

and administrators from local schools. The organization is deliberate in whom it sends emails too. It is not regularly focused on maintaining these partnerships, nor is it focused on developing additional partnerships. Trained Messengers When evaluating whether or not Sports Backers has trained messengers putting the word out about the Kid’s Challenge event, the organization receives a score of 0. The only person putting out the message is the PR manager. More people are needed. Sports Backers needs to have many trained representatives in attendance at face-to-face meetings with teachers and administrators and at other local school’s events. Level of Outreach for Kids Challenge When ranking Sports Backers’ level of outreach to the participants of the Kid’s Challenge, the organization receives a score of 0. Sports Backers is not in direct contact with the children who participate in this challenge. It relies on the student’s teachers and administrators to spread information about the event. Sports Backers is in contact with teachers and administrators from 8 different school districts in the Richmond area. Though this audience is a good start, it is not enough to increase awareness. Sports Backers needs to focus on reaching out to students. It also needs to communicate with their current audience more regularly. It must present better quality materials to its audience and it must keep track of the event’s progress on a yearly basis. Average Maturity Scale Score: 1

SWOT Analysis of the Organization Strengths and Weaknesses The only strength Sports Backers has in promoting the Kid’s Challenge is its email list. However, it does not appear that there is a consistent amount of communication taking place through email. Not only should schools be contacted at times close to the event, but the schools should also be contacted after the event. Followup is a must in assuring that the event continues on and is more successful in the future. It helps maintain relationships and keep progress of the events growth. Weaknesses It does not seem that the link on the Sports Backers website to the Kid’s Challenge to be a strength. This link can only be located when it is determinedly searched for. Sports Backers needs to list the Kid’s Challenge alongside other events on its website. The organization of the Sports Backers’ website presents a weakness to the Kid’s Challenge because it isn’t highlighted or visible when viewing the other events.

media. Highlights of active students could also be mentioned on the website or in the Sports Backers PULSE newsletter. The lack of physical representation of people promoting the Kid’s Challenge is weakness. Sports Backers should consider putting on an assembly at schools that motivates students to be healthy and physically active. It also needs to contemplate having a representative in attendance at each school’s open house and/or field day. Sports Backers might also want to send out a representative to help implement the Kid’s Challenge in the agenda of Physical Activity programs already present in schools.

The fact that the Kid’s Challenge does not have its own Facebook or Twitter account is also a weakness. So many things could be accomplished if these accounts were in existence. For example, people could be invited to attend the event on Facebook. Also, status updates or tweets could be made about the winners and participating children. So many children would be more eager to participate if promised to have their picture and story featured online. This idea is of course not limited to social

Survey For the survey, physical education teachers and department heads in the city and counties of Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield public and private elementary schools were targeted. P.E. teachers in the Richmond Metro area were chosen because they are directly mentioned in the research question. They are the main audience being researched. The target audience was reached after a list was compiled of all (public and private) elementary school P.E. teachers and department heads in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield. After the names were researched, the email addresses that corresponded with each name were gathered. In total, ninety-one people were asked to participant in an email including a link to survey monkey. Twenty-six people thus far have completed the survey. Each question provided was created to see the strengths and weaknesses of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge Program. The questions used for the survey: 1) Have you heard of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge? Rationale: This references knowledge about the program and could explain what areas Sports Backers is lacking in marketing the program. 2) How did you hear about the Sports Backers Kids Challenge? - This survey - A presentation by a Sports Backers representative - Your principal - A Sports Backers event - I have not heard of the Sports Backers

Kids Challenge before Rationale: Finding out how the survey takers have heard about the program is helpful, and points out which marketing tools are effective. 3) Does your school participate in the Kids Challenge? Rationale: This question will be good to document which schools follow the program. 4) Does your school offer after-school care? Rationale: Knowing whether or not there is after school care could help Sports Backers know how to tailor the program for children to participate in if they attend after school care. 5) The Sports Backers Kids Challenge is a FREE incentive-based fitness program for elementary school-aged children in the metro Richmond area. The program encourages youth to run over the course of a 10-week period. It’s a fun and easy way for teachers and parents to get kids moving! Just follow these steps: - Run! Run or walk at least 1 mile every other day. That’s four laps around a regulation track. You can run whenever and wherever you want – at home, during recess, or even at soccer practice. - Track your progress! Click here to print out a Running Log to track your progress. For best results,

print on 11 x 14 Legal size paper. When training begins, color one square each time you complete 1 mile. We trust that you’ll use the honor system when tracking your mileage! - Earn Rewards! By running, you’ll earn cool prizes at the 5, 10, 15, and 20 mile marks along the way. Just have an adult sign the appropriate sponsor coupon, then trade it in at Sports Backers Stadium (or to your teacher if your school is participating in the Kids Challenge) for the reward! - Celebrate! To complete the Kids Challenge, run all 26 miles, color in the squares and collect your finisher’s medal! It would be easy for me to fit the Sports Backers Kids Challenge into my P.E. program. Agree or Disagree Rationale: This is a question to better serve the publics, and show what works and what doesn’t work for people as far as following and implementing the program. 6) It would be easy for me to involve the parents in tracking the kids’ progress in the Sports Backers Kids Challenge. Rationale: This is a question to learn how to better serve the publics, and show what works and what doesn’t work for the Physical Education Teachers in following through with the Sports Backers Kids Challenge Program. 7) What school do you work at?

Rationale: Another question to see what areas are known about Sports Backers and what areas are not. 8) Is your school a public or private school? - Public - Private Rationale: This question is for better documentation of which schools know about the program. 9) Which city or county is your school located in? - Richmond City - Henrico Co. - Chesterfield Co. Rationale: Another question to go towards documenting the demograhpics of the Physical Education Teacher. Having this question answered will allow Sports Backers to know the location of which teachers are following the Sports Backers Kids Program, and which teachers are not. 10) How could Sports Backers improve the appeal of the Kids Challenge to kids and P.E. teachers? - Shorten the overall distance (26 miles) needed to complete the Kids Challenge - Adjust the amount time (10 weeks) needed to complete the overall distance - Increase marketing - Add incentives for those tracking the kids’ progress Rationale: This question references how Sports Backers could improve the program. This question might answer why or why not a school is using the program.

General interpretations of the data and interesting crosstab correlations Out of the 91 physical education teachers in the Richmond area who were sent the survey, there was a 28.6% response rate with 26 individuals completing the survey. Of the respondents, 76.9% said that they were aware of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge, but only 50% of respondents said that their school participates in the Kids Challenge. Also, 69.2% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the Kids Challenge would be easy to implement at their school. This means that there are schools which are aware of the program and think it would be easy to implement, but they are not participating. These schools would be good targets for Sports Backers to contact with more information about joining the program.

involved in tracking the kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; progress would be easy, compared to only 43.8% of public school P.E. teachers. Since some respondents said they have very little time for P.E. (as little as once a week), itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible that the program could be incorporated into after-school daycare. After-school care was provided at 62.5% of the private schools surveyed, compared to only 31.3% of public schools. For these reasons, this could mean that there is an opportunity for Sports Backers to contact more private schools in the Richmond area about the Kids Challenge. Suggestions for how the results can be used by the client

When asked if it would be easy to involve the kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; parents in tracking their progress in the program, 46.2% said that it would not. The most common suggestions for improving the program were to increase the incentives for participation, as well as expand the amount of time (currently 10 weeks) that it takes to complete the program. For example, some P.E. teachers said that they need more than 10 weeks if there is inclement weather.

The results of this survey can be used for improving knowledge of Sports Backers Kids Challenge within the Richmond Metropolitan area and to develop methods of encouragement to increase school and student participation. The results showed that about 77 percent of people in the target audience (demonstrated by people who completed the survey) have basic knowledge of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge existing. Sports Backers can take this and brainstorm an effective method of outreach to the other 30 percent of its target audience who are not aware of the existence of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge.

Out of the schools that currently participate in the Sports Challenge, a majority are public schools, with only a couple of respondents saying that they participate and are a private school. Also, 50% of private school P.E. teachers surveyed said that getting the parents

Survey Results showed that people are learning of the Sports Backers Kids Challenge mostly in two ways: through a Sports Backers event or contact from Sports Backers through email. To build upon this, in person communication could also increase the knowledge of the Sports

Backers Kids Challenge within the area. Suggested Strategies Sports Backers should focus on improving contact with local schools that will build their relationships for future endeavors. That being said, an outreach program aimed at schools following events would be beneficial to gathering information on experiences of participants. Also, messengers should act as representatives of the Kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Challenge at each school. This will lend to the connection made between Sports Backers and possible participants. Overall, promotion needs to be expanded in a matter that will address all surrounding schools that have the possibility to take part in this program.

4. DAUBER DASH With the abundance of mud runs/adventure races in the area, what branding strategies should be used to differentiate your event from the competition?

Situation Analysis + Opportunity Statement Situation: Sports Backers needs help differentiating their event from their competitions. Promoting better, a new logo, a new name and more incentives will all result in more participants.

an event from its competition. In attaining as many participants in the Dauber Dash as possible, Sport’s Backers will move closer towards its goal of increasing the amount activity in Richmond. This increase in activity is needed to make the city the most active in the nation.

Opportunity: Sports Backers Dauber Dash event could be heavily attended. New tactics and branding strategies should be used to make Sport Backers’ Dauber Dash mud run more appealing to participants. Research Objectives ● To gather information about the availability, appearance, frequency and timeliness of current communications relating to Sports Backers Dauber Dash through a communications audit. ● To analyze opinions of local people in relation to advertising strategies and tactics used by other mud runs/adventure races as well as the Dauber Dash to help Sports Backers differentiate its mud runs. The most appropriate way to gather these opinions is through a focus group. ● To analyze current news stories, blogs and media pieces about Sports Backers Dauber Dash through a content analysis to determine whether the stories exhibit a positive or negative slant. Communications Audit: Fit into Mission and Vision In order to attract a significant amount of participants, it is important to recognize branding strategies that will differentiate

Current Communications Practices Sports Backers uses a few different methods to communicate with their publics. It has an email database with the past attendees to notify them of the event. It also has a Facebook page that it updates as often as possible. It is also a Twitter dedicated to this event as well. In preparation for the event, the organization passes out 5x5 and 8x5 “postal cards at coffee shops as well. Henricus, Sports Backer’s sponsor, also provides a mailing list to the people on their list and along with that the people are sent brochures.

Maturity of Communications Developing Effective Materials When it comes to developing effective materials Sports Backers falls at a 2 on the practice maturity scale. This means that there are some materials that it regularly uses for promotion of the Dauber Dash event, but it is hardly the “best” materials and its distribution of it is rather uncoordinated. The only materials that it creates for Dauber Dash every year are postcards. The organization also sends E-mails but it’s unclear if that qualifies as “materials.” It is what the organization does with these postcards that resulted in such a low score. Dauber Dash is a mud run yet it places the postcards in coffee shops. This doesn’t seem to be the audience that would participate in a 5k mud run with alcohol involved. Building Valuable Partnerships When it comes to building valuable partnerships Sports Backers received a 3 on the scale, but just barely. It received a 3 because it does have a stable partnership that it maintains. It also appears to have good communications and partnership with the Henricus Historical Park. This organization sponsors the Dauber Dash every year. The Henricus Historical Park is also where the Dauber Dash is held every year. It is great that Sports Backers has such a close relationship with the park, but in order to reach out to more people it must make more outside partnerships. This would include reaching out to potential sponsors. This could benefit the race by attracting a new type of customer. Since the incorporate beer into the event it could consider getting a beer

company to sponsor them and advertise it on its cans or website. This would surely reach a wider audience from all over America. Sports Backers has said that it has not had any other sponsorships or partnerships in the past. Trained Messengers It is understood that other than its head of Public Relations, Sports Backers does not have any trained messengers that are dedicated to getting the word out about Dauber Dash. It is unlikely that someone will count its Facebook and Twitter accounts as trained messengers, but to much knowledge the Sports Backers’ Facebook and Twitter pages have regular updates about the event and are handled by the team. Sending emails about the event to past participants does not meant that it has “Trained Messengers” to get the message out. To us a trained messenger should be a group of people dedicated to this one event. This idea is also known as a “street team.” It is not clear that there is a specific team dedicated to coming up with new and fresh messages so it is understood that the PR team and manager handle getting out the word about the event. It scores a 0 on the practice maturity scale. Steady Outreach of Customers When it comes to steady outreach to the customers about Dauber Dash, Sports Backers again places at a 2 on the Maturity scale. Since Dauber Dash is just a small part of Sports Backers, people do not hear about it unless they attempt to hear about it. Sports Backers only emails previous competitors and those on Henricus Parks mailing list about

major announcements. As previously stated, Sports Backers has a Facebook for the event, but only limited information can be found there. Since the event is once a year in July, more information will become available, as the event gets closer. However, if it was doing a great job on outreach then some would not have to search all over the Internet for information about it. Regular outreach should not be just to people who have participated in the event in the past. It should also constantly reach out to the regular public. Sports Backers has reported that around 600 people show up to the Dauber Dash Event every year. It has also monitored the demographic that regularly shows up to the event (18-35). This shows that it recognizes it’s target audience and monitors its growth even though it does not communicate with them very well. Taking all of this in consideration, Sports Backers is measuring their performance and tracking their progress in the Dauber Dash. Average Maturity Scale Score- 1.75 SWOT Analysis of the Organization Strengths and Weaknesses Dauber Dash is a great idea. It’s a mud run that’s closer to the people of Richmond. There are a few places in other parts of Virginia that hold mud run events, so it was a great idea for Sports Backers to hold this event for mud lovers. When one thinks of mud runs they think

of an intense, dirty, grimy obstacle and this is what Sports Backers is lacking. The strengths the organization does have, however, lie within the concept and some of the advertising. Weaknesses The weaknesses for starters would be the logo. The idea of an earthy feel with the colors is understandable, but not necessarily targeting well to “mud runners.” The competitors relate more to getting down and dirty. That leads to the next weakness, which is the name. The name has a great history behind it, but could use some spice to attract more mud goers. It all starts with the eye. If Sports Backers prefers to keep the color combo, a suggestion would be a name change or a name adjustment. Sports Backers also does not expand its advertising as previously stated. It is great at keeping in contact with people who attend this event frequently, which is a strength, but however it does not reach out to others. Sports Backers recently started this event so the opportunities the organization has can be countless if proper about it. Since it only has one sponsor for this event, but so many for other ones, it has a great opportunity to connect with other sponsors for this particular event as well. Threats Last, the threats would definitely be the competition. It needs to not just take advantage of the fact that they are more convenient for some people in Richmond. If people want to go somewhere else, people will go no matter how much further

it may be. Yes the course may be long and have some aspects that are tough, but the whole idea is soft. If it wants to get the attention of the others, it needs to set them selves apart. Instead of a dash, it should be something tougher. In Conclusion: Sports Backers is an awesome company with great ideals and excellent vision. Its mission to make Richmond the most active city in America is very commendable and seems in reach. The events it does for the community are not only helping the people of Richmond stay fit but is also bringing money to charities and organizations that could really use help. The groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research and evaluations were in no way meant to talk down on Sports Backers or criticize it; but to find where it needs improvement, so that they could better and more efficiently achieve the goal and vision. If Sports Backers combines the research with the already good work it has it could reach out to even more people and not only make Richmond the most active city, but one of the most notable for sports and physically inclined activities.

Content Analysis Introduction The communication between an organization and its publics is important to ensure messages are passed and understood it the manner desired by the organization. A content analysis is a research tool that evaluates communication using relevant methodologies and coding frames. It determines whether communication is effective and when done well should offer improvements on communication techniques. Story Slant is the coding frame used to evaluate Sports Backers communication for its event, the Henricus Dauber Dash. This coding frame will evaluate whether the information and messages of the content in news stories, blogs, and videos online about the Henricus Dauber Dash was negative or positive. The coding frame was used to evaluate whether Sports Backers communication and publicity for the Dauber Dash was effective – also to determine whether the message its publics receive about the event is constant and effective. Sixteen news stories, blogs, information pieces, and videos will be evaluated in this section. Methodology To gather news sources and other media outlets two online databases were used: Lexis-Nexis and Google. Although there were 20 media stories and videos available to use in this content analysis, some were short in length – excerpts – and would have been ineffective. This will be further evaluated in the interpretations of the data section. The reliability of these sources is also evaluated in the interpretations of the data section.

The story slant and source of the story will be evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the story in aiding to the mission of Sports Backers and promoting the Henricus Dauber Dash. Related to research question 4: With the abundance of mud runs/adventure races in the area, what branding strategies should be used to differentiate your event from the competition? See Appendix C-2 for the articles used for the Dauber Dash Content Analysis Interpretations of the Data Evaluating the media pieces – articles, blogs, information stories, and videos – there is an inconsistency between the intended message and the delivery. The data, stories and videos, either had a positive slant or an ambiguous slant. An ambiguous slant was determined to be one where the intended message was unclear and not tailored to the target audience the Henricus Dauber Dash is promoted to. There was one promotional video, directly from the Henricus Dauber Dash Facebook page, which dated back to 2009. The videos message was clear and the slant was a clear positive. With good professional video editing, music, fun active atmosphere, and a variety of the target publics videos of this type could be vital to branding the Dauber Dash separate from other mud runs – while staying competitive. The Henricus Dauber Dash was included

on a Richmond City website and the Chesterfield County website. So, there is a relationship between Sports Backers and various cities that make up the Richmond Metropolitan area. This relationship needs to be spread throughout the area. Striving for promoting the Sports Backers mission while promoting the Henricus Dauber Dash will create a personal connection with its publics in these areas; there needs to be more than just including the event while promoting tourism to a county. Organizations need solid reliable publics and participators. A mention on county and city websites are good to draw people in, but in depth stories on possible experiences and activities at the events is needed to intrigue people who are willing to travel. There were a few stories from the Richmond Times Dispatch, which shows there is a relationship between Sports Backers and the local journalism community, but there needs to be a relationship between readers and participants as well.

Suggestions The client can take these results and use it to draft better promotion techniques for the Henricus Dauber Dash. The 2009 promotional video was a good idea and could be used in one for subsequent years if the videos are done just as well and promoted to the audience desired. Social media is the key to getting to the target public between the ages of 18 and 35. There are sports bloggers in the Richmond Metropolitan area, yet these bloggers are not blogging about the Dauber Dash. The data can be used to shape messages so people are intrigued and feel the need to participate in this event year after year. Active consistency is important, too. The client could make good use of the relationship it has built with journalists in the area by seeking feature stories about the event in the future.

The videos evaluated were from Youtube, a website used for uploading and sharing videos. The videos were generally not interesting. If the Henricus Dauber Dash has music, side events for those cheering on runners, and other fun activities, this should be seen in personal videos uploaded by participants. Lifeless short videos that do not accurately depict the atmosphere of the event do not help Sports Backers promote, brand, or bring in a greater number of participants of the Dauber Dash.

Focus Group Publics Selected

“Tough Mudder.”

In order to answer the aforementioned research question a focus group was formed using students attending Virginia Commonwealth University. Even with the incentives acquired from Sports Backers, it was difficult to persuade people to join the focus group, so students at VCU were selected. VCU is in the heart of Richmond and students were more inclined to participate in our focus group for a Sports Backers T-shirt than full- time workers were. Also, the focus group meeting was more convenient for students, since they were already on campus. Focus group members were selected by asking random people on campus, specifically at the student commons and the library to participate. Each member of the team organizning the focus group also asked their friends to participate.

The next set of questions asked the participants who they think are the main people who run mud runs. Oddly, they think that people who run 10ks would not run in the mud run. Most people in the group believed that people who are “out of shape” like the mud runs; along with people who like beer. Even though only two people have heard of mud runs they all said that they would like to try one. The group said that they would like to participate because of the competition, being with friends, and of course, beer.

General Interpretations of Data The results from this focus group were expected but nonetheless useful. Two people from our group of 12 knew what Sports Backers was and they were from Richmond. Of these people only one person has heard of Mud Runs and none of them have heard of Dauber Dash. This clearly shows that Sports Backers needs better communication with its publics, especially those in college. When asked what comes to mind when they hear “Dauber Dash,“ they said they don’t think of mud runs. “Its sounds like something you pass around,” said one participant. One person thinks that “Mudder“ would be a better name, which is interesting because one of their competitors is the

The only problem that the group had with the concept of Dauber Dash, was that they thought a 5k is too long. “We would prefer a 2k.”, one group member said. For the group, the location of Dauber Dash was also a problem. The Wintergreen location seems to be too long of a drive from Richmond for a mud run. They agreed that a maximum of a 30 minute drive is optimal for such an event. Overall, the information will help Sports Backers better tailor its event for a young public and if followed up on, can lead to more awareness and participation in the Dauber Dash. Suggestions For most of our participants to not know about Sports Backers is surprising. This creates a huge problem. Sports Backers’ biggest mission is to make Richmond the most active metropolitan area. However, this goal cannot be reached if Sports Backers doesn’t promote its brand.

The first suggestion is for Sports Backers to prominently include its name on everything it releases. The events that are the most well-known are the Monument Avenue 10K and the Dominion Riverrock, so if Sports Backers is able to rebrand its billboards, posters, newspaper ads, and commercials to incorporate its name and its mission we recommend it should do that first. The focus group participants made it clear that they weren’t familiar with mud runs or that Sports Backers even had its own mud run event called Dauber Dash. A couple people had heard of Dauber Dash, but most had no clue what a Dauber Dash even was. When informed about Sports Backers’ Dauber Dash typical event information questions were asked. For example, when, where, how long? This shows us that the information about Dauber Dash has not been promoted well. The second suggestion would be for Sports Backers to reach out to different clientele and do more promoition.

other Richmond mud runs. Participants read other competitor’s event titles and all participants agreed that the title given to the Dauber Dash was not only boring, but didn’t have anything to do with mud. The event name should be more appealing and viewers should be able to create the image of mud and getting dirty in their minds. Some suggestions offered by the focus groups for appealing names are as follows: - “Dirty Dash” - “Mudder” - “Mud Fun” Another suggestion is reevaluating the cost to sign up, as well as possibly implement a defining characteristic to make the Dauber Dash mud run stand out among its competition. Some suggestions for this would be costumes, alcohol, and relay group races.

Richmond is home to many colleges and universities. Sports Backers should post flyers and recruit for events on the different campuses, most importantly focusing on the campuses and businesses near where the event is being held. If the location is a problem, i.e. the client can’t attract its desired number of participants to it, then reconsider the location. The focus group suggested that it would be interested in participating in the Dauber Dash if it was held closer to or even within Richmond. The focus group was also informed about

5. DONATIONS What messages increases the likelihood of donations? Do these messages need to be tailored to appeal to different audiences (i.e. businesses, foundations, individuals, etc.)?

Situation Analysis + Opportunity Statement Situation: Sport Backers is a non-profit organization that could benefit from donations. Sports Backers does not actively solicit donations at events for itself. Opportunity: Sports Backers could connect with donors as well as gain awareness about the organization. Research Objectives ● To explore how Sports Backers currently seeks donations from event participants, supporters and partners through messaging, types of communications, and communications mediums. The most appropriate way to analyze these communications is through a communications audit. ● To gather public opinion related to how people whose which organizations to donate to, the frequency of which they donate, and their motives for doing so through a focus group. Communications Audit The research question fits within the vision and mission of the organization because the well-being and the lifeline of the organization is directly related to the amount of donations received. Currently, Sports Backers communicates and seeks donations in a variety of ways. In addition to the donation form on its website, it also seeks donations directly from businesses and individuals.

It makes direct phone calls to large corporations that typically make five year pledges, which is where a majority of its major donations comes from. It also call individuals over the phone, many of whom have been longtime supporters of Sports Backers. While it does not have a set script for these phone calls, it does pitch the mission of the organization and explain what programs the money will be used to pay for. If someone donates over $50, it will receive a personal thank you note from Sports Backers. With the newly developing Active RVA arm of the Sports Backers mission, there are a few new programs that donations will help fund. Programs such as the Sports Backers Kids Challenge do not have any sort of registration fee, so it is funded off of donations and profits from other events. Sports Backers does not appear to place a main priority on asking for general donations to the organization. Instead, it prefers to ask for donations to specific program. For example, there is a section on most all of the brochures that asks people to donate to one of Sports Backers’ partnered causes, such as Fit4Kids or the VCU Massey Cancer Center. In the past, it has taken donations at Dominion Riverrock specifically for helping to effort to put up directional signs at the event. Sports Backers prefers that its supporters know exactly what their donations will be used for. Sports Backers is currently in the process of creating a postcard-sized piece of literature that explains all of the ways people can get involved with the Active RVA cause, including how people can donate. Sports Backers’ current tactics for each research question fit into the

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Practice Maturity Scale.â&#x20AC;? The practice maturity scale is a way to evaluate the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implementation of the 5 categories (develop effective materials, build valuable partnerships, train messengers, conduct steady outreach, monitor and evaluate). The following table provides quantitative data using the practice maturity scale, which is provided below the table.

Overall, the organization scores a level two on the Practice Maturity Scale. A SWOT analysis is a tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization, or in this case, how Sports Backers receives and could possibly increase donations.

IMPLEMENTATION TABLE Develop effective materials

2: It has a plan, which has worked in the past (i.e. calling large corporations and individuals) but has yet to explore better alternatives that would provide an initiative for the people to make the donation. Tracking progress with the method used now only happens on a yearly basis.

Build valuable partnerships

4: Because Sports Backers uses contracts with companies, it can predict and easily evaluate what future donations are going to look like based on previous years and the corresponding contracts. It also sends thank you letters, although this could be improved.

Train messengers

2: It has an organizational structure regarding who writes up the contracts for businesses that are donating, but in term of calling individuals and spreading information about donating, its method is somewhat ad hoc.

Conduct steady 2: Its website and social media presense are effective, however it only post outreach billboards and reach out when specific events are about to happen. Usually 1-2 months ahead of time it will begin to raise awareness of the event and try to increase donations. Monitor and evaluate

3. Tracking donations is a regular practice at Sports Backers, however, evaluation and improvement plans are not as coordinated as it could be. Strength: Sports Backers does have an option on its Website to make a donation. The organization as a whole is perceived as being honest and upright. The organization has a goal for making Richmond, Virginia an active community. They are also a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, so all donations are a tax exempt.

Weakness: The website isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t visually appealing in the donations section, and can be easily overlooked. The organizations sometimes partners with other non-profits and gives a percentage of earnings to its partners, however, the event communications donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always make this clear. Sports Backers does not ask for donations at events. Opportunity: Sports Backers is respected among people who are active in Richmond and the philanthropic community. It has the opportunity to establish itself as an organization that uses donations to create noticeable changes in the community. Threat: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible that some people may be annoyed if asked to pay to enter an event and make an additional donation as well.

Focus Group A focus group consists of 8-12 people in a relaxed area to discuss topics of the said organization. The focus group members were randomly selected amongst the people in charge. Some signed up, and some were caught randomly at Shafer on the VCU campus. The people selected represented different cultural backgrounds and had different views on fitness. The topic discussed: What messages increases the likelihood of donations? Do these messages need to be tailored to appeal to different audiences (i.e. businesses, foundations, individuals, etc.?) Focus Group Questions: Prompt- The focus group opens with a prompter pulling up the Sports Backers website, specifically showing the page with the donation icon with the prompter explaining what’s on the screen. The prompter then opened the discussion asking participants, what do you think about the donation button? 1. The participants were asked how likely they were to donate to this organization by clicking the button. Rationale: By improving the donate button, people will be more likely to donate to the organization. 2. Prompter engaged conversation with the audience asking: have they ever seen stands set up at events they’ve attended? What do they do after they’ve seen these booths?

Rationale: This was used to see if they are aware of donations and to see if the organization should implement more booths if people are not aware. 3. Have they donated to thes tables mentioend in the last prompt, and why? If not, why? Rationale: The rationale was to evaluate and know if the Sports Backers’ marketing is effective. If the people do give money than it is, but if people are still not aware that this non-profit organization is open for donations, there is still more to work on. 4. Audience was asked to suggest a few ways organizations can ask for donations, followed by which ones they think would be best for different groups of potential donors? Rationale: The rationale was to receive feedback on how the targeted public views successful donating practices and marketing techniques. 5. The group was asked which donation technique appeals more, an impersonal techniques like the box sitting on the table or the link on the website, or personal techniques and appeals made by a person asking for donations? Rationale: The rationale was to see if a personal interaction is more powerful than a non-personal interaction. 6. If some participants worked for organizations or other businesses, what did they look for in organizations when they met to inquire about donations?

Rational: The rationale was to see what marketing techniques are effective in generating donations. 7. Which donation methods are preferred: flyers, email, donation box, event stand, function are they more likely to respond positively to and actually donate to? Rationale: The rationale was to see which method is more effective on the target market. 8. Would it be better if people were asked individually for donations? Rational: This question was asked to see if people are okay with being personally approached for donations. The people in the focus group are not experts on donations, but can give us feedback on how they are in a situation where there is a personal interaction. 9. Do corporate sponsorships make an organization more appealing? Is it important to have a corporate sponsorship? Rationale: The rationale is to see if corporate sponsorship effects the decision to make or not to make a donation. Interpretations of the Data Most of the individuals were not impressed by the donations website. The only event from Sports Backers that most of the individuals knew about was the Monument Ave 10k. Richmond natives that participated in the group had somewhat heard of the organization,

but did not know they were responsible for other events besides the Monument Ave 10k. Once informed about Sports Backers, participants were more eager to get involved and learn more about the organization and the events it offers. “Maybe if the donations button was on the front of the page and not hidden people would know more about Sports Backer’s donating.” “If they were to have someone at Ukrops or a grocery store ask for dollar donations at a cash register, if would not only enhance awareness but give instant donations, easier done that way than looking for it on the website.” Suggested Strategies The organization could send out post cards to notify the participants of where their money is going and what the cause is for; this way, they are informed. The organization should allow personal testimonials on the website to allow others to see what others are saying about the organization. It should also set up more booths in the area where the organization is hosting the event, or even putting up the booths around the Richmond Metropolitan area before the event comes out to spread more awareness so people are more informed personally. Participants suggested that Sports Backers should team up with grocery stores for “dollar donations” at the cash register.

6. PULSE Among target audiences, what are their perceptions of the PULSE newsletter? What do they want/expect to see in it?

Situation Analysis + Opportunity Statement Situation: PULSE is distributed to registered participants of events, but Sports Backers has not measured audience feedback. Survey subscribers and learn what they want to see, then incorporate it into the newsletters. Opportunity: Sports Backers has the opportunity to have a closer connection with the active people in the community. Research Objectives ● To gather attitudes and opinions about the current format of Sports Backers PULSE newsletter from current readers to determine how it can be made better. The most appropriate way to collect this data is through an online survey embedded in a weekly issue of PULSE sent to current subscribers. ● To determine how current subscribers found out about and were signed up for PULSE. Also, to explore the current format of PULSE including how information is gathered to be included. The best way to analyze current communications practices of PULSE is through a communications audit. Communications Audit The research question fits within the vision and mission of the organization through the concept of informing and keeping the active locals and visitors informed and continually motivated to stay active. The organization’s current communication practices related to the PULSE newsletter are sent out through a contact list and linking through social media and its

website. Sports Backers generated the PULSE newsletters distribution list in November of 2011 from past event participation lists. Since then, people are added to the distribution list typically when they sign up for events. The “I would like to receive PULSE…” checkbox is automatically checked on all event registration forms, so users would have to manually uncheck it at the time of registration if they did not wish to receive the newsletter. The distribution list currently contains about 44,000 email addresses. When PULSE was first released, it had an open rate of 27% with 11,540 unique opens during the first campaign. When open/read rates declined and subscribers complained about its frequency, they reduced it from a twice-weekly publication to a once-a-week publication. The unique open rate rose up to 20% and the unique click rate rose to 5%. PULSE is occasionally promoted through the social media sites, such as when Sports Backers posts on their Facebook page that a new issue of it has been released. Sports Backers current tactics for each research question fit into the “Practice Maturity Scale” [see Appendix A-1]. The practice maturity scale is a way to evaluate the organization’s implementation of the 5 categories (develop effective materials, build valuable partnerships, train messengers, conduct steady outreach, monitor and evaluate). The following table provides quantitative data using the practice maturity scale, which is provided below the table.

IMPLEMENTATION Develop effective materials

1: Looking through the PULSE newsletter and noting where the client gets its material, the layout, and the consistency in the layout under planned and institutionalized the client would be ranked between [2-3]. Although the client regularly posts the newsletter and have released one weekly since the start, “best” performing practices are not being practiced.

Build valuable partnerships

2: Sports Backers wants to inspire the Richmond community to be more active. The client hopes to encourage people to be more active through the PULSE newsletter, as well as entertain readers. The client wants PULSE to be the link to the audience and Sports Backers ultimately wants the relationship between readers and supporters to be stronger. As seen on the PULSE newsletter, people can sign up for PULSE through the website or can be automatically signed up for PULSE when signing up for events. The problem — everyone who Sports Backers thinks is receiving the message may not be looking at PULSE. To ensure the client is doing everything to get the message out, the client needs to promote.

Train messengers

3: Sports Backers knows the message it wants to convey through the PULSE newsletter and members of the team all seem to know this message. This does not mean the message is tailored enough so readers are satisfied or understand the entire message. Yes, the PULSE newsletter does encourage people to be active but it’s not tailored to the Richmond community. Pulling the stories from the Richmond community would personalize PULSE and set it aside from other newsletter or blogs of its kind.

Conduct steady outreach

4: Sports Backers does not steadily conduct outreach to supporters and PULSE subscribers through multiple levels of media. Facebook is widely used and weekly updates on upcoming stories in the newsletter would intrigue readers as well as pull in new subscribers to the newsletter. Sports Backers only posts about PULSE on Facebook on occasion and that is not steady outreach. If readership is going to increase, PULSE needs to be advertised on the website, Facebook, Twitter — multiple forms of media needs to be used to promote their message behind PULSE and encourage readers to continue to read the newsletter and encourage others to subscribe to the newsletter.

Monitor and evaluate

5: Sports Backers does evaluate and monitor reader rates. It uses MailChimp which offers stats and analytics. There is a database to determine click rates for stories on the newsletters and subscriber activity. PULSE was once distributed twice per week but due to subscriber complaints they downsized to one newsletter a week. This shows Sports Backers is monitoring subscriber response but it doesn’t show whether or not it takes the initiative to personally contact subscribers through a survey or email to evaluate subscriber happiness or satisfaction with the newsletter. Sports Backers needs to take this initiative to have a clear understanding of subscriber satisfaction and understanding of the message behind the PULSE newsletter. Frequent in depth evaluation would improve PULSE.

When it comes to building valuable partnership, trained messengers, conducting steady outreach, and monitoring and evaluating PULSE Sports Backers is only operating at a [2] planned basis on the Practice Maturity Scale. More evaluation, monitoring, outreach through various media, and reader satisfaction evaluation is needed to sustain PULSE and ensure a steady growth. A SWOT analysis is a tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization, or in this case, evaluating the awareness and fondness level of the PULSE newsletter. Strength: The organization seems as if it want to inform its subscribers of fitness and activity information. It already has some subscribers to the online newsletter. Sports Backers wants to form a better, stronger relationship with its event participants by bringing them a weekly newsletter covering topics that are relevant to their lifestyle. The newsletter aims to be fun and light but cover a wide variety of topics (training, local features, inspiration, etc.) – with the ultimate goal to inform, educate, entertain and/or inspire the reader with each issue. Use mail chimp. Weakness: The PULSE newsletterdoesn’t seem to have a clear direction. The organization doesn’t have time, or a dedicated writer, so it pulls stories from other sources. It seems the organization has very little time to find articles. Its first campaign had a 27-percent open rate (11,540 unique opens), and was a twice-weekly publication at the time, but

after a while open/read rates consistently dropped and readers continued to complain about the frequency, so it dropped back to once a week and saw its rates go back up. It now manage a list of about 44,000 with a 20% (unique) open rate and a 5% (unique) click rate. Opportunity: Having Pulse can be potentially a great marketing tool. If Sports Backers decides to keep Pulse, it needs to better manage MailChimp, because it is great for analytics. It allows users to not only measure the stats mentioned but also tracks click rates by story/link as well as each subscriber’s activity. Threats: The individuals that receive pulse can discard the email. There is also a lot of competition for eyeballs online, so the content needs to be something the readers can’t get elsewhere. Methedology The methodology behind this communications audit was to assess and evaluate Sports Backers communications related to PULSE.. In the assessment, we listed the organization’s current communications practices related to our research question for PULSE. The organization’s current tactics of implementation was described using the Practice Maturity Scale. A SWOT analysis that identified areas of improvement was created surrounding the research question for PULSE.

Key Findings Sports Backers is promoting the message of being an active community, but more monitoring, outreach through various media, and reader satisfaction evaluation is needed to ensure PULSE grows at a steady rate in order to move beyond a ranking of 2 on the scale. PULSE has been updated and there has been an improvement of reader access to the newsletter. Sports Backers has the opportunity to promote the mission of Richmond being the most active community through the PULSE newsletter, and this can be even stronger by making a personal connection to their readers -- localizing every issue.

Survey A survey was conducted to collect opinions related to the following research question: Among target audiences, what are their perceptions of the PULSE newsletter? What do they want/expect to see in it? PULSE is Sports Backers’ weekly e-newsletter that compiles information, inspiration, entertainment and more - all from voices within the active community. PULSE stories come from a variety of sources but Sports Backers will also write its own content from time to time and publish it in PULSE. In developing the survey, determining the target audience was the first consideration. The next step was to decide how to reach these audiences to administer the survey. The survey questions developed had to be clear and unambiguous so that respondents could quickly choose their answers to the questions. The survey questions were developed in a way to discover how audiences felt about the current format of Sports Backers’ PULSE newsletter and also what could be done to improve it. After responses were gathered, crosstab correlations were performed to see if any of the respondents’ answers to one question correlated with their answers of other questions. Demographic information relating to age and gender were also collected to see if these attributes had any correlation with respondents’ answers. At the end of the report, suggestions were made as to how Sports Backers can use the data collected from this survey to improve PULSE and help Sports Backers

learn about its subscribers. It is important to keep in mind when viewing the results that all surveys exhibit a certain amount of bias. This one relies solely on the opinions of PULSE readers who took the time to answer the survey. The fact that they are people who respond to surveys could create some amount of bias. Nevertheless, the results seem to show a general feeling towards PULSE. A report of all of the survey results is attached. Audiences targeted The target audience for this survey was people who actually receive the PULSE newsletter. Currently, there are 35,318 people subscribed to receive PULSE on a weekly basis via email. The people who receive the newsletter do so because they opted in to receive it or signed up to attend a Sports Backers event thus were put on the mailing list. Because the aim of this research question is to help Sports Backers gather opinions about the current format of PULSE and make improvements, current readers are the obvious audience. It is more important for Sports Backers to take care of the current readers before trying to gain new ones. By targeting current readers, readership frequency can be examined as well as why the readers enjoy the newsletter. The number of respondents also gives some insight as to how many people that receive PULSE are actually opening and reading it.

How to reach audiences To reach current readers and ask them to complete the survey, a link to the survey was included in the weekly PULSE email newsletter. Also, Sports Backers posted the link to PULSE on its Facebook and Twitter pages, so people had the opportunity to access the survey by viewing PULSE through one of the social media pages. This is the blurb that was included in the PULSE issue on March 1, 2012 that links to the survey: “Our friends at VCU have created a brief survey (only 11 questions!) to help us determine how to better serve you, our active readers. Please take a moment to fill it out. Many thanks in advance!” Survey Questions and Rationale for Selection The following list of survey questions gives the entire question and the rationale for including it in the survey. It was mandatory for respondents to answer all of the survey questions, except for question three where respondents were asked to think of their own question. * denotes that respondents must answer the question *1. When you receive the weekly PULSE issue in your inbox, how frequently do you open and read it? a. I open every weekly issue. b. I open two or more issues a month, but never every issue.

c. I open around one issue a month. d. I never open PULSE. e. I did not know I received PULSE. Rationale: Since determining consistent readership is one of the main goals of the survey, the information regarding how frequently subscribers open and read the newsletter is imperative. It is not worth the time to compile the stories and material for each issue if it is not received by Sports Backers’ target audiences every time PULSE is sent. This data will directly correspond to whether or not subscribers feel the current material is useful, because they will be the individuals that are consistently reading the PULSE newsletter. Knowing how frequently readers open the newsletter will also help to determine if the frequency of which PULSE is sent should be reconsidered. *2. Rate how you feel about the following questions. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree a. I like the current format of PULSE as an aggregator of healthy lifestyle stories. b. I find the information in PULSE to be valuable. c. PULSE is my favorite source of information about being active. d. I prefer more multimedia items (videos, pictures, interactive games, charts, etc.) in newsletters I receive.

Rationale: This particular question will gauge different aspects relating to the quality of the information in PULSE. By questioning the fondness of the format and information in PULSE, Sports Backers can decide whether the readers are enjoying the information and the way it is currently being presented. The way that readers view the newsletter can, and possibly will make all the difference in the level of readership and satisfaction. There is also an extremely logical connection between the desire, or lack thereof, of having multimedia items available in a newsletter. While some consumers may enjoy additional images, video clips, and audio, others might view this as additional clutter. This Likert Scale question will tell Sports Backers what the strongest parts of PULSE are, and which ones could use some work. This question will put a quantitative backing of where readers stand on the content in PULSE 3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles? (enter response) Rationale: PULSE’s main goal is to provide the RVA community with substantial information that will prove not just helpful, but interesting on a weekly basis. While it is important to stay true to the vision that has been set in place for the PULSE newsletter by Sports Backers, it will also be helpful to see what healthy lifestyle outlets are competing with PULSE. Not only will this allow the organization to view these newsletters in a comparative manner, but it will also create the possibility for improvement in the quality of material for the benefit of readers.

*4. What things would you like to see added to PULSE? (check all that apply) a. Local stories about the RVA active community b.Personal fitness stories written by Sports Backers staff/volunteers c.Stories highlighting area adventurists/ exercise enthusiasts d.Stories on personal accomplishments of local active people e. Information about upcoming Sports Backers events f. Reflections on past events Tips for training/staying active g. Other (please specify) Rationale: Sports Backers has admitted it is not exactly sure what to include in PULSE, which is part of the reason that this survey was conducted. This survey question gives many possible responses, based on what would be feasible for Sports Backers to include in PULSE. By simply asking “What things would you like to see added,” the floor is open to endless possibilities of fun, exciting, and new material that can include something for all readers. Too often an organization can become consumed with its vision and goal of projects that it fails to take the audience into consideration. This question solidifies Sports Backers desire to bring about a more active RVA by incorporating the suggestions of those that read PULSE and will make Richmond an active community. *5. How often would you prefer to receive PULSE? a. daily b. weekly

c. biweekly d. monthly e. bimonthly f. quarterly g. Other (please specify) Rationale: As stated previously, those that read PULSE are probably very active, not just physically, but with many daily tasks. With that being said, it is important not to bombard them with too many postings and editions. If consumers are feeling overwhelmed they will be less likely to be receptive to future newsletters and may miss important information in an edition that they bypass. By finding the right balance, Sports Backers will not only save itself time but also make sure its readers are satisfied so they do not feel as if they are being “spammed.” *6. How would you prefer to receive the information given through PULSE? a. an online blog b. an email newsletter c. in print d. RSS feed e. Other (please specify) Rationale: As distribution is a high priority, readers’ preference of how they like to receive the information presented in PULSE must be considered. This factor can possibly make all the difference in whether recipients open the newsletter. If the newsletter is only available in one format, it is sure to leave some readers without the information because of their preference of receiving or availability of venues to receive PULSE. The main issue addressed in this question is accessibility. Sports Backers should put forth whatever

effort necessary to ensure that its information is reaching as many readers as possible and that it is easily accessible to the readers. *7. How much time do you spend reading ALL online newsletters and/or blogs daily? a. more than 9 hours b. 5 hours-under 9 hours c. 2 hours-under 5 hours d. 1 hour-under 2 hours e. 30 minutes-under 1 hour f. 15 minutes-under 30 minutes g. under 15 minutes Rationale: Because Sports Backers will likely be competing for its readers’ time with other online blogs, this question will reveal where the PULSE may fit into the time spectrum of its readers. Although all readers may not fall into one reading time frame, most will fall into at least one. The more time spent on reading media of this type, the more of an opportunity Sports Backers has to reach this audience. On the other hand, if only a fraction of that time is spent toward this activity, there must be more of an effort put into making an impression on readers. Also, Sports Backers can gauge how long it needs to make PULSE to fit into its readers’ schedule. If PULSE has too much or little content, readers may not be able to finish PULSE or there may be the missed opportunity to further captivate them. *8. What electronic device do you use to read online newsletters/blogs? (Check all that apply) a. a desktop computer

b. a laptop c. an iPad or other tablet d. a smart phone e. Other (please specify) Rationale: In an increasingly tech-savvy society, making information accessible on multiple platforms is a factor that will affect the level of readership. In order for Sports Backers to ideally reach its audiences, it must provide the information on the consumer’s terms. Sports Backers must stay informed about these outlets and new ones as they are likely to constantly change. In today’s technological world, applications, mobile versions and other accommodations are easily made to cater to consumers. By understanding how its readers are accessing the PULSE, Sports Backers is able to meet those needs and in return increase its readership and impact within the active community. Making sure readers can receive PULSE in its intended form should be one of the first steps in producing a newsletter. *9. Have you ever participated in any Sports Backers events? a. yes b. no Whether or not these individuals have personally participated in Sports Backers events in the past will give a better sense of the audience’s familiarity with Sports Backers’ goals. Many of the subscribers of PULSE were signed up for the newsletter because of their involvement in a Sports Backers event. Knowing how familiar the readers are with Sports Backers events through their participation will help Sports

Backers to know how much information about its events to include in PULSE. If many of its readers have not participated in events, the organization can include more information about the events to get them interested and involved. *10. What is your gender? a. Male b. Female While it is known that females typically respond to surveys more often, it will be helpful for Sports Backers to see whether there are more males, females or a good mix of both reading PULSE. Knowing the gender of the respondents will also help in crosstab correlations with how the respondents feel about other questions. The gender make up of the PULSE readers can possibly affect the content included in PULSE. If there is an astounding majority of male or female readers, the content will need to mirror that. The goal of Sports Backers should not be to entirely cater issues to one gender in particular, but take into account what will interest all of its readers. In most cases, women will have slightly different views of appealing stories than their male counterparts. Having a better grasp of what the male to female ratio is will prove to be highly valuable. *11. Which of these describes your age? a. under 16 years old b. 18-25 years old c. 26-35 years old d. 36-45 years old e. 46-55 years old f. 56-65 years old g. 66-75 years old h. over 75 years old

As stated previously, the demographic of the audience may greatly impact the information being offered. Knowing average age of readers can help Sports Backers to include stories targeted to this age demographic. If the age range of most readers is between the segments of 18-25 and 26-35, this will call for a different array of stories than if a majority of readers belonged to an older group within the 6675/older than 75 ranges. This information can also decide the future direction of the PULSE and what readers it will reach. General Interpretation of the Data Out of the 35,318 people that are registered to receive PULSE via email and those that were exposed to the link to the PULSE through Facebook and Twitter, 266 people completed the survey. There were actually 268 people that started the survey, but two people did not complete all of the responses. While this is only about a 0.75% response rate out of those that receive pulse via email, this number is a reliable sample for the survey. A general feeling about PULSE can be seen from the results and comments. The responses to the survey about the PULSE newsletter were overwhelmingly positive. Overall, the readers really enjoy the current format, frequency and modes of delivery, and content. Responders offered valuable suggestions when they had the chance to come up with their own responses and even took that space to commend Sports Backers for producing PULSE. An overwhelming majority of respondents

open every weekly PULSE issue and like that it is in the format of an e-newsletter, 71.6% and 92.2% of respondents, respectively. A large majority, 50.4%, also noted that they like PULSE as a weekly newsletter as opposed to bi-weekly, monthly, etc. Also relating to the current format of PULSE, the majority, 62%, like the current format of PULSE as an aggregator of news. In addition, 62.7% see the information in PULSE as valuable. While all of the statistics had a positive slant, these are some of the statistics that were overwhelmingly positive relating to PULSE. Other statistics that were still positive, but more middle of the road, include the fact that 55% of respondents were neutral about PULSE being their favorite source of information about being active and 43.6% were neutral about liking more multimedia items in the newsletters that they read. When respondents were asked what their favorite source of information about healthy lifestyles was, a lot of them answered similarly. A large amount said they did not have a favorite or that they searched the internet for information that they are looking for. While many still said PULSE was their favorite, many cited Runner’s World as being their favorite. Other frequently quoted sources included Men’s Health magazine, Women’s Health magazine and WebMD. This question produced some interesting and helpful quotes from respondents including: “Runnersworld.com and you guys pull a lot of info from there that I have already

read.” “Magazines - Women’s Health and Runner’s World. Love the Pulse links though!” “Don’t have one, if I didn’t get PULSE I would read very little about healthy lifestyles.” “Not one in particular, but lots of choices on internet. Often it has to do with what information I’ve read (say, in PULSE) that I will want to pursue further from that source.” “The e-newsletter has gotten a lot better, I enjoy it” The survey also gave respondents the chance to offer their opinions on things that should be added to PULSE as well as the opportunity to make suggestions of their own. Generally, most thought that more tips for training and staying active should be added to PULSE along with information about Sports Backers events and local stories. Respondents felt less strongly about reflections on past Sports Backers events being added to PULSE. Some respondents offered their own ideas. Some interesting ones include: adding recipes for healthy meals, adding a kid’s corner to PULSE, doing a story about sites around Richmond that only a runner or hiker may be able to enjoy, adding more biking and hiking content, giving information on athletic services in the area with ratings by area athletes, and giving information about other local events that happen throughout the year.

Some other interesting statistics are present in the more routine, less opinionated, questions. A summary of these results revealed that: - Most readers use a laptop or desktop computer to access PULSE, but all mediums were selected. - 88.9% of respondents have attended a Sports Backers event. - Almost an equal amount of respondents spend between 15 - under 30 minutes or 30 minutes - 1 hour reading online blogs/ newsletters. - 64.6% of respondents were female (173 of the 268 people who answered the question) - The highest age bracket of respondents was 46-55 year olds at 29.5%, the second was 36-45 year olds with 24.6% and the third was 26-35 year olds with 19.4%. Crosstab Correlations Crosstab correlations can be used to see if there are similarities in the ways that respondents answer different questions. For example, in this survey, the majority of people who said they fit into the 26-35 year old age bracket also answered that they disagreed with the statement that they prefer more multimedia items in their newsletters. These crosstab correlations are especially useful to determine how different age groups and genders feel about certain questions. Another interesting crosstab from this data is that 46-55 year olds were more likely to answer that the read every issue of PULSE than any other age group. Also, those that open every weekly issue spend 30 minutes to under one hour reading

all online newsletters and blogs and are more likely to read PULSE on a laptop computer. An interesting gender crosstab is that most males answered that they spend 15 minutes to under 30 minutes reading all online newsletters and blogs, where as most women answered that they spent more time. Lastly, the most people that said they had not participated in a Sports Backers event were in the age category 26-35 years or 36-45 years. This is surprising since Sports Backers’ events involve high amounts of athletic ability, so you would think that younger people would have participated. On the other hand, younger people are probably much busier and may not have had time to participate because of the other demands in their schedules Suggested Strategies First, Sports Backers should use the results to promote the satisfaction of PULSE among current readers to possibly gain more readers. From glancing at the survey data, PULSE seems to be a hit among subscribers and the data is very positive. The readers like the layout and appreciate the weekly information. There were no overwhelmingly negative responses about PULSE. Almost all of the readers shared that they really enjoyed the current format of PULSE and wanted to make it known. Sports Backers can use the responses to see the areas where PULSE scored the lowest, which are still comparatively high, to make improvements and additions to the newsletter.

Sports Backers could start to incorporate more multimedia items to its blog, since most of its readers answered that they enjoy these items. Readers would like to see more videos, images or even music. When dealing with an online blog, it’s important to have a mixture of text and images to break up the content. This gives readers eyes some relief and adds to the physical appeal of the newsletter. Secondly, PULSE readers noted that they want to receive more tips on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and want to read more personal success stories about RVA citizens. Sports Backers can gradually work to include this content into PULSE to satisfy readers. Thirdly, subscribers want to see more information about upcoming events hosted by Sports Backers. Adding this information will not only please readers, but also help Sports Backers to promote the events. Finally, Sports Backers should take notes from its competitors’ blogs and websites. One respondent noted that she often reads the same information in other sources that PULSE later links to. Using more original content and linking less to other sources may help Sports Backers make PULSE its own and help it to stand apart from its competitors. These other sources have likely been producing this kind of content longer and probably have more resources to do so. Sports Backers should take the opportunity to learn from these more experienced sources to help build its reader base. To further expand its readership and clarify the mission of PULSE, Sports Backers should promote PULSE and distinguish it

as a newsletter, instead of referring to it as a blog. If Sports Backers wants to have a blog component to PULSE, it should specify the difference between that and the newsletter. If readers begin to see the changes in PULSE that they suggested in the survey, they are likely to feel appreciated and feel that their opinions really mattered. Sports Backers could even note that it used suggestions made in the survey to point out that it is listening to its readers. Using the information that the respondents came up with on their own could be extremely beneficial to Sports Backers. These opinions are genuine and less generic than the survey answer choices. Sports Backers can really get to the essence of what its readers think by listening to these personal opinions and comments. Sports Backers is out to a great start with PULSE according to the survey results. There were really no problem areas or red flags that there are major problems. PULSE has the opportunity to become a leading source of information among active community members because the readers are already excited about the information presented. Because PULSE is relatively new, changes and additions to the newsletter are not likely to startle current readers. Sports Backers can use the suggestions presented in this report along with readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; comments to increase its PULSE blog traffic and keep its current readers satisfied.

Appendix Appendix A-1

Appendix A-2

Appendix B-1 Dominion Riverrock Content Analysis on Story Focus

2012. <http://www.facebook.com/ riverrockRVA>.

1) Richmond Biz Sense Story Focus: High Flying Kayaking Event.

5) Richmond.com Story Focus: Dominion Riverrock full schedule of events and the bands that are performing was announced.

“Company Gets Lift from High-flying Kayak Event.” Richmond BizSense. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.<http://www.richmondbizsense. com/2010/05/07/company-gets-lift-fromhigh-flying-kayak-event/>.

“Full Schedule for Dominion Riverrock Announced.” Richmond.com. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://www2.richmond.com/ lifestyles/2012/jan/19/9/tightrope-overcanal-riverrock-year-ar-1623728/>.

2) Vail Daily News Story Focus: Subaru of America became the sponsor for Dominion Riverrock.

6) Jamband.com Story Focus: Galactic, Travelin’ McCourys and Keller Williams to play Dominion Riverrock festival.

“SNEWS® : Outdoor Trade Shows / Events : Subaru to Serve as Presenting Sponsor of 2012 Dominion Riverrock.” SNEWSÂ® : Outdoor Trade Shows / Events : Subaru to Serve as Presenting Sponsor of 2012 Dominion Riverrock. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://www. snewsnet.com/cgi-bin/snews/24400.html>.

“Need We Say More?” News Galactic, Travelin’ McCourys and Keller Williams to Play Dominion Riverrock Festival. 06 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http://www. jambands.com/news/2012/03/06/galactictravelin-mccourys-and-keller-williams-toplay-dominion-riverrock-festival>.

3) Sportsbackers.org Story Focus: Events at Dominion Riverrock.

7) Virginia.org Story Focus: Dominion Riverrock itinerary of the day to day events.

“Dominion Riverrock - Sports Backers.” Sports Backers. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://www.sportsbackers.org/events/ dominion-riverrock>.

“Dominion Riverrock.” Virginia Is for Lovers. 01 Jan. 1012. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http://www.virginia.org/Listings/ EventsAndExhibits/DominionRiverrock/>.

4) Facebook.com Story Focus: Events at Dominion Riverrock

8) Dpmclimbing.com Story Focus: Dominion Riverrock boulder competition is coming back

“Dominion Riverrock | Facebook.” Welcome to Facebook. Web. 30 Mar.

“Dominion River Rock Climbing Comp Returns for 2012.” - Rock Climbing

& Bouldering Articles. DPM, 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http://www. dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/dominionriver-rock-climbing-comp-returns-2012>.

Slacklines. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http:// www.gibbonslacklines.com/us/index. php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=it em&id=236&Itemid=227>.

9) ClimbingNarc.com Story Focus: Winners from the Boulder Bash at the 2011 Dominion Riverrock.

16) Cvatrailblazers.com Story Focus: The Flithy 5k Mud Run that takes place at Dominon Riverrock that runs.

“2011 Dominion Riverrock Bouldering Comp Results.” So Obsessed with Climbing It Hurts... Climbing Narc, 18 May 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http:// climbingnarc.com/2011/05/2011-dominionriverrock-bouldering-comp-results/>. 10) Outsideonline.com Story Focus: Results of the filthy 5k, urban assault, and kayak boatercross. 11) Midlothian Exchange Story Focus: Schedule of events. (Sports Backers, 2010) 12) RVA news Story Focus: Canal Crasher photos and preview before the event. (Hugel, 2011) 13) Activewomantraveler.com Story Focus: Overview of the entire festival complete with details on every part of the schedule. (Sports Backers, 2011) 14) Richmond Times Dispatch Story Focus: schedule of events (RIchmond Times Dispatch, 2011) 15) Gibbonslacklines.com Story Focus: The extreme trickline competition at the Dominion Riverrock. “Dominion Riverrock.” Gibbon

http://www.cvatrailblazers.org/events/5132 5872/?eventId=51325872&action=detail 17) Style weekly Story Focus: The weather that will be going on in the area of Dominion Riverrock. “Style Weekly.” Style Weekly. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. <http://www.styleweekly.com/ richmond/dominion-riverrock-festival-atthe-riverfront/Content?oid=1477738>. 18) Richmond.com Story Focus: Full event schedule for Dominion Riverrock is available. Full Schedule for Dominion Riverrock Announced.” Richmond.com. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. styles/2012/jan/19/9/tightrope-overcanal-riverrock-year-ar-1623728/>. 19) Bushleague.com Story Focus: Virginia based band The Bush League will be performing at Dominion Riverrock. “The Bush League.” DOMINION RIVERROCK Presented by SUBARU. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. dominionriverrock. com/content/bush-league>.

20) Rapidmag.com Story Focus: The official schedule of Dominion Riverrock. “Dominion Riverrock - Rapid, The Whitewater Kayaking and Canoeing Magazine.” Rapid Magazine. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. dominion-riverrock.html>. Appendix B-2 Dominion Riverrock Content Analysis on Timeliness 1) “Big Name Climbers Descend on Richmond for Boulder Bash.” - Rock Climbing & Bouldering Articles. DMP Climbing. 04 May 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.dpmclimbing.com/ articles/view/big-name-climbers-descendrichmond-boulder-bash>. Coding frame category: month prior 2) “Spring in Richmond: Things to do, places to go.” Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia). 09 May 2012. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http:// www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/ viewer.aspx>. Coding frame category: other 3) Hugel, Johnny. “Dominion Riverrock: an x-treme preview.” RVANews.” RVANews. 13 May 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http:// rvanews.com/entertainment/dominionriverrock-an-x-treme-preview/41447>. Coding frame category: month prior

4) Thompson, Andy. “Mountain of Goal for Riverrock Festival.” Richmond TimesDispatch. 13 May 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www2.timesdispatch.com/ sports/2011/may/13/tdsport01-mountainof-goal-for-riverrock-festival-ar-1035865/>. Coding frame category: month prior 5) “The Goochland Gazette | Sports Dominion Riverrock Announces Music Lineup.” The Goochland Gazette. 03 Mar. 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www. goochlandgazette.com/index.php/sports/ article/dominion_riverrock_announces_ music_lineup/22155/>. Coding frame category: other 6) House, Tara, and Chase Scheinbaum. “Your Perfect Weekend, May 14-15.”Mensjournal.com. 13 May 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www. mensjournal.com/your-perfect-weekendmay-14-15>. Coding frame category: month prior 7) Fellin, Billy. “Riverrock Features Action without Traction.” Richmond Times-Dispatch. 16 May 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www2.timesdispatch. com/sports/2011/may/16/tdsport01riverrock-features-action-without-tractiar-1041276/>. Coding frame category: during 8) “Dominion Riverrock Debuts This Weekend.” Midlothian Exchange. 14 May 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www2. midlothianexchange.com/sports/2009/

may/14/dominion-riverrock-debuts-thisweekend-ar-1725315/>. Coding frame category: month prior 9) “Photo Contest to Capture Riverrock.” Midlothian Exchange. 14 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www2. midlothianexchange.com/sports/2010/ apr/14/photo-contest-to-capture-riverrockar-1724055/>. Coding frame category: month prior 10) Harris, Al. “Company Gets Lift from High-flying Kayak Event.” Richmond BizSense. 7 May 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.richmondbizsense. com/2010/05/07/company-gets-lift-fromhigh-flying-kayak-event/>. Coding frame category: month prior 11) Page, Sara. “James River Will Rock on May 15 and 16.” Midlothian Exchange. 17 Mar. 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http:// www2.midlothianexchange.com/sports/ sports/2009/mar/17/james-river-will-rockon-may-15-and-16-ar-1725540/>. Coding frame category: other 12) Hilleary, Mike. “Dominion Riverrock Festival at the Riverfront.” Style Weekly. 10 May 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http:// www.styleweekly.com/richmond/dominionriverrock-festival-at-the-riverfront/ Content?oid=1477738>.

Announced.” Richmond.com. 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www2. richmond.com/lifestyles/2012/jan/19/9/ tightrope-over-canal-riverrock-yearar-1623728/>. Coding frame category: other 14) Williams, Chad. “Dominion Riverrock Mud Run 5k.” Web log post. 30 Is The New 20. 14 May 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.30isthenew20.com/events/ dominion-riverrock-mgd-64-filthy-5k-mudrun/#.T3JqTc1-tUd>. Coding frame category: during 15) Johnson, Alex D. “Five Ten | Alex D. Johnson Reports on the Dominion River Rock Boulder Bash.” Five Ten. Brand of the Brave, 23 May 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://fiveten.com/community/blogdetail/11703-dominion-river-rock-boulderbash>. Coding frame category: month after 16) Wright, Neil. “Dominion Riverrock Mud Run 5k.” Web log post. Rapid. 07 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www. rapidmag.com/blogs/features-events/672dominion-riverrock.html>. Coding frame category: other

Coding frame category: month prior

17) Curran, Colleen. “Riverrock Fest.” Richmond.com. 11 May 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www2.richmond.com/ blogs/top-five/2010/may/11/riverrock-festar-592584/>.

13) “Full Schedule for Dominion Riverrock

Coding frame category: month prior

18) Hallman, Randy. “Competition, Good Time Dominate Riverrock.” Richmond Times-Dispatch. 14 May 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www2.timesdispatch. com/sports/2011/may/14/tdsport01competition-good-time-dominate-riverrockar-1038438/>. Coding frame category: during 19) “Riverrock Festival Concludes.” Progress-index.com. 16 May 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://progressindex.com/sports/riverrock-festivalconcludes-1.1147429>. Coding frame category: during

-Michelle and Shawn. Have you guys ever heard of mud runs or have done a mud run? “Yes. I heard it was a lot of fun. You get really dirty.” -Lee and Milli. Has anyone ever participated in any Sports Backers events? Some events include Dauber Dash, Monument 10k, and Dominion Riverrock. “Yes I have. I did the Monument 10k. It was fun.” -Chris.

20) Ingram-Johnson, Jaila. “All Roads Lead to Mud Run.” Progress-index.com. 6 May 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http:// progress-index.com/sports/all-roads-leadto-mud-run-1.765373>.

When I say Dauber Dash, what do you think of?

Coding frame category: month prior

“Something you eat?” “I think of Ice Cream.” -Shawn

Appendix C-1 Transcript of Dauber Dash Focus Group Please state your name, how old you are, and where you’re from. All participants introduce themselves. First question, have you guys ever heard of the Dauber Dash? Please state your name before you answer. Has anyone ever heard of Sports Backers? Before today? “Yes I’ve heard of Sports Backers. Two people and their both from Richmond.”

“Running.” -Jeff

Anyone know what a Dauber is? “Sounds boring.” -Lee and Shawn. So when I say Dauber you don’t think of something fun with mud, you think of boring not fun? “I think it involves carrying something.” -Michelle If you had the chance to do a mud run, what would you call it?

“Mud Fun” -Lee “Mudder.” -Jeff “Mudder sounds sick.” -Lee “Dirty Dash.” -Ronnie Do you think people who just run in marathons and 10k’s would be interested in doing the Dauber Dash? “No” -Shawn, Lee, Milli “No, because it’s mud and you can get dirty.” -Shawn

the 10k. People who would run in the mud run would be people who are not as fit.” -Michelle What do you guys like about the mud run? Why would you want to go? “For the experience.” -Shawn. What kind of ideas do you think would be good defining characteristics that Sports Backers could implement in the Dauber Dash? “Costumes would be fun. Like a relay race.” -Michelle, Milli, Shawn. How could Sports Backers advertise more for the Dauber Dash?

What type of people do you think run in 10k’s and marathons?

“The same way they advertise for the 10k. Commercials, billboards, t-shirts.” -Michelle

“Usane Bolts. Healthy people.” -Shawn.

“Mascot.” -Shawn

Do you think healthy people don’t want to run in the mud?

“Go viral.” -Lee

What if beer was served at the mud runs?

Now that you guys know about the Dauber Dash, would you guys do it?

“For free?” -Jillian No. It’s not free. Everyone is sad. “I don’t think you’d get the same crowd as

“Yeah!” -Michelle, Milli, Lee “If it wasn’t so expensive!” -Shawn One more thing, the Dauber Dash takes place in Wintergreen. Would that be to far

for something like this? Where would the ideal place be? “30 minute radius.” -Lee “Monroe Park.” -Shawn Does anyone else have anything else to say? Follow Sports Backers on Twitter! Thank you for participating! The video can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oURvFuP-5cc Appendix C-2 Dauber Dash Content Analysis Story Slant 1) Richmond Times-Dispatch Spring in Richmond: Things to do, places to go Story slant: Positive 2) Richmond Times-Dispatch More than 600 revel in mud run at Henricus Historical Park Story slant: positive 3) Dauber Dash Story slant: positive Richmond Road Runners Websitehttp://www.rrrc.org/events/henricusdauber-dash-2 4) Henricus Dauber Dash Story slant: positive with an exception www.Richmond.com

5) 600 slog through mud run; Participants have ‘a blast’ in Chesterfield, especially at end of Henricus Dauber Dash Story slant: positive www.chesterfield.com 6) Chesterfield ponders plan to boost sports tourism Story slant: positive with exception 7) Goals for sports tourism; Report recommends adding new events and building on already successful ones Story slant: positive Richmond Times-Dispatch 8) Around the State Story slant: positive Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), May 15, 2009 Friday, Sports; Pg. C-07 9) Sports Backers Promotional Video Link Story slant: positive with exception Facebook.com/dauberdash 10) Village News Dauber Dash Story slant: positive Village News Dauber Dash: http://www. villagenewsonline.com/node/58 11) Henricus Dauber Dash Story slant: positive www.Richmond.com http://www2.richmond.com/lifestyles/2009/ jul/14/henricus-dauber-dash-ar-596626/ 12) Henricus Dauber Dash Story/video slant: ambiguous Henricus Dauber Dash- http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=6o9HScrPpLw 13) 2010 Henricus Dauber Dash Story slant: ambiguous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVjn5JyQOc 14) Finishing the Henricus Dauber Dash Story slant: ambiguous http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=CiySOHAH8s 15) Dauber Dash 2011 Story slant: positive http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qcQIlURIbGU 16) Dauber Dash- Buttercupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mud pit Story slant: positive http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9G0PUX6gjq0

PULSE Blog Feedback Survey

1. When you receive the weekly PULSE issue in your inbox, how frequently do you open and read it?

a. I open every weekly issue.

Response

Percent

Count

71.7%

195

18.4%

7.4%

d. I never open PULSE.

0.7%

e. I did not know I received PULSE.

1.8%

answered question

272

skipped question

b. I open two or more issues a month, but never every issue. c. I open around one issue a month.

1 of 18

2. Rate how you feel about the following questions. Strongly Disagree

Disagree

be valuable. PULSE is my favorite source of information about being active.

Count

61.8%

18.4%

(48)

(165)

(49)

19.9%

62.9%

15.0%

(53)

(168)

(40)

19.5%

55.0%

15.6%

(51)

(144)

(41)

29.7%

43.3%

17.1%

(78)

(114)

(45)

0.4% (1)

1.5% (4)

0.7% (2)

5.7% (15)

Response

Average

18.0%

1.5% (4)

lifestyle stories. I find the information in PULSE to

Rating

Agree

I like the current format of PULSE as an aggregator of healthy

Strongly

Neutral

3.95

267

3.89

267

4.2% (11)

2.93

262

2.3% (6)

2.77

263

answered question

272

skipped question

I prefer more multimedia items (videos, pictures, interactive games, charts, etc.) in newsletters

7.6% (20)

I receive.

3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles? Response Count 166

2 of 18

answered question

166

skipped question

106

4. What things would you like to see added to PULSE? (check all that apply)

Local stories about the RVA active

Response

Percent

Count

60.7%

165

36.4%

32.7%

44.5%

121

71.0%

193

Reflections on past events

17.3%

Tips for training/staying active

83.1%

226

7.4%

answered question

272

skipped question

community Personal fitness stories written by Sports Backers staff/volunteers Stories highlighting area adventurists/exercise enthusiasts Stories on personal accomplishments of local active people Information about upcoming Sports Backers events

Other (please specify)

3 of 18

5. How often would you prefer to receive PULSE? Response

Response

Percent

Count

daily

1.1%

weekly

50.0%

136

bi-weekly

27.2%

monthly

16.9%

bi-monthly

2.9%

quarterly

0.7%

1.1%

answered question

272

skipped question

Other (please specify)

6. How would you prefer to receive the information given through PULSE? Response

Response

Percent

Count

an online blog

4.0%

an email newsletter

91.9%

250

in print

1.8%

RSS feed

1.1%

answered question

272

skipped question

Other (please specify)

4 of 18

7. How much time do you spend reading ALL online newsletters and/or blogs daily? Response

Response

Percent

Count

more than 9 hours

0.0%

5 hours - under 9 hours

0.4%

2 hours - under 5 hours

3.7%

1 hour - under 2 hours

13.6%

30 minutes - under 1 hour

32.7%

15 minutes - under 30 minutes

22.8%

under 15 minutes

26.8%

answered question

272

skipped question

8. What electronic device do you use to read online newsletters/blogs? (Check all that apply) Response

Response

Percent

Count

a desktop computer

52.6%

143

a laptop

61.8%

168

an iPad or other tablet

23.2%

a smart phone

38.6%

105

1.1%

answered question

272

skipped question

Other (please specify)

5 of 18

9. Have you ever participated in any Sports Backers events? Response

Response

Percent

Count

yes

89.3%

243

10.7%

answered question

272

skipped question

Response

Percent

Count

10. What is your gender?

Female

65.1%

177

Male

34.9%

answered question

272

skipped question

6 of 18

11. Which of these describes your age? Response

Response

Percent

Count

under 16 years old

1.8%

18 - 25 years old

8.5%

26 - 35 years old

19.1%

36 - 45 years old

25.0%

46 - 55 years old

29.8%

56 - 65 years old

15.4%

66 - 75 years old

0.0%

over 75 years old

0.4%

answered question

272

skipped question

7 of 18

8 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

Self magazine, and online searches

Mar 21, 2012 9:28 PM

book, magazines and news reports

Mar 21, 2012 7:42 AM

this is a recent focus so developing resources

Mar 19, 2012 6:10 PM

I don't really seek out any other sources, so I enjoy being on the mailing list.

Mar 15, 2012 6:36 PM

Don't have one

Mar 13, 2012 12:39 PM

internet search

Mar 12, 2012 11:44 AM

Runner's World and other running info. sites/magazines

Mar 11, 2012 10:34 AM

internet surfing for it

Mar 8, 2012 7:30 PM

Pulse,it tell me information without all the dressing

Mar 8, 2012 11:58 AM

Don't have just one source. Depends on the area I'm trying to get information about.

Mar 7, 2012 12:49 PM

Gyms and trainers.

Mar 6, 2012 10:00 PM

Runner's World active.com

Mar 6, 2012 4:31 PM

runners world?

Mar 6, 2012 1:43 PM

web

Mar 6, 2012 9:18 AM

Fitness magazines

Mar 6, 2012 1:49 AM

I receive several - sources - Runner's world; USTA weekly emails, Map My Fitness, etc.etc. so I really don't have a go-to source. I glean information of interest from the several I receive.

Mar 5, 2012 10:42 PM

magazines

Mar 5, 2012 3:08 PM

twitter

Mar 5, 2012 12:42 PM

magazines, television programs

Mar 5, 2012 12:13 PM

Web

Mar 5, 2012 11:29 AM

men's health

Mar 5, 2012 11:12 AM

Weight watchers website and newsletters.

Mar 5, 2012 9:46 AM

www.beliefnet.com, www.mayoclinic.com, www.health.com, www.http://www.care2.com/greenliving/, http://www.Challenge.90DaysToGetFit.com (received some good information about proper nutrition and getting fit)

Mar 4, 2012 9:42 PM

weight watchers and runners world

Mar 4, 2012 9:42 PM

9 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

Runners world

Mar 4, 2012 9:12 PM

Runners World website

Mar 4, 2012 4:37 PM

Seal Team PT

Mar 4, 2012 2:06 PM

there isn't one in particular

Mar 3, 2012 11:18 PM

bike.com; many others

Mar 3, 2012 1:34 PM

Triathlete and Running web sites and magazines

Mar 3, 2012 9:26 AM

Runnersworld, Men's Health

Mar 3, 2012 9:17 AM

The internet, the gym, my mom :)

Mar 3, 2012 1:30 AM

Prevention magazine

Mar 3, 2012 12:50 AM

WebMd and RealAge

Mar 2, 2012 11:46 PM

Runners World

Mar 2, 2012 8:39 PM

On line

Mar 2, 2012 7:23 PM

Active.com/PULSE

Mar 2, 2012 5:17 PM

various websites and CommonHealth program for state employees

Mar 2, 2012 3:05 PM

Runners world

Mar 2, 2012 1:09 PM

runnersworld.com and you guys pull a lot of info from there that I have already read

Mar 2, 2012 12:54 PM

Internet, Running Magazine, Trainer, Friends with the same lifestyle goals

Mar 2, 2012 12:03 PM

search on google

Mar 2, 2012 11:48 AM

magazines, websites

Mar 2, 2012 11:17 AM

None really, just yours.

Mar 2, 2012 9:52 AM

Runners World, Women's Health

Mar 2, 2012 9:49 AM

Stories on the internet.

Mar 2, 2012 9:38 AM

Runners World, ACSM, Newspaper

Mar 2, 2012 9:37 AM

Research papers and science periodicals.

Mar 2, 2012 9:18 AM

web

Mar 2, 2012 8:31 AM

Internet, books, friends who lead healthy lifestyles.

Mar 2, 2012 8:25 AM

Google/my mom (a nurse)

Mar 1, 2012 11:15 PM

10 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

Running Times, Marathon and Beyond, Runner's World, internet, books on training methods and nutrition for endurance athletes.

Mar 1, 2012 10:45 PM

Blogs

Mar 1, 2012 10:44 PM

Don't have one particular source.

Mar 1, 2012 10:34 PM

Mark's Daily Apple.com and other paleo centric community members.

Mar 1, 2012 10:32 PM

Sparkpeople.com, Fitness.com, Shape.com

Mar 1, 2012 10:28 PM

don't have one

Mar 1, 2012 9:37 PM

other active people

Mar 1, 2012 9:15 PM

Runner's World mag

Mar 1, 2012 9:05 PM

I'm quite well informed already.

Mar 1, 2012 9:00 PM

runners world

Mar 1, 2012 8:23 PM

My doctor.

Mar 1, 2012 8:21 PM

pulse and friends

Mar 1, 2012 7:54 PM

Internet

Mar 1, 2012 7:32 PM

PULSE

Mar 1, 2012 5:44 PM

The Wellness Letter and Runner's World Magazine

Mar 1, 2012 5:42 PM

Whole living, web md,

Mar 1, 2012 4:57 PM

Magazines - Women's Health and Runner's World. Love the Pulse links though!!

Mar 1, 2012 4:52 PM

tumblr

Mar 1, 2012 4:50 PM

Runner's World, Mayo Clinic, Active, and Sportsbackers

Mar 1, 2012 4:40 PM

internet

Mar 1, 2012 4:36 PM

Runners World, Blogs, Triathlon.com

Mar 1, 2012 4:21 PM

Internet

Mar 1, 2012 4:14 PM

Friends

Mar 1, 2012 4:11 PM

web

Mar 1, 2012 4:03 PM

trainer

Mar 1, 2012 4:03 PM

Alex Grymes

Mar 1, 2012 3:49 PM

The internet in general, I guess

Mar 1, 2012 3:22 PM

11 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

Currently None....

Mar 1, 2012 3:05 PM

Health magazine and website; other online sites

Mar 1, 2012 3:03 PM

None that I "seek out" on a regular basis, but I routinely read a variety of informational info online, in Richmond Times Dispatch, magazine articles, etc.

Mar 1, 2012 2:59 PM

Books and Internet

Mar 1, 2012 2:55 PM

Magazines especially Fitness

Mar 1, 2012 2:53 PM

Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 2:39 PM

Men's Health Magazine

Mar 1, 2012 2:36 PM

Jillen Michaels, Dr. Oz - Whole Living Magazine

Mar 1, 2012 2:35 PM

Runner's World Magazine

Mar 1, 2012 2:34 PM

Various magazines, i.e.; Runners World, Oxygen

Mar 1, 2012 2:32 PM

the web

Mar 1, 2012 2:30 PM

variety of places - gym, friends

Mar 1, 2012 2:26 PM

Various -- Google, Runners World, Womens Health

Mar 1, 2012 2:18 PM

Women's Health daily email blasts regarding specific topics.

Mar 1, 2012 2:14 PM

internet, magazines & newspapers

Mar 1, 2012 2:10 PM

I read everything

Mar 1, 2012 2:10 PM

google

Mar 1, 2012 2:09 PM

no go to source, I have a lot of different interests and use a number of sources

Mar 1, 2012 2:06 PM

mens health

Mar 1, 2012 2:00 PM

health magazine, web MD

Mar 1, 2012 1:56 PM

Internet, company info

Mar 1, 2012 1:53 PM

100

ymca

Mar 1, 2012 1:44 PM

101

Still looking

Mar 1, 2012 1:44 PM

102

Google

Mar 1, 2012 1:40 PM

103

Runners' World Magazine or on line

Mar 1, 2012 1:39 PM

104

Runners World and Fitness mags

Mar 1, 2012 1:28 PM

105

Pulse

Mar 1, 2012 1:23 PM

12 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

106

my doctor

Mar 1, 2012 1:20 PM

107

health magazines

Mar 1, 2012 1:14 PM

108

Runners world

Mar 1, 2012 1:07 PM

109

Don't really have a one-stop shop on this

Mar 1, 2012 1:03 PM

110

Internet

Mar 1, 2012 12:59 PM

111

Self magazine, internet

Mar 1, 2012 12:58 PM

112

Fitness Magezine or Website

Mar 1, 2012 12:58 PM

113

Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 12:58 PM

114

Healthy living blogs

Mar 1, 2012 12:57 PM

115

the web in general...no one source

Mar 1, 2012 12:56 PM

116

Running and Women's Running and Cooking Light

Mar 1, 2012 12:55 PM

117

Prevention Magazine Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 12:54 PM

118

not one in particular, but lots of choices on internet. often it has to do with what information I've read (say, in Pulse) that I will want to pursue further from that source.

Mar 1, 2012 12:53 PM

119

Richmond Times Dispatch

Mar 1, 2012 12:51 PM

120

Runnersworld.com

Mar 1, 2012 12:51 PM

121

Blogs

Mar 1, 2012 12:49 PM

122

Fitness magazine..still a child of paper versus computer...

Mar 1, 2012 12:49 PM

123

web in general

Mar 1, 2012 12:48 PM

124

Friends, coach

Mar 1, 2012 12:46 PM

125

Health magazine

Mar 1, 2012 12:43 PM

126

Washington Post

Mar 1, 2012 12:42 PM

127

Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 12:42 PM

128

I don't really have a go to source. If there is an article or something I will stop to read it to learn about more and helpful information.

Mar 1, 2012 12:41 PM

129

Google

Mar 1, 2012 12:41 PM

130

Many different sources on the net and other media. I am a pharmacist & receive many professional newsletters.

Mar 1, 2012 12:37 PM

13 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

131

Like minded friends

Mar 1, 2012 12:37 PM

132

Health magazine & Women's Health magazine

Mar 1, 2012 12:36 PM

133

A lot of different avenues. Mainly books then medical or proffesional expertise online.

Mar 1, 2012 12:35 PM

134

Bing search engine for specific needs/questions

Mar 1, 2012 12:33 PM

135

Prevention Magazine

Mar 1, 2012 12:26 PM

136

Runners World

Mar 1, 2012 12:25 PM

137

www.livestrong.com, and "eating well" magazine

Mar 1, 2012 12:22 PM

138

Don't have any go to's.

Mar 1, 2012 12:20 PM

139

Health magazines, health insurance companies

Mar 1, 2012 12:20 PM

140

sparkpeople.com

Mar 1, 2012 12:18 PM

141

none

Mar 1, 2012 12:15 PM

142

Don't really have one, I take care of myself with exercise . I think healthy eating is overblown, moderation is my key.

Mar 1, 2012 12:13 PM

143

Don't have one, if i didn't get pulse i would read very little about healthy lifestyles

Mar 1, 2012 12:12 PM

144

Triathlete magazine

Mar 1, 2012 12:09 PM

145

Dont really have one

Mar 1, 2012 12:06 PM

146

Women's Health, Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 12:06 PM

147

PULSE and Google and Diabetes support group

Mar 1, 2012 12:05 PM

148

PULSE and Duke Diet and Fitness Daily

Mar 1, 2012 12:04 PM

149

So far this is the only source I have gone to.

Mar 1, 2012 12:04 PM

150

PULSE!

Mar 1, 2012 12:04 PM

151

Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 12:03 PM

152

women's health

Mar 1, 2012 12:02 PM

153

internet

Mar 1, 2012 12:01 PM

154

msn health

Mar 1, 2012 12:00 PM

155

Blogs

Mar 1, 2012 12:00 PM

156

Creating Wellness staff

Mar 1, 2012 11:59 AM

14 of 18

Page 1, Q3. What is your go-to source of information about healthy lifestyles?

157

I like the Pulse and the web.

Mar 1, 2012 11:59 AM

158

Livestrong.com, Mensheath Magazine, Personal Research

Mar 1, 2012 11:58 AM

159

runner's world and health magazine.

Mar 1, 2012 11:57 AM

160

I get e-mails from VitalJuice and otherwise I wander the web myself.

Mar 1, 2012 11:57 AM

161

Internet

Mar 1, 2012 11:56 AM

162

Magazines - Self, Women's Running

Mar 1, 2012 11:56 AM

163

internet

Mar 1, 2012 11:56 AM

164

Runner's World

Mar 1, 2012 11:55 AM

165

Various but Runner's World web site is a primary one.

Mar 1, 2012 11:55 AM

166

books

Mar 1, 2012 11:54 AM

15 of 18

16 of 18

Page 1, Q4. What things would you like to see added to PULSE? (check all that apply)

training routines

Mar 12, 2012 11:44 AM

ideas on healthy meals

Mar 8, 2012 11:58 AM

anything re: running!

Mar 6, 2012 4:31 PM

Fitness/Health Articles from other members of the community including a Kid's corner

Mar 4, 2012 9:42 PM

Hidden sites around Richmond that only runners see

Mar 3, 2012 9:17 AM

Stories on outdoor activities canoeing hiking ect.

Mar 2, 2012 3:01 PM

Featured cycling routes in RVA

Mar 1, 2012 10:10 PM

Overcoming barriers to getting more in shape/better training

Mar 1, 2012 4:52 PM

Information about local events, not just Sports Backers

Mar 1, 2012 4:14 PM

nutrition info for marathoners (training and during the marathon

Mar 1, 2012 3:22 PM

the enewsletter has gotten a lot better, I enjoy it

Mar 1, 2012 2:06 PM

Professionals and services available in Richmond, rated by athletes

Mar 1, 2012 1:44 PM

Group get togethers and activities the are not necessarliy a Sports Backers Program.

Mar 1, 2012 1:21 PM

anything local

Mar 1, 2012 12:43 PM