process handbook handbook 201… · appendix f: production guidelines 49 appendix g: policy...

p ro c e s s h a n d b o o k

u n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i c at i o n s s e rv i c e s

p r o c e s s h a n d b o o k : u n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s e r v i c e s i i

conTenTs

university communications services 1

strategic communications through integrated planning 1

how clients deal with ucs 2

the rules of engagement 2

how ucs keeps ucs informed 3

assigning and tracking Work 3 how communications advisors use easy projects 4

overall communication with clients 5 academic 5 administrative 5 special projects 5

process for Job requests 5 academic and administrative 5 special projects 6 Jmsb marketing advisor 6

how coordinators address issues 8

design process 8

p r o c e s s h a n d b o o k : u n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s e r v i c e s i i i

process for noW e-newsletters 9 easy projects 9 noW e-newsletters 9 the Weekly noW meeting 10 process For noW – Faculty and staff 11 process For noW – students 12 noW photo Workflow – Faculty and staff and students 13 noW and social media 13

digital information screens (dis) 14 easy projects 14 General information about dis 14 photo/audio/video assignments 14 Working with Journalists 14 Journalist to-do 15 information required of journalists by photographers/videographers for all photo/video/audio assignments 15 studio (video, photo, audio) to-do 15 coordinators to-do 15

processes Within the media relations department 16 tier 1 events/projects/announcements 16 tier 2 events/projects/announcements 17 tier 3 events/projects/announcements 17

media relations (expert commentary, providing background info, etc) 17 student media relations 17 research promotion 18 noW process for media relations Liaison 19 strategic communications (proactive and reactive) 19 university spokesperson 19 media training 20 press review 20 newsmakers 21 social media 22 community calendars 22 press conferences 22 concordia press conferences 22 event day — press conference protocol 23 press conference protocol 23 media contacts 24 easy projects 24

process for president’s speaking notes/press releases 25

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process for Web communications Job requests 26 requests for new Websites or Website sections/pages 26 Web maintenance 27 homepage updates 27 training (Web, mass email blasts, mobile and social media) 28 standalone emails 28

multimedia uploads and maintenance 29 youtube uploads/maintenance 29 photography in social media uploads/maintenance 30

itunes uploads/maintenance 31

advertising process 33 metrovision advertising process 33 design approvals 34 author’s alterations 34 File ready for press 34 proof required 34 ad complete 35

mailing List: maintenance of the key opinion Leaders (koL) list 35

everGreen: institutional brand management 35

advancement and alumni relations (aar) team 36 reporting Lines and publications 36 vision and mission 36 director of communications 37 manager, content and production 38 managing editor, concordia university magazine 38 online communications advisor 42 electronic communications coordinator 43 Graphic designer 44

appendices 46 appendix a: organigrams 46 appendix b: checklists 47 appendix c: templates 47 photo/video templates 47 media templates 47 communications templates 47 administration templates 47 appendix d: File naming 48 appendix e: service agreement 49 appendix F: production Guidelines 49 appendix G: policy vpirsG-4 49

p r o c e s s h a n d b o o k : u n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s e r v i c e s 1

university communications services

university communications services (ucs) is the reference point for all communications-related matters at concordia. it is the university’s central resource for public and media relations, marketing, advertising, and internal and web communications. ucs is headed by the chief communications officer (cco) and brings together all communications personnel from across the university. together we develop key messages, set the tone for their delivery, and establish clear standards and guidelines for all marketing and outreach efforts.

the cco meets with the communications steering committee four times a year. the steering committee is made up of the president, provost, vice president research and Graduate studies, vice president institutional relations and secretary General, and the chief communications officer. the chief Financial officer participates on an ad hoc basis. its mandate includes identifying the messaging priorities of the university; reviewing the ucs annual plan; providing insight and ensuring collaboration across the university on all spending related to advertising, pr and marketing; and reviewing communications policies and ensuring acceptance across the organization.

there are approximately 60 full- and part-time employees working at ucs. this team includes communications advisors and professionals for the faculties and certain units, writers and editors, designers, photographers, videographers, and social media, web and media relations professionals. ucs also calls on the resources of a group of coordinators who serve as the link between the unit and its clients. For details please refer to appendix a (organigrams).

strategic communications through integrated Planning

the senior director, communications and outreach works with and provides guidance to the directors (of media relations, Web communications, internal communications) and their teams to develop their sector’s integrated communications plan (icp) each year. using a standardized powerpoint template outlining requirements, each director develops his/her sector’s plan which includes an analysis and identification of : highlights and key accomplishments from the previous year; situation analysis — strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats (sWot analysis); strategic imperatives; communications objectives; key strategies; tactics, audiences, milestones and measurement. each director prepares a first draft of his/her icp and submits it in early march for review and comment by the cco and executive director; final versions of each plan are submitted in late march.


the sectoral communications planning process begins in January each year; sector communications advisors (sca) receive a powerpoint template outlining integrated communications plan (icp) requirements as well as a brief lesson on strategic planning by the senior director, communications and outreach. each sca works with contributors from his/her unit over a 6-week period to analyze and identify the unit’s: highlights and key accomplishments from the previous year; situation analysis - strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats (sWot analysis); strategic imperatives; communications objectives; key strategies; tactics, audiences, milestones and measurement. each sca prepares a first draft of his/her sectoral icp and submits it in early march for review and comment by the cco, executive director and senior director. Final versions of each sector’s icp are submitted in late march. the senior director compiles the icps from the nine sectors and presents a complete sectoral icp to management in early april.

how clients deal with ucs

university communications services (ucs) has three client service coordinators (csc) through whom all job requests are channeled:

1. academic coordinator: responsible for the Faculties, office of research and the office of the provost

2. administrative coordinator: responsible for services, finance, facilities, etc.3. special projects coordinator: responsible for projects that are driven by ucs or for which

ucs is expected to take the lead in communications, e.g. annual report, university-wide events, signage projects, etc.

please note that Jmsb has its own creative resources coordinated by the marketing advisor.

the goal for ucs is to provide excellent client service in a timely manner by:• identifying the context and ultimate goal of the request.• facilitating success by offering options for achieving the desired goal.• being proactive with our partners.• engaging them early and often.• establishing, communicating and meeting reasonable deadlines.• maintaining a constant, realistic workflow.

the rules of engagement

university communications services is mandated by virtue of policy vpirsG-4 (appendix G) to provide the guidelines and verification systems that ensure a consistent visual identity be it for print, electronic or web-related materials. to do so, ucs has created a communications graphic standards (hyperlink) manual. this manual highlights the direction and details for properly representing the university, its units and departments.


members of the ucs team must take these into consideration when discussing projects with colleagues from other parts of the university.

client service coordinators rely on a checklist, a service level agreement and production guidelines (appendices b, e, F) to guide them when accepting requests for projects. these documents spell out the conditions under which work will be undertaken, the timelines for delivery, and most important the scope of the mandate and how each unit of ucs is affected.

how ucs keePs ucs informed

a. the client service coordinators inform appropriate directors about requests received from clients. this will be done via email to which the checklist will be attached. the directors will confirm receipt and whether they can accommodate the request the next working day.

b. the communications advisors/managers send a weekly report to the senior director every Friday.

c. the senior director compiles the reports into a single document and sends it to the budget assistant by 2 pm Friday.

d. the information and project coordinator sends the weekly noW e-newsletter lineup to the budget assistant by 2 pm every Friday.

e. the director communications, aar, sends the upcoming projects list to the budget assistant by 2 pm Friday.

f. the director media relations sends the upcoming projects list to the budget assistant by 2 pm Friday.

g. the director, Web communications sends the upcoming banner list to the budget assistant by 2 pm Friday.

h. the budget assistant compiles all the reports into two documents and sends it to the management team by end of day Friday.

i. directors inform their employees during regularly scheduled staff meetings.j. the ucs Listserv ([email protected]) should be used to contact all staff regarding updates

or announcements. note, the listserv does not support attachments.

assigning and tracking work

ucs uses the easy projects management system to track its workflow. all staff is expected to use this system.

When a job request comes in from communications advisors /clients and the client services coordinators have established that the services requested can be accommodated by the ucs sector in question, they create projects and/or tasks and assign the appropriate unit director or studio members. directors in turn, will assign the appropriate member of their team to the tasks.


the John molson school of business ( Jmsb) has its own marketing and design advisor (mda) who receives requests for the production of marketing and communications collateral including web, social media, analytics and tracking, production of print material and promotional items. the mda tracks all projects using a combination of Google analytics tools, excel spreadsheets and Firstclass calendar and conference tools.

follow uP• coordinators ensure studio members provide deliverables on time• directors follow up with staff members to ensure deliverables are on time• coordinators will liaise with directors to ensure project is on schedule

for example:arts and science is organizing a book launch. among the materials needed will be:

1. an invitation2. directional posters3. press release for media4. interviews

5. noW/Journal coverage/digital information screens (dis)

the coordinator will create an overall task within the project arsc-promotional materials called arsc-txxxxxx-promo-yyyyy book Launch. sub-tasks will then be created for designers (invitation, directional posters), media relations (press release, interview) and internal communications (noW/Journal/dis). the media tasks will be assigned to the director of media relations who can add one or more of the advisors to that task or create additional sub-tasks as he or she sees fit. similarly, the director of internal communications will be assigned the noW/Journal/dis task and either assign additional people to that task or creates sub-tasks.

even though the coordinators will not be directly involved with the work done by assignees in the sectors other than studio and web, they will be able to monitor the work being done on the other aspects of the client’s requests and so be able to ensure that everything gets done on time.

how communications advisors use easy Projectscommunications advisors (including Jmsb, vp services, student services, human resources, and aar) will open projects and tasks that relate directly to their work and will track their time accordingly. Where projects or tasks relate to ucs services, these will be opened by the appropriate csc. these should follow the same naming protocol as all other projects and tasks.


overall communication with clients

academicthe academic coordinator will have monthly meetings with the communication advisors from the faculties, schools, libraries as well as research and the provost’s office (and all sub-units that fall under the provost’s office, eg. coop) during these meetings the advisor and the csc will go over any projects that are coming up, discuss on-going projects and generally provide a communications link into ucs. at this time, preliminary deadlines and workflows will be established.

administrativethe administrative coordinator will have monthly meeting with select clients (e.g. office of the president, recruitment, services, student services) based on work volume. the coordinator will meet regularly with other clients every two months or, in the event that clients have special projects, those meetings will take place more frequently. the coordinator will keep in regular contact with clients about ongoing jobs. during these meetings the advisor and the csc will go over any projects that are coming up, discuss on-going projects and generally provide a communications link into ucs. at this time, preliminary deadlines and workflows will be established.

sPecial Projectsthe special projects coordinator attends project meetings with clients, and informs individual directors within 24 hours of preliminary project meetings and reports back to clients as soon as coordinator and directors arrive at a suitable timeline. the special projects coordinator is responsible for maintaining the integrity of final content including any translation requirements.

Process for job requests

academic and administrativeWho fields the request: client service coordinator (csc)

client service coordinator Process• csc receives a call/email from client.• csc confirms receipt of call or email same day or next day.• using the checklist template the csc and the client determine what work is required:

• design• Writing• Web• media• photography• videography

• csc then emails all ucs directors to determine whether ucs has the capacity to deliver the work within the timeline requested. the director will respond within one working day.

• csc responds to client and confirms or denies the request. if confirmed, a timeline is agreed to based on the production Guidelines and the service Level agreement.


• csc enters the work docket into easy projects (including production guidelines and service level agreement).

• csc ensures that agreed-to deadlines are being met and informs client where there may be delays.

• client approves final version of job. after final approval is given, all necessary documents are attached and time entered, the job is closed by the csc. directors and their staff are responsible for closing their own tasks.

sPecial ProjectsWho fields the request: special projects coordinator

client service coordinator Process• csc attends preliminary meetings with client(s).• using the checklist template the coordinator develops a wish list for each special project for

relevant ucs services.• csc meets with relevant directors to establish what services are relevant to the project and

associated deadlines, including production and approvals. csc determines with director if work is feasible.

• a detailed workback schedule is developed to brief all directors of required work to be done for the project

• csc sources external suppliers as required and coordinates delivery..• csc ensures that agreed-to deadlines are being met and informs client where there may be

delays.

jmsb marketing advisorWho fields the request: JMsb Marketing advisor

Process: unplanned work• ma follows up with requester to discuss project details (ie: due date, budget, ideas, etc).• if project is simple, details are finalized via email/phone.• if project is more complex, ma organizes meeting with client to discuss further. depending on

the nature of the project, ma will include communications advisor and/or graphic designer in meeting. during meeting, it is decided what needs to be completed to begin work on project. For example:

• Writing• photo• video• Web• print• design

• because the ma organizes the workload of the graphic designers, and is aware of the current design schedule, the ma is able to advise the client of the project completion date, and what factors may affect their desired timeline. the project is either slotted between existing projects or after existing projects (depending on urgency, and availability)


• the client is made aware of the entire process, how long each step takes, and where/why there may be hold-ups.

• the client is made aware of what parts of project are their responsibility, and which parts are the responsibility of the ucs team.

• When content is received, it is sent to the communications advisor (ca) to ensure that it meets all necessary standards.

• if necessary, a photo shoot is organized prior to the design process, but after content is received to ensure that imagery is consistent with messaging.

• once content is revised/approved by the ca*, the content is given back to the ma to assign to one of the graphic designers (Gd) for design.

• the ma discusses the project with the Gd to ensure that the project scope/audience is understood. if the project is simple and straightforward, the ma will simply email all project details the Gd.

• once the design process is completed, the design is sent to branding for approval, and (if necessary) a quote is requested from the digital store.

• the Gd and branding work together to get the design to meet concordia standards.• once approved, the design is then shown to the client for approval.• the Gd and the client work together to work out any remaining small adjustments.• if any graphic changes are made, the design is sent back to branding for approval• When the project is approved by the client, the project is either delivered to the client

electronically, and/or sent to print.*If necessary, the content is sent to translation services

Process: Planned workthe marketing advisor (ma) makes a conscious effort to meet with all Jmsb clients throughout the year to discuss their project plans. this enables the ma to create a general 12-16 month schedule of marketing activities, allowing the marketing team to pre-book time to certain projects that occur annually/monthly/etc. as of march 2012, these meetings consist of the ma, the communications advisor and the Web content developer. this way, when a potential project is discussed, each key player from the ucs team is aware of upcoming projects and their possible involvement.

When a pre-planned project approaches its start date, the ma contacts the client to ensure that everything is still on schedule. if the client isn’t on schedule, the ma advises the client that their pre-defined timeline cannot be guaranteed. if everything is ready, the ma proceeds with the project as previously discussed with the client.

• When content is received, it is sent to the communications advisor (ca) to ensure that it meets all necessary standards.

• if necessary, a photo shoot is organized prior to the design process, but after content is received to ensure that imagery is consistent with messaging.

• once content is revised/approved by the ca*, the content is given back to the ma to assign to one of the graphic designers (Gd) for design.

• the ma discusses the project with the Gd to ensure that the project scope/audience is understood. if the project is simple and straightforward, the ma will simply email all project details the Gd.

• once the design process is completed, the design is sent to branding for approval, and (if necessary) a quote is requested from the digital store.


• the Gd and branding work together to get the design to meet concordia standards.• once approved, the design is then shown to the client for approval.• the Gd and the client work together to work out any remaining small adjustments.• if any graphic changes are made, the design is sent back to branding for approval• When the project is approved by the client, the project is either delivered to the client

electronically, and/or sent to print.*If necessary, the content is sent to translation services

how coordinators address issues

at the weekly meeting (monday morning 10:00 a.m.) with the marketing communications executive director, the client services coordinators will update the status of the jobs currently in production. these will have one of three statuses: green, yellow or red.

Green indicates that the job is on time and there are no foreseeable problemsYellow means that there is a risk the deadline might not be met, either because the designer is not able to complete the task in the time allotted, or that materials needed to complete the job are not available.red means there is a problem with the job as deadlines have not been met and a new timeline needs to be agreed to.

design Process

• designer receives notification of new job via easyprojects; in certain cases may meet for briefing with coordinator and/or Lead creative (possibly including client);

• designer checks that all materials/parameters required for the job have been provided in appropriate, useable format;

• designer assesses whether deadlines are achievable and notifies csc if not feasible;• designer creates local folder and job creation file according to ucs easyprojects file naming• conventions, for all related materials;• designer ensures that all necessary branding elements and current university design directives

are included in their draft;• designer uploads design draft to ep with a notification message post, specifically indicating to

Lead creative that it has been uploaded for feedback (or in their absence, csc sends draft via email to the executive director, ucs);

• once draft is approved, designer uploads it to ep with notification;• csc sends to client for comment or approval;• csc uploads client comments/approval to ep;

• designer makes revisions requested by client; if changes are significant then design must be reapproved by the Lead creative; designer then uploads new draft to csc with a notification on ep;


• upon approval by client, designer prepares a final version to send to client, publication or digitalstore, depending on the situation:

• Where jobs are printed by digitalstore, the store’s client service coordinator is added to the task where she will be able to download final copy and client details;

• Where jobs are to be uploaded to an external printer’s Ftp, the designer will do so.• designer ensures time logs have been entered into ep• designer collects job for archiving; backs up job folder on local external hard drive, until enough

job file folders have been accumulated to burn a dvd; designer then adds new dvd volume to the backups archive catalog;

• Job is closed by the csc.

important:• maintain all job filenames according to ucs easyprojects file naming conventions;• at end of each workday, designers copy collected files of current work in progress to their cLio

shared folder (working files need to be accessible in case of designer absences);• When a template, logo or other branded graphic element is created or modified, the designer

must ensure that a copy is placed in the appropriate folder on the ucs server for reference, and notify the other studio members.

Process for now e-newsletters

easy Projectsthe information and project coordinator opens a task called noW for the week of (insert date) and creates subtasks for administration, writing, editing, posting and meetings. the information and project coordinator assigns these tasks to the information and project coordinator, director, internal communications, communications advisors (vps, student services and hr and others as appropriate), the Writer and Web news editor. the expectation is that these people track their hours under the appropriate sub-tasks.

the special projects coordinator opens weekly Website Graphics tasks within easyprojects, to handle any photo, banner or thumbnail requests on a weekly basis. each week, an available designer will be assigned to complete the requests. the information and project coordinator along with the Web news editor are also assigned to these tasks so that they are aware when graphics are approved. these weekly tasks will house the final versions of all noW banners and imagery used in the noW e-newsletters. all approvals are attached to the appropriate tasks as received.

now e-newslettersinternal communications is responsible for producing a weekly noW e-newsletter for faculty and staff (issued regularly from september to June) and a monthly noW e-newsletter for students (issued monthly throughout the calendar year). news/story items are gathered from multiple sources:

• ucs coordinators• editor, publications, from contacts and info• Writer, ucs internal communications• senior advisor, media relations, from research and media meetings• communications advisors / personnel

p r o c e s s h a n d b o o k : u n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s e r v i c e s 1 0

• advancement and alumni relations• information and project coordinator, mostly from departments with no communications officers• online submissions through the website• submissions from faculty members• a review of upcoming events• Web news editor• online submission through the website• directors, senior director, executive director, chief communications officer

the director, internal communications serves as the editor-in-chief of the faculty and staff noW e-newsletter and for the student noW e-newsletter. the information and project coordinator updates the online story planner, which is found on the clio directory under noW.

the weekly now meetingparticipants at the meeting on Wednesdays include director, internal communications, information and project coordinator, Web news editor, Writer, director, media relations, Webmaster, academic coordinator (for the video component), and communications advisors for human resources, student services and vp, services.

the information and project coordinator prepares a line-up of stories for noW e-newsletters, looking ahead to the next two weeks, before the meeting and provide copies at the meeting.

stories, focus and deadlines will be confirmed during the meeting. photo, video and audio sources/assignments will be confirmed. by Friday afternoon, the information and project coordinator shares the list of requirements with the special projects coordinator who is responsible for ensuring that the photography, stock photos or photo shoots required are clearly outlined.

banners and their headlines are communicated to the special projects coordinator on Friday afternoon or monday. noW banners are designed by studio and sent to director internal communications, director Web communications for approval. the director, Web communications approves the noW banners that are to be placed on the concordia.ca home page. the information and project coordinator is copied.

any and all changes are made by studio.

once approved, the final files are uploaded to the ep task where the Web news editor can download them for posting by end of day tuesday. a digital screen version of each banner is then designed. the information and project coordinator is advised via notification in ep by the special projects coordinator once the slides are ready for upload.

the academic coordinator along with the video producer will confirm the complete list of which media are required, who will provide media and any shoots/tapings that still need to be assigned.


if it is not possible for the work to be completed on time due to other commitments, the special projects coordinator or academic coordinator will inform the director, internal communications and information and project coordinator and a backup position will be established and coordinated by the appropriate coordinator.

once a month, the noW meeting will devote at least one hour to brainstorming for the next two months in terms of upcoming story ideas.

Process for now – faculty and staffthe deadline for stories is Friday, noon before the previous Wednesday publication. this applies to all stories produced by Faculty communications advisors, media relations (for banner stories), advancement and alumni relations and internal communications.

stories are sent to the information and project coordinator and must adhere to the noW story template and include a head, subhead, tWeet, photo captions and related links. the deadline for all visuals to be delivered to Web news editor is tuesday end of day.

• articles submitted to noW are reviewed first by the information and project coordinator, then by the director, internal communications. When required, external proofreaders are hired to assist in the review/proofreading process.

• stories submitted by any writer, be they freelance writers, student interns, Faculty or service-related communications advisors must adhere to the noW story template, follow the noW checklist and have received approvals by the appropriate people. in cases where stories are poorly written or require a rewrite, they are sent back to the originator with a request for a rewrite.

• research or strategic stories assigned by the senior advisor, external communications are approved by the director, media relations who sends copy to the information and project coordinator for a first review, followed by a final review by the director, internal communications.

• banner headlines/subheads for research stories are shared with the director, internal communications and director, Web communications for feedback. once approval for these banner heads and subheads has been obtained from these directors, the director of media relations, or designate, will share these with the researcher.

• banner headlines/subheads for non-research stories are approved by both the director, internal communications and director, Web communications since some of these banners are posted on the concordia home page.

• Web news editor posts stories to noW site unless embargo is in place. once the Web news editor posts a series of stories to the noW site, the Web news editor then sends an email to all of ucs staff alerting people to newly posted stories.

• on the Wednesday any last minute noW articles that need to be written are done by in-house staff and edited internally

• Web news editor prepares files for all newsletters: one for faculty and staff, one for media and public and one for students. the Web news editor is responsible for securing approval of the faculty and staff approval from the director, internal communications; securing approval for the media and public newsletter from the director media relations; and from the communications advisor, student services for the student newsletter.


• the director internal communications and information and project coordinator review the faculty and staff newsletter, select the subject header, on an ongoing basis on Wednesday morning to ensure that material is complete, reflects standards, reads well in combination, etc.

• the director, media relations reviews the media and public newsletter, selects the subject header, on an ongoing base on Wednesday morning to ensure that material is complete, reflects standards, reflects stories that concordia wishes to push out to the media and reads well in combination.

• the communications advisor, student services reviews the student newsletter, selects the subject header, on an ongoing base on Wednesday morning to ensure that material is complete, reflects standards, reflects stories that will be of interest to students. and reads well in combination.

• any changes are communicated to the Web news editor (priority given to newsletter text).• director, internal communications signs off on final version of the newsletter for faculty and staff

before it goes live and the e-newsletter is disseminated to faculty and staff.• director, media relations signs off on the final version for the media and public before it is

disseminated to the media.• communications advisor, student services signs off on final version of the newsletter for

students before it goes lives and the newsletter is sent to students.

Process for now – studentsthe deadline for all edited articles stories is two weeks before the publication date. this applies to all stories produced by Faculty communications advisors, media relations (for banner stories), advancement and alumni relations and internal communications.

stories are sent to the information and project coordinator communications advisor, who conducts a first review, followed by the director, internal communications. stories must adhere to the noW story template and include a head, subhead, tWeet, photo captions and related links. the deadline for all visuals to be delivered to Web news editor is tuesday the week of publication.

• the noW news planner must reflect what stories from external writers might need images and the director, internal communications ensures the majority of stories contained in the newsletter are illustrated.

• articles submitted to noW are reviewed first by the information and project coordinator, followed by the director, internal communications. When required, external proofreaders are hired to assist in the review/proofreading process.

stories submitted by any writer, be they freelance writers, student interns, Faculty or service-related communications advisors must adhere to the noW story template, follow the noW checklist and have received approvals by the appropriate people. in cases where stories are poorly written or require a rewrite, they are sent back to the originator with a request for a rewrite.


now Photo workflow – faculty and staff and students

Pre-production1. director, internal communications presents line up and photo, video and audio suggestions at

the Weekly news meeting. the director, internal communications is responsible for presenting the line ups for the student noW and for suggesting images and visuals.

2. meeting clarifies and consolidates requests.3. information and project coordinator presents a list of photo and video requires to the special

projects coordinator (photos) and academic coordinator (videos) before Friday, noon. For the student noW, this deadline is the Friday noon before the publication week.

4. special projects coordinator meets with designer and Lead creative for banner and photo requests.

5. academic coordinator meets with video and multimedia producer and videographer to discuss video requests.

6. photo coordinator enters photo requests (including schedule and lineup docs) and assigns photographer in easy projects.

7. Where photo/image is available from outside source, copyright will be requested from source by the person who fields the request for the photo.

8. photo/image will be uploaded to noW folder on cLio for photo editor.9. photo editor will determine whether it is usable or not and inform the information and

production coordinator.

now Production1. photographer reviews photo assignment with Lead creative/photo editor, shoots and then edits

photos (25 photos cap when possible).2. photographer uploads photo selection to raW catalog in photoFinder database for Lead

creative/photo editor to review.3. photographer sends notification to Lead creative/photo editor via ep and email including path to

photos4. Lead creative/photo editor makes photo selections and replies to photographer via ep5. photographer retouches selected photos and moves them to cLio, in its own new folder:

cLio>ucs>noW(year)>images>noW images>(weekly folder)6. photographer notifies Web news editor via email, copying information and project coordinator,

that photos have been uploaded to noW folder on cLio. photographer ids subjects in photos when necessary.

now and social mediathe Web news editor is responsible for pushing out stories posted on the news & events section of concordia.ca every day, at least one story a day.


digital information screens (dis)

easy Projectsthe information and project coordinator opens a monthly task under digital screens to monitor hours spent updating and preparing material for the digital screens. the information and special coordinator assigns sub-tasks for design and posting to the appropriate people.

general information about dis• information for inclusion on digital information screens should be provided in the required

template and submitted to the communications advisor or to the ucs coordinator, where appropriate.

• information on events must be submitted at least 10 working days in advance of the event date and must be submitted used the required template. (e.g. event information/ title/date/time/minimal urL). material will be posted on the screens at least five working days in advance of the event.

• information on news, submitted through the communications advisor or ucs coordinator, will be posted within eight (8) working days. material can include news, short-term notices or announcements. material must be no longer than three sentences, with a header that is no longer than six (6) words.

• For specific series of events or concordia-wide initiatives, designed templates (following the look and feel of the event, if applicable), can be created but internal communications requires at least four weeks’ notice.

• digital information screens are updated thursdays and Fridays by the information and project coordinator.

• templates for digital information screens are designed by the ucs design team.• banners on noW are automatically converted by studio and posted on digital information

screens, pushing people to the concordia.ca/now.• images: suggested: pnG, JpeG, GiF / accepted: pdF, tiFF, ppt, psd, mov

• resolution: 72 dpi• When communications plans are developed the digital screens should be included as an option

for promotion.

Photo/audio/video assignmentsthe cscs assign photo needs to the photo coordinator and video needs to the video, multimedia producer.

working with journalistsWhen in-house or freelance journalists are involved with a story, they should let the subject know whether photography, video or audio will accompany the piece. they should also discuss the direction that the photo/video/audio may take. this will sometimes lead to more interesting content because of the enthusiastic participation of the subject. the journalist should consider the extra time needed to take photos or film video if there is a multimedia element to the news story.


journalist to-do:• brief the subject. discuss the content of the photo, video or audio with the subject.• add extra time to interview when it includes a photo, video or audio (audio +15 mins; photo

+30 mins; video +60 mins).• When requesting a photo, the request from must be filled out completely and sent to photo

coordinator with a copy to all ucs cscs.• When requesting video or audio, the request form must be filled out completely and sent to the

academic coordinator with a copy to the multimedia video producer.

information required of journalists by photographers/videographers for all photo/video/audio assignments:

• Focus of story: What is the story about? What is the point of the story: profile, research, information related to a university initiative, expert opinion? story background to give context to photo assignment and to help determine photo direction.

• name of journalist: include contact info if external.• subject contact information: name, phone, email• destination: noW (date), student noW (date)• deadline: When is it due and to whom it is delivered• use the videoshoot_template.doc (see appendix b) for the above information• title and description for youtube and itunes: use the videoaudio_posting_template.doc (see

appendix b)• specify whether banners or thumbnails are required for photo assignments

studio (video, photo, audio) to-do:• Fill in Google calendar: make your availability known by filling in your assignments at

sites.google.com/site/ucsnewsflow/company-calendar/concordia-events/multimedia-1• track down required info if not provided or unclear.• once assignment is completed, all a/v for noW go via server to Web news editor and to

information and project coordinator.

coordinators to-do:• For photos: email photo coordinator the assignment information by Friday afternoon or monday

morning.• For videos: email video and multimedia producer the assignment information by Friday

afternoon or monday morning.• any assignments that are due in fewer than five days need special mention. be aware we only

have one photographer on mondays.• make sure the assignment information is complete.


Processes within the media relations dePartment

all requests for media relations (mr) advice, support, etc., should first go to the appropriate client service coordinator (csc), who will bring the job to the attention of the mr director.

the only exceptions are projects which are limited to mr and have no other ucs requirements:• news releases• media calls• media training• strategic communications support for external and/or internal use (official statements, Q & a

documents, etc.)

the role of the mr department will vary depending on the stature of the file:

Tier 1: projects that have university-wide impact and touch all ucs unitsTier 2: high visibility projects, less impact on resourcesTier 3: Low visibility, low impact on resources

• all requests for mr support should be directed to the appropriate csc.• as soon as a file has been opened, the csc will bring the project to the mr director.• the mr director will review the file and assign it to one of the three mr advisors (mra).• if the director doesn’t think mr should be overseeing the media relations aspect of the file,

a decision will be made on how best to treat it. if it rates as a tier 2 event, mr might act as a consultant rather than take responsibility for the file.

tier 1 events/Projects/announcements• all requests for mr support will be directed to the appropriate client service coordinator• the mra assigned to the file will seek out information from the client and develop a

communications strategy and timeline.• he/she will keep the other mras informed of all developments/issues verbally and will copy him/

her on all email related to the file.• all copy, produced on the appropriate template must be reviewed and approved by the mr

director before being sent out of the department (before the client, translation, etc.). approval dates and times must be entered on the template.

• the mra will post the copy on transflow and track the translation process.• if the original text is written in French, the French version will still be sent to transflow for

verification.• all changes should be “tracked”, using Word’s track changes feature in order to make following

and incorporating the changes more efficient.• once the client has given his/her approval, final approval is required from the mr director.

approval dates and times must be entered on the template.• if a quote from the president is required: once this level of approval has been given, the mra

responsible for the file should send the text to the senior communications consultant (scc) who will return with a final quote approved by the office of the president.

• in all cases, when the mrd is not available or not reachable, the executive director (ed) should be consulted for input and approval.


• regardless who sends out the announcement, the source listed should be the mra who will be reachable at the time of the announcement/event.

• the mr coordinator posts the release to the concordia site before it is sent. only releases issued by ucs will be posted on the media relations web page. releases prepared by ucs communicators outside the mr unit, must be vetted by the mr director before they can be posted in the official online archive.

• the mr coordinator is available to support the project as required (research, writing, production of press kits, etc.).

• the mr coordinator will produce a media audit for each project.• a “thank you” email will be drafted by the mra responsible for the project to be sent by the

chief communications officer to the relevant faculty member with an electronic copy of the media audit.

tier 2 events/Projects/announcements• all requests for mr support will be directed to the appropriate client service coordinator.• if the director deems the event/announcement a tier 2 event, mr will provide:

• consulting services• proofreading and editing of printed material (media advisories, news releases, etc.)• media mailing lists

tier 3 events/Projects/announcements• mr will provide basic advice and media mailing lists

media relations (exPert commentary, Providing background info, etc)

• incoming media requests may come to mr or directly to the experts.• if a request concerns an institutional matter and was fielded by someone other than a member

of the mr department, the request is redirected to media relations to be addressed by the mr director.

• incoming media requests to the mr department are responded to by whoever receives the call/ email. this is often, though not necessarily, done in consultation with other members of the mr staff.

• the person who takes the initial call is expected to see the request through to completion.

student media relations• the mr director is the only one to respond to requests from the student media.• in the absence of the mr director, the saer responds.• in the absence of the mr director, the saer will consult with the executive director and the

chief communications officer before responding.


research Promotion• twice per week, the senior advisor, external communications consults research databases such

as Google scholar or pubmed (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) to seek out newsworthy studies to promote.

• after reading three to five studies, saer selects most newsworthy research for promotion and contacts lead researcher to ensure availability for initial and subsequent media interviews.

• saer compiles living list of research stories for promotion. When that list is significantly updated, it is the shared with the director of the office of research for input.

• a one-page news release, which boils down complicated findings into lay terms, is drafted by saer on the appropriate template.

• before sending it to the principal investigator for approval, the saer must run the proposed headline and subhead by the director of Web communications. one that approval has been received, the release will go to the researcher for input and approval.

• When relevant, saer decides whether a draft news release may be sent to co-researchers or partner institutions for approval.

• in some cases, saer may assign research news releases or other newsworthy stories to freelance writers specialized in academia and research promotion.

• once externally assigned work is completed, freelancers email their first draft to the saer for editing. the edited news release is then sent to lead researcher by saer who finalizes details with relevant stakeholders.

• the saer updates the mr staff on upcoming research releases during weekly news meetings.• once a research news release is approved, the saer ensures its adaptation into French through

the transflow system (http://maia.concordia.ca:8080/transflow/transflow.exe) and tracks the document’s process to ensure it is delivered on deadline.

• if the saer is notified that concordia translation is incapable of providing translation within the required time free (two to three working days), the text can be sent through translation to freelance translator.

• to illustrate stories, saer coordinates images with the principal researcher.. all images must be sent to the non-academic client coordinator who can ensure image quality and archive images.

• after sign-off from mr director, on the appropriate template, the final French and english news releases are distributed by saer, media relations advisors or mr coordinator to science, health and general media via email and eurekalert.

• saer sends finalized French and english news releases to mr coordinator for posting on noW site, as well as Web news editor, when appropriate.

• saer further promotes research news releases through ucs social media accounts, such as twitter, and Facebook to ensure a maximum number of social media links point to noW site.

• Following publication of articles and subsequent media monitoring, the mr coordinator produces a media audit for each project.

• the saer drafts a personalized “thank you” email for chief communications officer (cco) to send to concordia researchers involved in research promotion. each note is sent by cco with an electronic copy of the media audit.

• the saer also drafts or consults with media relations coordinator (mrc) and director of media relations to select a “newsmaker of the Week.” saer or mrc compose brief for noW site and draft letter for cco to congratulate newsmaker.


now Process for media relations liaison• the mr director suggests the preferred order of top and banner stories and which should

appear as banners within newsletters.• Following the noW meeting, the mr director ensure that mr staff send titles and subheads for

any media relations stories that require banners to the noW coordinator.• all banner requests should include: three-to-six-word headlines and five-to-eight-word-subheads

that are sent to the marketing coordinator, lead graphic designer, with a copy to the webmaster, web news editor and publications editor.

• banner requests should also include image suggestions as well as two or three sentences to provide story context. While these details are often discussed at noW meetings, they should also be emailed.

• once banners are completed, the marketing coordinator sends them for approval by the publications editor, web news editor and mr director.

lineupWhen appropriate or possible, the saer sends advance stories from media relations team that would be future banner or noW news items.

• during noW meetings, or in consultation with web news editor, the mr director identifies what stories, if any, should be withheld from media or public versions of the noW newsletter. such items might include stories where researchers are unavailable for media interviews.

content reviewduring the testing phase, the mr director reviews the noW newsletters to ensure titles have sufficient media punch and that important stories contain appropriate illustrations.

• during the testing phase, the saer or director identify any extra stories that should be added to the media and public newsletters.

• the mr director will also decide whether certain stories should be removed from the media version of noW.

• the media version of noW must have the mr director’s approval before being sent out.

strategic communications (Proactive and reactive)• the mr director, in consultation with the chief communications officer, will generate text as

required on the appropriate template.• the source of the content will vary depending on the issue.• in some cases, the cco or other members of the executive team will provide the mr director

with the background information.• depending on the issue, the approvals required will vary.• in all cases, the mr director sends working drafts to the cco for his input.• once the cco deems the draft ready for external input from president, vps, board etc. he will

disseminate the draft accordingly.• all drafts must include the date and time of the version in order to keep track.

university sPokesPerson• the mr director will act as the university spokesperson on all university related issues.• in the absence of the mr director, the saer will act as official spokesperson.


media trainingmr provides two types of media training:

1. training for administrators who might be called upon to do interviews on issues related to their professional responsibilities

2. training for researchers to encourage them to share their findings with media. there are two modules: the importance of promoting research through the media and how to promote your research through the media

each fall, a series of personalized letters are prepared for the chief communications officer and office of tpo encourage the heads of select departments, colleges, institutes and faculties to identify six to 12 graduate students and researchers who should take part in media training.

mr has also prepared a series of media tips which area available to the university community at: XXXXX. these include:

• Giving a better interview• telling a tale• rights and responsibilities of the interviewee• preparing for different interview formats• Writing for the media (with examples of news releases, media advisories, etc.)

Press review• the mr coordinator generates the daily press review using meltwater reports, J&a media

reports and Google news.• she sends the first draft of the concordia-specific media review to the mr director for input

and/or approval.• in the director’s absence, the saer provides input/approval.• the mr coordinator produces a general academic (non-concordia) media review manually and

sends it out to the “media review” recipient list without approval required. the mr coordinator sends a combined version of both the concordia and general academic reviews to the “media review combined” list of recipients.

• after the two reviews are sent out, the mr coordinator selects the top stories of the day and posts them in the noW “in the news” section.

• a weekly version of the press review is produced on Friday afternoon for a limited number of recipients.

• each day after creating the concordia-specific press review, the mr coordinator uses adobe acrobat to create a pdF archive file of each news article linked in the press review.

• a running excel list of concordia professors and researchers mentioned for their research or expertise in that day’s press review is also updated.


newsmakers• the mr coordinator accesses the moveable type home page: porticodev.concordia.ca/mt/mt.cgi• the mr coordinator selects ‘concordia university newsmakers’ in the systems overview tab.• using the morning concordia media review, the mr coordinator inserts stories that fall under

the ‘our research’, ‘our experts’, ‘our students’ and ‘our alumni’ categories by following the appropriate of the two process listed below:

a. if the story appeared in the media review for the first time, the mr coordinator selects ‘Write entry’. she creates a title from the entry. note that for entries pertaining to alumni, she simply uses the first and last name of the person. she copies and pastes the appropriate entry directly from the morning’s concordia media review. the mr coordinator then selects the appropriate category in which the item should appear in the menu to the right of the screen. the mr coordinator selects a story in each categories that merits being placed on the front page and checks ‘Landing page’ in the ‘categories’ field.

b. if the story was already part of the news cycle in the last two weeks, add links or text from the day’s media review to an already existing entry. the mr coordinator selects the ‘manage’ tab at the top of the page and chooses the entry needing modification. she copies and pastes the appropriate text and links and makes sure that the body is clear and consistent with the new additions.

• the mr coordinator verifies that all new entries appear properly on the dev site www-redesign-dev.concordia.ca/now/newsmakers and pushes the changes live to the concordia website.

• every Friday, the mr coordinator consults with the mr director and the saer and chooses the newsmarker(s) of the week. the decision is made by considering both the quantity of coverage received by a story and the importance of the media who reported on the story.

• the mr coordinator finds a photo of the newsmaker(s) of the week, or a photo related to the subject of the story covered. the saer, internal communications or noW are good sources for pictures. if none of the people listed have an appropriate photo, the mr coordinator searches Google images for a copy-rights free photo.

• in moveable type, the mr coordinator accesses the entry for the newsmaker of the week and ensures that all the coverage from the week is included in the entry. in the ‘tags’ field, she types in ‘feature’.

• the image previously found is added as an asset on movable type (bottom left corner). When the image has been added, the mr coordinator clicks on its name and opens it in a new tab. she adds a caption in the description field and types the word ‘feature’ in the tags field. she adds the photo to the text (alignment to the right) and looks at the preview to make sure everything is lined up properly.

• the mr coordinator writes up a short text that will appear on the newsmaker home page, describing very briefly the newsmaker of the week.


social media• every day after having sent the media review, the mr coordinator chooses a story of interest

and tweets about it. the mr coordinator monitors tweets that are sent by various concordia bodies (alumni association, Jmsb, etc), and re-tweets stories that can be relevant to the media and to an external audience.

• every afternoon, the mr coordinator sends another tweet about a positive story from that day. if an event is taking place that night, it is good to use twitter to do a last push and encourage people to attend.

• the saer sends tweets about the various research projects and news releases that he is responsible for. in his absence, the mr coordinator sends tweets about relevant research projects that need to be highlighted, as well as relevant news items from other media relations advisors.

• all mr staff tweets about relevant news, media releases and events. they also correct misinformation found on twitter about events, university affairs and other relevant topics.

• the mr coordinator monitors the concordia Facebook page and collaborates with the Webmaster to determine which posts should be added, deleted or modified on the page.

community calendarsonce a week, the mr coordinator will compile a list of upcoming concordia events that are to be held in 3 weeks’ time and have been cleared to be publicized (example: the list sent on october 20 will include events from the week of november 10). the list sent to all written media community calendars via email.

Press conferencesnot all press conferences follow the exact same format, but will generally include the following steps:

concordia press conferences• compile a list of participants.• choose a moderator who should be perfectly bilingual.• create list of attendees and make advance calls.• prepare order of proceedings.• create a timetable (dividing tasks and responsibilities among all individuals involved in the event).• reserve the hall/conference room/space where the event will be taking place.• inform security of all the details, including the list of participants• purchase/reserve necessary equipment and materials (podium, tables, chairs, breakout box, flags,

concordia backdrop, etc.).• send event information to concordia’s university communications services.• compile a list of targeted media.• Write press release to be distributed to reporters at the press conference.• translate the press release into French.• prepare a media advisory and have it translated; send the media advisory out via cnW/ telbec

with a repeat on the event date.• arrange a timetable for event staff, as well as for those in attendance.• prepare speaking notes as required. if speaking notes are prepared for the president, those notes

should be sent along with order of proceedings at least one week before the event to the office of the president.

• determine the content of the press kits.• assemble the press kits.• make calls to targeted media, and send the relevant material to this list.• confirm that all individuals present understand where they should be, and what they should be

doing at all times throughout the day.

event day — Press conference Protocol• Follow up with the media afterwards to ensure the event receives good coverage.• post the press release online.• send press kits to journalists who did not attend the event.• collect all bills and receipts related to event costs• ensure the proper reimbursement of costs, where necessary.• collect all press clippings related to the event.• plan a de-briefing meeting.• send out thank-you notes where appropriate.

Press conference partnershipsin cases where a press conference is organized in partnership with an external organization, on or off-campus, the process is similar to the one listed above.

additional steps include:• coordinate the date, time, participants, etc., with the external partner• negotiate the media relations aspect (which partner prepares the media advisory, drafts and

issues the news release, takes care of translation, contacts the media, arranges interviews, etc.)• draft all speaking notes and news release quotes for the concordia speakers• ensure that the partner institution has been part of the input and approval process• ensure delivery of all necessary materials to the press conference location (on or off-campus)

and then back to concordia• be on site during the event.

Press conference Protocol• if there are handouts, press kits, etc., these should be distributed at the door as the reporters

enter the room.• the speakers enter the room and take their seats.• the moderator welcomes the media. the moderator should be perfectly bilingual and address

the media in French first, followed by english.• the moderator introduces the speakers. they should be introduced in order of importance.

When that isn’t possible, they should be introduced in the order in which they will be speaking.• the moderator explains the format of the press conference: a brief presentation by each of the

speakers followed by a question period. the moderator should specify how much time will be given to questions. the maximum should really be 20 – 25 minutes.


• once the speakers have completed their presentation, the moderator opens the floor to questions, asking the journalists to identify themselves and their media outlet and to specify which of the speakers they are addressing with their question.

• aLWays start With at Least tWo Questions From the French LanGuaGe media. then move on to the english media. this is accepted protocol in Quebec.

• the moderator should take the questions in order and keep things moving, not allowing anyone to dominate the question period.

• at approximately the 18 – 20 minute mark, the moderator should announce that he/she will allow two more questions, and stick to that.

• once the moderator calls an end to the press conference, the speakers exit the room before the media.

media contactsFor a complete list of current media contacts please contact the media relations coordinator. because contacts are updated on a weekly basis, the coordinator would have the most up-to-date information.

easy Projects• once the client coordinator open an easy project file involving different units within ucs, the mr

director assigns a member of the mr team to the file.• the mr coordinator opens easy project folders and tasks for all mr specific projects and updates

the tasks within the project on a monthly basis when appropriate. the members of the mr team involved in each task are assigned by the mr coordinator, as requested by the mr director.


Process for President’s sPeaking notes/Press releases

the office of the president (otp) maintains a master list of events for which speaking notes for the president are required.

this list is updated weekly and sent to university communication services (ucs), noting deadlines for submission of final speaking notes/speeches. this list includes events managed or coordinated by advancement and alumni relations (aar).

the deadlines reflect where the notes can be positioned in the president’s schedule for her review prior to the event (understanding that some speaking engagements will require more time for review of notes than others).

the senior communications consultant at ucs is responsible for the following:• Writing speaking notes/speeches for the president• connecting with the organizers to discuss messaging and ensure that the main messages and

information are dispersed across the various speakers (including the president) in order to avoid duplication and gaps.

• Fine-tuning/adjusting drafts of the president’s speaking notes/speeches provided by aar for their events.

• reviewing all quotes from the president prepared by ucs media relations.

Translation: in general for internal events there is less French text than required for some outside events but in all cases the nature of the event and audience will determine how much is translated. the decision will be made by president’s office in consultation with the scc. before finalizing a text, the scc will consult with the otp where advice is required around selected elements for translation. the scc shall arrange for the translation and incorporate this into the timeline.

in all cases, whatever the source of the content in the speech/notes/press release, the final product must reflect the president’s desired voice and messaging, and come to the otp in final form (including translation).

Final versions are sent to Johanne pelletier, [email protected]; Jeanne bisson, [email protected]; clarence epstein, [email protected]; Louise ryan, [email protected]; olga tudos, otudoson@ alcor.concordia.ca. and where they concern an aar event, the aar event organizer or source of the original text.

any amended versions of notes (by the president) will be sent to the scc/ucs and aar representatives following the events so that changes in content and style can be incorporated into subsequent speeches and communications products.


Process for web communications job requests

ucs client service coordinators field all web communications-related requests. the client service coordinator then creates the project and related tasks in easyprojects and either allocates it directly to the next available resource or consults with the Web communications director to determine which resource(s) should be assigned to the project.

at times, the Web communications director will also field requests directly and notify the client service coordinator so they can subsequently create the project in easyprojects and allocate the appropriate resource(s).

requests for new websites or website sections/Pagesexamples of job typesbuild a:

• site• section• subsection• page

Who fields the request: client service coordinator

the client service coordinator will consult with the Web communications director to determine if the project can be carried out in-house. if it can then together they establish timelines, deliverables and project leads.

the Web communications director and the client service coordinator will decide who should be involved during an exploratory meeting with the client to understand the needs/requests before mapping out a project scope, process, deliverables and resources.

if either the Web communications director or Webmaster receives a request directly from a client, they will inform the client that all requests must go through the appropriate client service coordinator

Note: Leading up to the migration to the university’s new, web content management system, the best practice should be to avoid creating new websites or undertake major redesigns of existing websites. Instead, the focus should be on maintaining current sites or integrating content into existing faculty/departmental sites or Concordia.ca.


web maintenanceexamples of job typesupdate existing:

• sections or subsections• pages• content within a page/section/subsection


Processthe client service coordinator will determine whether the request involves minor content updates or more extensive changes (new pages, navigation, design, layout, etc.). the client service coordinator can consult with the Webmaster or information architect to determine next steps.

all minor content updates are now part of a weekly maintenance schedule. if the client service coordi-nator, receives the updates by Friday at 5 p.m., they will go live the following thursday afternoon or Friday morning. please note that every effort will be made to carry out emergency updates as quickly as possible.

more extensive changes will be considered a project, and will be assigned by the client service coordinator to the appropriate Web communications team member, who then becomes the “project lead” for that request. if necessary, the project lead can escalate the request to the Web communications director.

approvals: Internal client and/or Web communications director

homePage uPdatesexamples of job typesadd a:

• main visual banner• featured event• link• news/event feed from noW news and events

Who fields the request: Web news editor (the Webmaster is the backup)

Processthe Web news editor (or Webmaster in her absence) will:

• Field requests from ucs and academic and administrative units for real estate on pre-defined areas of the homepage.

• creates a line-up of upcoming items one week in advance that the Web communications then approves.

• sends request for banners to the client service coordinator (special projects coordinator)• ask academic/administrative units whether there’s anything they would like to promote in these

four possible areas.

approvals: Internal client and/or Web communications director


training (web, mass email blasts, mobile and social media)examples of training types:

• build, create and maintain websites and web pages• create/distribute/monitor emails and e-newsletters using strongmail, the university’s email

distribution software• explain how web analytics work

explain search engine optimization (seo)• create mobile sites and pates on behalf of concordia university• develop site structures• tag/manage multimedia for Flickr, youtube and itunes• create social media accounts on behalf of concordia university


Processthe client service coordinator assigns the job to the appropriate Web communications team member.

leadthe appropriate Web communications team member then becomes the “project lead” for that request.

examples of request types:• how do i consolidate websites?• how do i build a site/section/page?• how do i set up, populate and maintain a social media account on behalf of a concordia

university unit?• how do i mobilize a page, service, etc.?• how do i gather and report on web analytics?• how does search engine optimization (seo) affect my web initiatives?


the client services coordinator, if necessary in consultation with the Web communications director or Webmaster, will assign the task to an appropriate Web communications team member.

standalone emailsexamples of request types:

• access to a distribution list (e.g., faculty and staff, students, alumni, continuing education, etc.)• create and distribute an e-newsletter• create and distribute a single announcement, event, survey, etc.• monitor and report on email analytics• design and layout of email blasts and e-newsletters



the client service coordinator will consult with the Web communications director (or Webmaster in her absence) and/or internal communications director to see whether the message warrants a standalone email or whether it should be part of the noW e-newsletter.

if a standalone email is to be produced, the client service coordinator will assign the appropriate Webcommunications team member.

if the message is bilingual or to be sent in both languages, the client service coordinator will ensure that the client has provided the French translation and has the approval of translation services for it.

Processthe Webmaster plots the item in ucs output calendar on Google and creates the standalone email the day before or on the due date depending on its length and whether it’s bilingual.

leadto appropriate Web communications team members.

approvalsthe Lead will send the test email to the Web communications director to proof before sending it to the client service coordinator so it can be forwarded to their internal client for final approval. the client service coordinator will then give the Lead the go-ahead to distribute.

if the internal communications director has been involved in the process, the Lead will also send a test email to the internal communications director, who will either give final approval or forward the test email to other internal client(s) for final approval. the internal communications director will then give the Lead the go-ahead to distribute and inform both the client service coordinator and Web communications director.

multimedia uPloads and maintenance

youtube uPloads/maintenanceexample of request type: upload youtube video(s) to concordia channel


Processthe client service coordinator receives the video from the requesting unit. the video will already included the required minimum branding elements and be compressed the video for upload to youtube. the filename will have youtube in it (e.g. pcs04-poetry-youtube.mov). the requesting unit will also provide the title, description, tags, location and appropriate playlist.

the client service coordinator places the video in our shared drive at: CLIO\ucs\Units\Creative Media Services\Completed_Projects. the client service coordinator tells the Webmaster what the filename is.


the Webmaster:• checks the video to ensure that the required branding elements are present.• uploads the video with the provided title, description, tags, location and adds it to the

appropriate playlist.• informs the client service coordinator and sends them the youtube-embed code and urL.

approvalsapproval to publish is implicit in the external unit’s request. if for any reason the client service coordinator or the Webmaster consider that the video should not be published, they will consult with the Web communications director.

video information to be included with the video clip:1. title2. description — provide as detailed a description of the video as possible in terms of the subject

matter, and mention any department or program, the names of everyone who participated and the date, and put a link to the program or department or event, not just a generic concordia link. put the link or links above the description.

3. tags — default tags are: “concordia university” montreal Quebec canada. place words that go together between “double quotes.” do not use punctuation as a separator. example: “mel hoppenheim school of cinema” “concordia university” montreal bFa mFa ma phd

4. category — default youtube category: education5. playlist — e.g., John molson school of business, Jmsb, noW

Note: The above procedure concerns videos produced by external units. The procedure for videos produced by UCS is given in the NOW News and Events section of this guide.

PhotograPhy in social media uPloads/maintenanceexample of request type: post to Facebook, Flickr and/or pinterest

Who fields the request: The Webmaster

approvalthe Lead creative/photo editor will approve of all photos to be published.

Process1. the Webmaster a) requests a shoot b) is asked for photos c) or learns of new photography from

the client service coordinator, by way of attending the now meetings, after finding campus shoots on the shared drive (cLio), or in conversation.

2. the Webmaster will request the photos with titles and tags from the photographer who will upload them to cLio.

3. the photographer or Webmaster will ask the Lead creative/photo editor to approve the photos either though cLio or on a private space online.

4. the Webmaster will make the photos publicly available.

frequency of postsphotography should ideally be updated monthly with recent photo postings.


itunes uPloads/maintenanceexample of request types: upload video(s) or audio podcast(s) to concordia channel.

Who fields the request: The Webmaster

approvalsthe Webmaster will gain the necessary approval to publish either during the noW weekly meetings or from the Web communications director.

ProcessFor VIdeo:the video editor compresses the video for upload to itunes and places it in our shared drive at:CLIO\UCS\Units\Creative Media Services\Completed_Projects. the filename will include itunes (e.g. pcs04-poetry-itunes.mp4). the editor will inform the Webmaster where the file is.

Taggingthe Webmaster will open the file in itunes or similar id3 tagging software and populate all the required fields and add the itunes artwork, either generic or specific.

artworkthe artwork is created using a photoshop document: itunes-album-art.psd and photographs supplied and approved by the senior Graphic designer. CLIO\UCS\Units\Creative Media Services\TBD

Uploadthe Webmaster will upload the video to the appropriate itunes u tag page using itunes site manager:sitemanager.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/DZStudio.woa/wa/SignIn. the Webmaster will then inform the coordinator that the video is now available in itunes.

information the Webmaster will include with the video clip:1. title2. description — provide as detailed a description of the video as possible, in terms of the subject

matter, as well as mentioning any department or program and the names of everyone who participated.

3. comments — additional information the viewer may need, relevant urLs4. names — the names of the participants

For aUdIo:the audio editor compresses the audio for upload to itunes and places it in our shared drive at:CLIO\UCS\Units\Creative Media Services\Audio-Podcasting. the filename will have mp3 as the filename extension (e.g. pcs04-banQ-poetry.mp3). the editor will inform the Webmaster where to find the file.

Taggingthe Webmaster will open the file in itunes or similar id3 tagging software, populate all the required fields and add the itunes artwork, which is either generic or specific.


artworkthe artwork is created using a photoshop document: itunes-album-art.psd and photographs supplied: CLIO\UCS\Units\Creative Media Services\TBD

approvalthe Lead creative/photo editor approves all artwork.

Uploadthe Webmaster will upload the audio file to pegasus for inclusion in the noW news and events section:smb://pegasus.concordia.ca/Flv_Content$/audio. the Webmaster will make sure the audio file is also uploaded onto the appropriate itunes u tag page using itunes site manager: sitemanager.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/DZStudio.woa/wa/SignIn.

the Webmaster will then inform Web news editor, and the coordinator that the audio is now available and send them the urL. e.g.: pegasus.concordia.ca/Flv_Content/audio/PCS04- poetry.mp3

information the Webmaster will include with the audio clip:1. title2. description — provide as detailed a description of the piece as possible, in terms of the subject

matter, as well as mentioning any department or program and the names of everyone who participated.

3. names — the names of the participants


advertising Process

metrovision advertising Processevery year between october and april, usc purchases advertising space on the metrovision network. We offer a slide at the end of our general branding ad to promote upcoming concordia events that are open to the public. ex: open house, dome activities, university of the streets cafe events, and various conferences.

communications advisors are welcome to send a short description in French of the event they would like to promote 4 weeks in advance. example of text and space available:

L’UNIVERSITÉ AUTREMENT: DANS LES CAFÉSÉcrire, un geste communautaire: quel est le pouvoir des mots?Multi-Caf – La Cafétéria Communautaire • 3591, Appleton (@ Côte-des-Neiges)2 novembre 19h à 21hunivcafe.concordia.ca

ucs needs a minimum of two weeks to produce the ad and go through the approval process. content should be sent to your client services coordinator, who will forward the information to the advertising coordinator. We are able to advertise 2-3 event a week that run through an equal rotation (though there is some flexibility). the advertising coordinator keeps track of the requests in an excel calendar and if there are extra slots that need to be used, events from the now events calendar online will be used. the coordination of all advertising is the responsibility of the administrative coordinator. client contacts the academic or administrative coordinator, or coordinator contacts client with a specific project or offer. coordinator contacts client for any further required information, sets up meeting.

information required• type of advertisement. publication and insertion date. dimensions, colours; bleed; languages;

other printing requirements; whether quote is required• due dates also to be established for client’s responsibilities (text, images, etc).• decisions as to whether Web or media relations components will be needed (in case of urL or

tracking)• complete and final text in both english and French (if necessary), graphics, imagery. if imagery is

not supplied, the academic or administrative coordinator to determine type of images the client might like to use.

• the special projects, academic or administrative coordinator opens task in easy projects (ep), entering all information and instructions, and attaches provided content. the academic or administrative coordinator assigns designer and meets with designer if needed.

• the administrative coordinator keeps a working file with deadlines to keep track of the progress.

• the administrative coordinator sends insertion order to the publication near the insertion deadline to ensure that the space is reserved and follows up with the publication representative by email or phone to ensure receipt of the order. also confirms the material deadline.


design aPProvals• once design is ready the Lead creative is consulted.• upon approval, the designer uploads the ad to ep and a notification is sent to the appropriate

coordinator.• coordinator sends client an email with the artwork attached. the client is advised to review the

artwork and return with any changes, comments or approval.• coordinator in contact with client for approval and/or changes, reminding clients of deadlines.

author’s alterations• client sends an annotated pdF, a fax with changes or an email detailing any changes requested.

the coordinator creates an issue in ep and includes all the new information for the designer. designer receives an automated message notifying them of the changes.

• if the client sends multiple/disjointed revisions (e.g. multiple people reviewing artwork) the coordinator must condense this information into a comprehensive format to ensure clarity and efficiency for the designer.

• coordinator sends client the revised version advising client to review the artwork and return with any changes, comments or approval. if significant changes have been requested by client, designs must be re-approved by Lead creative before being sent out to the client.

• coordinator asks client to send written approval of the design, either via fax, in person, internal mail or via email and records the approval in ep.

• in the case of a French ad, translation services must be advised in advance that an ad will be sent to them for review (using their online request form). the client is responsible for all translated material, unless the advertisement is for ucs. if it’s a ucs ad, then the special projects coordinator must make sure that translation services has enough time for review, and in the case that many changes are provided by translation services, the text needs to be re-approved.

• once changes are complete, the designer notifies the appropriate coordinator through ep that the file is uploaded and ready to be sent to the publication.

file ready for Press• the administrative coordinator sends the file to the publication. the insertion date is restated in

the email.• the publication is asked by the administrative coordinator to confirm receipt of the files.• the administrative coordinator changes the status of the job in ep to “Waiting for invoice.”

Proof required• the publication (if applicable) returns a proof to the attention of the administrative coordinator.

the proof is first revised and approved by the designer. if the proof matches the approved client proof, then the file is considered approved.

• the administrative coordinator sends approval to the publication for print.


ad comPlete• once the invoice for the ad comes in, if applicable, the administrative coordinator reviews the

tear sheet to make sure that the ad printed properly; a copy of the tear sheet is placed into the docket; the invoice processing information is included in ep; the invoice (with proper account code) is sent to accounts payable for processing; a copy of invoice is kept and filed; and the administrative coordinator changes the status of the job to “closed.” a copy of the processed invoice is sent to the client notifying them of the payment.

• in the case of a ucs ad, then a copy of the invoice gets sent to the ucs budget assistant.• the docket is closed.

Please note: In the case of classified ads or Appointment Notices, an extra step is needed. These ads are booked through Niwri Consulting.

mailing list: maintenance of the key oPinion leaders (kol) list

the key opinion Leaders (koL) mailing list is a routinely updated collection of 5,000 opinion leaders in canada and around the world who are important to concordia. these include chief executives from leading organizations in academia, such as funding agencies, as well as media, business and government — including all of the mps, cabinet ministers and senators in ottawa and all mnas and cabinet ministers in Quebec. others on the list include members of non-governmental organizations and civil society groups, the international diplomatic corps in canada, and canada’s missions abroad. the koL list is the central mailing list for key publications such as beyond the headlines and the annual report. email addresses are also incorporated into the list.

the scc oversees maintenance of the koL list, which is updated on a regular basis throughout the year. updates are made in collaboration with colleagues from advancement and alumni relations and external relations. research assistants input changes to the koL list as they become available and update the list regularly, with thorough updates coming in the lead-up to the mailing dates of key publications.

in a timely fashion ahead of key publication and mail-out dates, the koL is submitted to the cco for review.

evergreen: institutional brand management

the scc maintains the evergreen document on institutional brand management, with content provided by a variety of colleagues within and without ucs. a creation of a Wiki in which ucs colleagues and partners from other departments and faculties can regularly update the document is pending.


advancement and alumni relations (aar) team

concordia’s advancement and alumni relations (aar) features a communications team that leverages print and online publications, social media and external media to build trust and enhance the university’s reputation among key stakeholders: students, alumni, donors, faculty and staff, friends of the university, community leaders, opinion leaders and journalists. the aar communications team includes the following staff:

• director of communications• manager, content and production• managing editor• online communications advisor• communications coordinator• Graphic designer

rePorting lines and PublicationsWith a primary reporting line into university communications services (ucs), as well as a secondary reporting line to the vice president of aar, the communications team publishes the quarterly concordia university magazine, the monthly accent newsletter, multiple evites and institutional announcements.

the communications team provides support, in the form of speeches, order of proceedings, web pages, media relations, podcasts, photography and design for multiple events organized by aar staff. Whenever needed, the aar communications team may be required to fill in for ucs colleagues with similar job functions.

vision and missionthrough strategic planning, streamlined work practices, the introduction of user-friendly guidelines, modernized tools and fresh ideas, the aar communications team bolsters concordia’s outreach among its key stakeholders. all work executed by aar communications is intended to propel aar’s vision and mission.

aar visionto help build upon our relationships and foster a culture of teamwork and innovation in order to exceed the comprehensive campaign goal within a timeframe that coincides with concordia’s 40th anniversary.

aar missionto build relationships that inspire alumni and friends to contribute to concordia in meaningful and philanthropic ways that enhances our academic profile, transforms the lives of our students and society.


director of communicationsreporting to ucs’ chief communications officer (cco), with an indirect report to the aar vice president, the director of communications ensures the university’s donor and alumni communications strategy is executed according to an approved strategic plan.

the director of communications oversees the development of aar community outreach tools, website, campaign marketing tools, media relations and publications. the director motivates the communications team to develop and institute forward-looking internal and external tools that support concordia’s strategic directions and support the university brand.

the director of communications takes part in five recurring meetings: weekly ucs management meetings; bi-weekly aar senior management meetings; bi-weekly comprehensive campaign meetings; bi-weekly aar strategic cabinet meetings; bi-weekly meeting with cco.

Primary responsibilities• develops and implements an integrated marketing communications strategy for aar including

annual Giving programs, comprehensive campaign, special campaigns, donor recognition and outreach, in concert with senior staff and with the support of ucs.

• strengthens the university brand — as defined by ucs — through clear and consistent messaging in print publications, media releases, web content and other communications tools.

• develops and prepares general and promotional materials such as brochures, invitations, annual reports on giving, donor recognition reports, advertisements and other documents in print and other media in conjunction with other aar units.

• provides lay leaders (volunteers) with information, materials and resources to present to prospects and new constituencies.

• develops an effective media strategy aimed at cultivating support and assuring that concordia’s mission, goals and programs are presented consistently, accurately and effectively to position the university with all its donors’ constituencies and the various communities that have a stake in its success.

• ensures abundant and positive coverage of activities, initiatives, events and donations; cultivate and work closely with journalists, producers and editors; pitch story ideas to key journalists and editors; field informational media calls; maintain press lists and a portfolio of relevant media contacts and exchange updates with ucs.

• ensures that media releases are prepared in a timely manner with regard to campaign activity including announcements of major gifts, events etc.

• ensures that aar publications remain relevant and dynamic; reflect the communications priorities of the university, and adhere to the design guidelines.

• helps orient new aar staff and volunteers, as required, to ensure that they have the knowledge they require to be effective.

• crafts key aar messages regarding and its satellite operations.• develops and maintains electronic communications tools to reach alumni and inform them of

projects, activities and other news.• Grants first approval for all photos, speeches and any written materials related to aar’s vice

president or associate vice president.


manager, content and Productionthe manager, content and production writes content for multiple platforms — including noW, accent, concordia university magazine and the aar website — and oversees the development of communications materials. in the absence of the director of communications, the manager, content and production oversees daily operations of the unit.

• prioritizes and oversees communications requests from alumni and development officers, principal directors as well as administrators.

• advises clients on content and presentation of communications materials and liaises with director of communications for final approval of products.

• approves all email and postal invitations to promote aar events.• conceives/writes/edits posters/leaflets/programs/menus/maps etc., as well as electronic

communications materials, for aar events or projects.• advises and approves graphic design and aar communications materials.• manages photographers at aar events.• Writes/edits speeches or order of proceedings for events involving concordia president, vps,

deans and other administrators as necessary.• Writes or edits donor proposals or cases for support.• Writes/edits new releases and media advisories as necessary, acts as spokesperson on related

press inquiries and manages media at aar events as needed.• Writes/edits articles noW, accent, concordia university magazine, aar website. creates

related podcasts to support articles.• Writes or edits appeal/thank-you/condolence etc. letters for aar stakeholders.• proofreads concordia university magazine each quarter; participates and advises at editorial

meetings.• attends weekly aar events status meetings.• produces daily social media content to help advance concordia.• edits and approves, as necessary: surveys, signage, banners, power point presentations.

managing editor, concordia university magazinethe managing editor of concordia university magazine oversees the timely production of the university’s signature quarterly publication. the managing editor also acts as communications advisor for multiple aar projects or events and produces content for the accent and noW newsletters. each summer, the managing editor also supervises the work of a student intern.

• prioritizes and oversees communications requests from alumni and development officers, principal directors as well as administrators.

• advises clients on content and presentation of communications materials and liaises with director of communications for final approval of products.

• conceives/writes/edits posters/leaflets/programs/menus/maps etc., as well as electronic communications materials, for aar events or projects.

• Writes/edits speeches or order of proceedings for events involving concordia president, vps, deans and other administrators as necessary.

• Writes or edits donor proposals or cases for support.• Writes/edits new releases and media advisories as necessary.• Writes/edits articles noW, accent, concordia university magazine, aar website. creates

related podcasts to support articles.• Writes or edits appeal/thank-you/condolence etc. letters for aar stakeholders.


magazine schedule 10-13 weeks before issue publication:• researches, brainstorms and gets approval from director of communications for magazine line-up

and covers: 2-3 days• contacts potential story subjects: 1 day• sends line-up and schedule to ucs’ lead graphic designer.• sends preliminary print order and schedule to printer: 30 mins.

• transcontinental printing, 450-655-2801 (yves cusson, sales representative, [email protected]; valerie dionne, production coordinator, [email protected])

• assigns features to freelance writers: 4 hrs.• patrick mcdonagh, 514-278-2559, [email protected]• Julie Gedeon, 450-458-1948, [email protected]• Jennifer charlebois, 514-632-5366, [email protected]• adam avrashi, 514-6242066, [email protected]• patrice-hans perrier (French articles), 514-932-8109, [email protected]

• assigns faculty spread (one faculty per issue): 1 hr.• Fine arts: ann tanner-mcdonald, ext. 2867, [email protected]• a&s: Lynn roy, ext. 5002, [email protected]• encs: vacant• Jmsb: yuri mytko, ext. 4142, [email protected]

• sends line-up and deadline for president’s message to director of communications.• drafts and sends alumni news tentative line-up and deadlines to alumni relations team.• sends advertising reminder to coordinator, alumni services/marketing, as well as request for• magazines insertions: homecoming brochure, travel brochure etc. to:

• cuaa ads: yanick dahan, ext. 3819, [email protected], nancy Wada, alumni officer, associations, ext. 3882, [email protected].

• travel and affinity ads: yanick dahan, ext. 3819, [email protected].• homecoming ads: melanie Gudgeon, alumni officer, affinity chapters, ext 5647, melanie.

[email protected].• assigns enough said.• assigns setting an example:

• spring: major Gifts• summer: alumni relations• Fall: planned Giving• Winter: annual Giving

4-8 weeks before issue publication:• compiles and writes class acts, in memoriam, art, kudos, class acts photos: 1-2 wks.• compiles and writes Words & music: 2 days• compiles and writes alumni news and notices: 1 day• compiles and writes homecoming spread: 1 day (once per year)• Writes or edits setting an example: 2-4 hrs.• Writes quarterly column, editor’s voice: 1 day• Works on ad texts: 4-6 hrs.• assigns editorial cartoon: 15 mins.

• Frederic serre, 514-750-5887, [email protected].• proofs/edits magazine draft texts, including returning texts for re-writes: 1 wk.


• sends texts for proofing to aar freelancer/incorporate changes: 1 day• sends texts to subjects for approvals/incorporate changes: 2 hrs.• sends texts to director of communications/incorporate changes: 1 day• sends texts (upload to server) to ucs’ lead graphic designer: 1 hr.• discusses photography/illustration with ucs’ lead graphic designer: 1-2 hrs.• assigns photographers: 2 hrs.

• ryan blau, 514-667, 6090, 514-234-1584, [email protected].• Linda rutenberg, 514-739-0511, 514-233-5746, [email protected].• christian Fleury, 514-816-3275, [email protected].• Josée Lecompte, 514-746-2743, [email protected].• spyros bourboulis, 514-892-0180, [email protected].• andrew dobrowolskyj, 514-816-3143, [email protected].• pierre charbonneau, 514-481-2645, [email protected].

• assigns illustrators: 1 hr.• christine hale, [email protected].

• First proof/edit of designed pages and send corrected designed pages (pdF corrections) to ucs’ lead graphic designer (pdF corrections): 2 days

• requests mailing lists from electronic communications coordinator, aar: 30 mins.• request faculty and senior admin mailing lists from hr secretary/receptionist.

2-4 weeks before issue publication:• completes and give release authorization forms for printing u.s. and international mailings to

aar budget assistant for authorization signature.• mail release authorization form copies to accounts payable, Financial services, distribution

services, printer and u.s. and international mailings distributor: 30 mins.• transcontinental printing: yves cusson, sales representative, 450-655-2801, cussony@

transcontinental.ca.• spring Global mail: may carreon, territory manager, 514-636-3448, May.Carreon@

springglobalmail.com.• second proof/edit of designed pages: 1 day• sends designed pages (pdFs) for proofing to aar freelancer/incorporate changes: 2 days• sends corrected designed pages (pdF corrections) to ucs’ lead graphic designer (pdF

corrections): 15 mins.• third proof/edit of designed pages: 1 hr.• send designed pages for final proofing to director of communications/incorporates changes:

2-3 hrs.• sends final corrected designed pages (pdF corrections) to ucs’ lead graphic designer (pdF

corrections): 15 mins.• reviews final pdFs and approve: 1 hr.• approves online after ucs’ lead graphic designer uploads final pdF files to printer’s site.• compiles and sends mailing lists (excel), and prepare and send printing and mailing order to

printer: 2 hrs.• transcontinental printing, valerie dionne, production coordinator, 450-655-2801,

dionnev@ transcontinental.ca.


• speaks to printer’s production coordinator and prepress advisor to ensure smooth process, go over dates and discuss other issues: 1-2 hrs.

• transcontinental printing, valerie dionne, production coordinator, 450-655-2801, [email protected].

• transcontinental printing, carmelino burgio, prepress advisor, 450-655-2801, burgioc@ transcontinental.ca.

• receives and review printer’s proofs with ucs’ lead graphic designer; incorporates and upload final corrections and send back proofs: 3 hrs.

1 week before issue publication• prepares and prints labels for special mailing: internal offices; external recipients; media; student

associations; editorial advisory board members.• prepares and prints labels for freelancers, subjects and others to thank: 3 hrs.• prepares and prints labels for concordia faculty members and senior admin, to give to aar

receptionist for labelling magazines: 30 min.• prints and write thank-you notes: 3 hrs.

during publication• Gives press approval at transcontinental interweb, 1603 montarville, boucherville (once/year):

3-4 hrs.

after magazine arrives:• receives boxes and provide aar receptionist with magazines to label for internal mailing. Labels

and places magazines and thank-you notes in envelopes, and label boxes.• sends fax to distribution services to pick up boxes: distribution services, ext. 4000.• organizes time and date and send material for editorial advisory board meeting.• editorial advisory board meeting (3-4 weeks after publication): 2 hrs.• transcribes editorial advisory board minutes: 3-4 hrs.

ongoing magazine tasks: (time varies)• prepares, reviews and/or updates budget: 2-3 hrs.• regularly reviews magazine design, content, editorial strategy, etc.• Works on printing and u.s. and international mailings tenders (every 2-3 years, per contract)

with purchasing services: daniela di paola, buyer, purchasing services, ext. 3629, daniedi@alcor. concordia.ca.

• researches and recommends members for editorial advisory board• researches and looks for story ideas.• meets potential freelance writers, photographers and illustrators.• transmits requests for address changes, magazine cancellations, etc., to advancement records:

[email protected].


online communications advisorthe online communications advisor works closely with the electronic communications coordinator, sharing responsibility for producing email campaigns or evites and inputting website content and updates. the online communications advisor edits the monthly accent newsletter and researchers and writes content for the publication. the online communications advisor pushes out positive concordia news through social media on a daily basis.

email campaigns:• same process described in electronic communications coordinator function.• estimated time: anywhere from two hours to two days per campaign. (aar sent 333 email

campaigns in 11 months in 2011).• the manager, content and production must approve emails/evites before distribution.

moveable type (mt):• entries include website events calendar and alumni/giving news posts.• refer to description of process from electronic communications coordinator.• estimated time: from 5 minutes to 30 minutes (depending on how much editing/photo

manipulation required).

accent alumni newsletter (12 per year):• Writes and selects stories, produce blurbs, collect and resize photos.• sources content from noW or other concordia websites, edit original stories from aar

colleagues and other concordia staff.• produces upcoming events section that reflects online aar events calendar.• inserts ads and partner spotlights booked by coordinator, alumni services and marketing,

who provides affinity or sponsorship ads. When necessary, text may be edited for clarity and recommendations can be made on ad designs.

• Writes one to three original accent stories per issue (approximately seven hours per story, including research, interviews, writing, editing).

• occasionally creates ads for aar programs using photoshop (when ad space is unsold).• requests distribution list from advancement information systems team at least a week ahead.

(criteria: all alumni worldwide, plus boG and senate). also included on the mailing are a fixed list of advertisers and the aar control group.

• before publication, accent content and final lineup is approved by director of communications.• estimated time: 2-3 days per issue

social media• maintains aar social media accounts: twitter, Linkedin, Facebook fan page, Facebook group.• produces at least one post per workday with content that originates from daily media review,

noW and other concordia websites, and tips from staff, alumni, etc.• monitors accounts, flags alumni officers when something relevant to their area comes up in

online discussions. assists and advises alumni officers when they have questions.• estimated time: 20 minutes per day

other:• ad hoc editing of aar materials.• Liaising with records, advancement information systems, alumni relations teams.


electronic communications coordinatorthe electronic communications coordinator is responsible for producing aar electronic media: mass email campaigns or evites, the aar section of the concordia website and social media. When required, the electronic communications coordinator oversees the redesign or design of online publications and webpages. the electronic communications coordinator is also the aar liaison for the university’s merger to a new content management system (cms).

email content• see evite guidelines for details on procedure.• coordinator schedules all emails in shared outlook calendar.• coordinator receives text from event initiator or event coordinator.• edits text when needed; sends text to translation if required.

set-up• sets up html and text version in bettermail (credentials: janine / concordia611).• sends email link to manager, content and production, for approval to send• if email references president, vice-president or assoc. vice-president, sends to director of

communications for approval.

lists• receives list from event initiator or event coordinator or retrieves from advancement

information systems folder.• saves excel file as a text file.• adds column: interest[listname-ais-000-eventname-date] with one in cell content.• removes all columns except: interest, banner id, lastname, firstname, email.• uploads to bettermail server.

email campaigns• creates a filter for the campaign.• create a campaign; add filter.• sends self-test for html and plain text versions; verify subject lines and sender.• sends campaign on scheduled date.• calculates costs per email campaign and send to budget assistant (monthly).

moveable type (mt)• entries include website events calendar and alumni/giving news posts.• prepares images or photos in photoshop (crop, resize, remove red-eye) and upload to the

alumnigiving images folder.• enters content.• For alumni calendar entries, changes entry date and time to event date and start time.• after the event, replaces event promo text with event write-up and pictures.


aar websitecollaborates with ucs to design and develop web-based services, promotional videos and presentations:

• receives requests or new content from aar stakeholders.• edits content for clarity, web content.• puts through content modification and push live via iits scpmanage (accessed via netname).• dispatches technical request to ucs client coordinator.• requests new banners or graphic images from aar graphic designer.

social media• maintains aar social media accounts: twitter, Linkedin, Facebook fan page, Facebook group.• produces at least one post per workday with content that originates from daily media review,

noW and other concordia websites, and tips from staff, alumni, etc.• monitors accounts, flags alumni officers when something relevant to their area comes up in

online discussions. assists and advises alumni officers when they have questions.• estimated time: 20 minutes per day

other:• creates listserve emails per chapter as required via concordia majordomo: clyde.concordia.ca/

email/majordomo/app-form/domo-application-form.html• prepares magazine labels (quarterly)• receives segment request from magazine editor• runs banner process aZpb001 in report mode to get preliminary numbers• once magazine editor has confirmed the numbers are good, runs aZp001 in update mode.• runs GLbdata/aZrX001 banner processes to create the excel lists for each segment of the

label request.• sends final numbers for each segment to editor; moves files to shared drive for editor to retrieve.

graPhic designeraar’s designer completes work requested by the director of communications, aar project leads and clients as well as ucs client coordinators. Whenever necessary, the designer meets with a project lead or client to discuss project. all documents and publications designed according to concordia guidelines called cube: cool, urban, bold and edgy. cube guidelines shape aar communications across all platforms.

• design requests may include the following formats:• print: invitations, posters, brochures, proposals, signs, banners, logos.• digital: web banners, email banners, buttons, icons, plasma screens, power point

presentations.• digital editing: podcasts, photos and videos.

• in terms of workflow, once aar projects are completed, the designer presents a first draft to director of communications for feedback.

• upon approval, the designer presents work to ucs lead graphic designer for additional review. the designer then follows up by showing work to project lead or client. any work conducted for ucs, such as banners, is shown directly to lead graphic designer.


• When clients request revisions that are significant, the designer must resubmit work to director of communications and ucs’ lead creative designer. once approved, designer resubmits draft to client or project lead.

• For projects that require external printing, the designer sends a quote request to a selected external supplier, which is then shared with the client for approval. external printing cannot proceed until the supplier’s quote is approved by the client.

• once draft is approved, the designer prepares artwork and sends it to the external suppler for production. supplier must always provide a proof in print or pdF for designer and client to approve. only once the proof is approved can printing proceed.

design timeline and duration of tasks:print

• invitations: 2-4 hours.• pamphlet: 3-6 hours.• poster: 2-4 hours.• directional or general sign: 15-30 min.• small brochure: up to 4 hours.• Large brochure (eg. travel brochure): up to 8 hours.• proposal: 1-3 hours.

digital• Web/email header: 1-2 hours• powerpoint presentation: up to 4+ hours (depending on amount of slides and images)• Flash animation (eg. Geographic chapters holiday greeting): up to 12 hours (depending on

complexity of animation and interactivity).• podcast editing: 30 minutes to one hour.• video editing: 60 minutes to four hours.

supplier contact info• rubiks: dave cornacchia, [email protected], 514-845-8444• pixa: robert Gold, [email protected], 514-812-8563• promotional solutions: peter yaffe, [email protected], 514-907-1739• contact image: david topolniski, [email protected], 514-846-9786 ext.245• phetomical: dave stanway, [email protected], 514-933-8822


aPPendix aorganigram, university communications services

chief communications officerphillipe beauregard

executive directorsami antaki

sr. consultant, comms.robert melnbardis

exec. assistant to cconathalie rivard

receptionistdavid tavares

budget assistantLorraine dagenais

director, Web comms.Lucy niro

director, Internal comms.karen mccarthy

director, Media relationschristine mota

sr. director, Ucs comms. & outreach

karim boulos

sTUdIo

Webmastersimon horn

Info architectchantal bellemare

Web news editorkirsten cameron

Web designer (3)andrei kalamkarov

Laurie Laforesttbh

editor, publicationskaren herland

Writertom peacock

Info/project coordinatorshelagh peden

comm. advisor, servicesdaniel Godlberg

comm. advisor, student services

balbir Gill

comm. advisor, hrisabel rut

sr. advisor, ext. relationscléa desjardins

advisor, French Medianadia kherif

advisor, english MediaFiona downey

Media coordinatormarie-christine houle

encs

comms. advisorLaurence miall

photo/Graphics/Webmarc bourcier

JMsb

comms. advisoryuri mytko

Marketingcaroline d’amour

Web/social Mediaanna Gunaratnam

arTs & scIence

comms. advisorLynn roy

Graphic designercaroline d’amour

Jr. Graphic designercaroline d’amour

Marketing assistantkatie malazdrewicz

FIne arTs

comms. Manageranne tanner-mcdonald

comms. advisorrenée dunk

recrUITMenT

recruitment officercandace Jacobs

perForM

comms. advisorchristian durand

co-op

comms. advisorLouise Lalonde

seL

comms. advisortbh

research/ Grad sTUIdes

comms. advisortbh

brand, academic and studio Manager

véronique verthuy

desIGn

Lead creative – designchris alleyne

Graphic designer (4)elizabeth chan

caroline GraingerJonathan noel

tiffany minorgan

MULTIMedIa

Video & Mult. prod.salvatore barrera

coordinator, photoLisa Graves

Videog./photog.pierre dalpé

coordInaTors

special projectselena raznovan

prod. & adv.angela polyzogopoulos

director, a&ar comms.s-J. desjardins

campaign comms.scott mcculloch

editorhoward bokser

Web 1Louise morgan

designerstephen pan

WebmasterJeannine Lavallée


aPPendix bchecklists

Location: CLIO>UCS>UCS Forms

a communications checklist should accompany each project in order to show a client’s original requests and to evaluate the services ultimately delivered.

1. communications checklist2. noW Guidelines3. noW information sheet for headlines4. noW story checklist

aPPendix ctemPlates

Location: Clio\UCS Templates

n the folder identified above, a digital version of the check list can be found. as ucs goes through projects, the templates included in this appendix are supposed to guide and document our progress. the template address various processes within ucs.

included in this appendix are the following templates:

Photo/video templates1. video assignment template2. video/audio posting template3. photo assignment template

media templates4. Q&a template5. media interviews template6. news noW template

communications templates7. project template8. communications plan template9. communication needs template

10. critical path template11. communications calendar template

administration templates12. media relations Weekly report template13. internal communications Weekly

report template14. directors’ meeting report template15. Waiver Forms (english & French)


aPPendix dfile naming

specific titles—denoting precisely how we would continue to refer to each item moving forward—need to be decided upon during noW news meetings. the title should come from the first column of the planner. details are to be maintained on ucs Google news planner as well as on the planner board in Gm 606.26.

Title-destination-distributiondate-placement-(importance).fileformat

For instance:shuffle-journal-sep27-1-a.jpg(a shuffle photo going on the top of the Journal front page as a main image)

shuffle-journal-sep27-1-c.jpg(a shuffle photo for page one of the Journal, but in a less important place on the page)

shuffle-now-sep29-banner.jpg(a shuffle photo to use as a banner for the september 29 noW page)

file naming (Photography)title-destination-distributiondate-photonumber.fileformat

For instance:shuffle-journal-sep27-4819.jpg(includes the photo number in order to cross-reference the photoFinder database)


aPPendix eservice agreement

university communication services (ucs) provides design, web, internal communications and media relations support to staff and faculty of the university and this free of charge. in order to provide such services, ucs asks its clients to respect the guidelines and policies as outlined in this agreement (including the production guidelines).

a service agreement needs to accompany any job that ucs takes on.

aPPendix fProduction guidelines

the service agreement is based on the production Guidelines outlined in this document. these Guidelines are agreed to by clients when signing a service agreement.

aPPendix gPolicy vPirsg-4

university communication services (ucs) provides design, web, internal communications and media.

process handbook handbook 201… · appendix f: production guidelines 49 appendix g: policy...

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