Communicating with the CO

V. Media Visits/Pools A. Know what reporters are looking for and make every effort to comply B. Identify crew members who are articulate and enthusiastic about their jobs C. Search constantly for new story angles and visual settings so stories do not get boring D. Be a salesman and convince crew members to participate; once they see their picture or quote on television, they will be more willing to participate in the future; get the story of the ship told E. Do not lock yourself into a plan; be willing to deviate from a plan no matter how good the plan is; remain flexible and you will get the best coverage VI. Other Publics A. Memorabilia 1. Send pictures, brochures, fact sheets and the like 2. Avoid turning the public affairs office into a mail order house by handling ballcaps, cups and other cost items; the public affairs office is an information dissemination shop—no money should change hands B. Cruisebook 1. MWR should be in charge of sales; publisher in charge of distribution; public affairs office in charge of layout and design 2. Cruisebook committees are too hard to formulate and run; do it yourself and retain control of the book 3. Cruisebook is the crew’s book— use plenty of large pictures with identifiable crew members 4. Start a shipboard photo contest to get additional photos C. Welcome Aboard Brochures 1. Print in the foreign languages of the ports you are scheduled to visit 2. Use metric measurements instead of U.S. measures D. Port Guides 1. Interview crew members with recent port experience to supplement regular sources of information (library, other ship’s guides, etc.), 2. Consult Background Notes for detailed information Figure 1-17.—Shipboard public affairs office management outline—Continued. In this regard, timely information from the supply COMMUNICATING WITH THE CO officer is needed to permit proper monitoring. However, Learning Objective: Identify the methods of advising either you or the PAO must report and justify major deviations from the plan for it to remain a current the CO on public affairs matters. practical management and control mechanism. The importance of keeping the CO informed on Additional tips in shipboard public affairs office public affairs matters is immeasurable. PA Regs management can be found in the outline in figure 1-17. specifies that COs will “ensure that the PAO has direct 1-49