The First Month

For merchandising reasons, or in apparent hope of greater public impact when the program is finally presented, or because they're just naturally evasive, organizations occasionally elect to wrap anniversary plans in a mantle of secrecy and silence.

When a sensational new model in a violently competitive field is to be unveiled as a part of the anniversary celebration there may be some sense to the maneuver. Otherwise we've never found con­cealment worth the effort.

We've never found that it made much difference to competitors. They usually take it for granted that a substantial firm will mark a substantial anniversary in a substantial manner, and they'll find out all they want to know whenever they care enough to bother. We've never found that it made any difference to employees, who simply assume that they aren't going to be told anything im­portant anyway. And we've never found that it made any dif­ference to the general public which, fondly though we'd like to believe otherwise, has no interest in anything except a quick and lucrative answer to the question, "What's in it for me?"

In short, since one of the toughest jobs a Co-ordinator faces is getting anybody excited about a celebration, taking any measures that tend to make a secret of it seems to us pretty silly.

But you'll naturally have to go along with company preferences, and so, just so you won't be surprised if it happens, we're going to assume that you and your duties are to be kept under wraps as long as possible.

There are, therefore, no proud announcements in the business columns of the local papers. The house publication blandly ig­nores your arrival—or, if you're a staff member, the shift in your status. In the course of your first day on the new job, you talk with a few of the executives, most of whom have previously con­curred in your appointment. But nobody takes you out to lunch. In fact, with dizzying speed you attain the amorphous standing of a vaguely untalented insider.

Actually, this isn't going to last very long. Such situations never remain static. Regardless of how quietly you are brought into the company (or, if an insider, how gradually the emphasis of your duties is shifted), it won't be long before the grapevine has circu­lated the facts about you. Or, more likely, some fantastic distor­tion of the facts.

Meantime, there's a lot of work to be done, and you've been hired to do it. And there isn't any way to do it without talking about it. So off you go.

Research is the cure for worry at this point.

RESEARCH, THE CURE FOR WORRY

Any anniversary celebration which develops into a memorable company and community experience is certain to be the result of painstaking and doggedly sustained investigation. Ideally, this investigation begins long before the start of the anniversary period and continues without interruption throughout the span of the observance.

We are not referring solely to formal investigative studies, nor even to the simpler research involved in exploring the potentials of individual anniversary activities or events.

We are speaking of the basic, fundamental, common-sense nosiness which ought to precede any decision or action involving or affecting anniversary components. That nosiness seeks helpful information from all available sources, assembles it, weighs it, and reports it—then acts in accordance with it.

That sort of investigative research, applied to the problems of an anniversary celebration, might include a survey of various area groups (or "publics") inside and outside the company. Inquiries would probe attitudes toward the company, its products, policies, services, and accomplishments, to determine the condition of presently existing relationships. Evaluation of data thus col­lected and, in the light of results, critical scrutiny of the anniversary goals agreed upon, should be the first order of business.

Although research is admittedly a complicated job, there can be no really successful celebration without it. Research supplies vital information which a Co-ordinator must have if he is to do an effective job. If the budget will not allow an outside professional survey of community attitudes toward the company, the task must be undertaken by the Co-ordinator, or by a Research Committee.

Only when that job is completed may a Co-ordinator safely move toward selection of the individual elements of the over-all program.

Only then, in fact, will there exist any sound basis for such selection.
And so, since the way to begin is to begin, you'd better start circulating a bit.

HOW TO RESEARCH

Tour the plant. Get acquainted. Find out who's who. Introduce yourself to any key people you haven't met. You need to meet people experienced in solving all sorts of technical problems peculiar to this company. Seek out the Advertising Manager, the Publicity Director, the president of the Quarter Century Club, the Building Superintendent, the Display Manager. Range from the carpenter shop to the boiler room. Seek out anyone and every­one with whom you may expect to work, anyone and everyone who may be expected to contribute help or ideas or production assistance in the months ahead. And that won't leave very many exceptions on the staff! Neither will it leave a shred of mystery about you, but you can't do research in a vacuum. Not this kind of research, anyway.

Learn the operating divisions of the company and their loca­tion, with special attention to the zones and extent of their juris­diction. For example, you'll inevitably be working with the Opera­tions Director (or his counterpart) in matters dealing with cus­tomer service; with the production or acquisition of props; with the imprinting, ordering, and distributing of supplies; with, in fact, practically everything that costs the company money. You're sure to work with the Comptroller (or his counterpart) in anni­versary matters involving credit department participation. You're equally sure to work with the Sales Manager in matters dealing with sales events and vendor relations. You'll work with the Personnel Director in matters having to do with employees, their participation in the celebration, their house publication, their attitudes, activities, and training. You'll work with the advertising and public relations departments in all aspects of promotion, media coverage, special campaigns and events, exhibits, publicity, interior and exterior displays, and so on and on and on. It's all research, whether you ever thought of it that way or not.

Read! Read everything that you can get your hands on pertain­ing to the company and its products, services, and operations. Any company which is celebrating an anniversary of significance should have in its files an accumulation of material on public attitudes, reactions, ratings, and problems. A thoughtful review of this material is an early responsibility of yours. Later on you will need every available crumb of such information, and later on you'll have no time to collect them. Read the employees' hand­book, the office manual, and copies of the employee house publica­tion for the past year. Inspect file copies of any previous anniver­sary (or memorial or special) issues of the employee publication. Read policy statements, standard mailing pieces, consumer sur­veys, personnel procedure files, publicity scrapbooks, pertinent correspondence, reports, digests. Study outlines of public rela­tions schemes and proposals whether they ever bloomed or not, and soak up all available historical background in whatever form.

Investigate the equipment and resources available to you inside the company: the supply room, the carpenter shop, the print shop, the library, the health center, the mail room.

And drop in frequently at the office of your General Chairman, especially when you have good news. He's got enough of the other kind.

From this research you gradually will accumulate an invaluable working knowledge of the company, its history, policies, ideals, personnel, equipment, extent, resources, attitude toward its com­munity (and the community's attitude toward the company), and preferred or historic modes of operation. Out of this knowledge, you will forge your own personal set of opinions and values, plus a comprehensive list of procedures, responsibilities, requirements, and deadlines necessary to produce a successful celebration.
And this is a very good start.
You're doing well.

MEET THE NEIGHBORS

It is natural and wise to review to the fullest possible extent the experiences of other organizations in the community that have presented a public anniversary celebration.

There are many persons who have traveled this selfsame road on which you are just starting out. Among them we have yet to meet an exception to the rule that they'll freely and generously share with you all their store of experience, the short cuts they've learned, the warning signs they've noted (and sometimes un­happily ignored), and the resources they've uncovered, as well as they can remember.

Unfortunately, they generally don't remember very well. They were too busy doing the job to take any notes on technique, and they don't remember—at least not in the kind of detail you need —how they did it. If you prompt them, they'll dig up a few memorial letterheads for you, blow the dust off some unidentified 8"x 10" glossies, uncrumple a news release or two, and that will be about all.

But it needn't be.

HOW TO JOG MEMORIES

With a little patient prodding on your part, they'll dredge up more helpful information than you would believe. The method is simple.
You have already learned quite a bit about the specialized needs of your company. Make notes about them to inspire questions when you interrogate your source. In addition, use the list of questions we present immediately below. You will find them in­valuable in nudging recalcitrant memories into producing cir­cumstantial information about things presently of interest to you. Ask these questions of the person who had charge of the anni­versary celebration at the organization you propose to query:

1. What was the theme of your celebration? How did you come to select it? Give me some specific examples of how it helped to tie your celebration into a unified whole.
2. How did you develop your emblem? Was it staff-produced or did you farm out the assignment? Or did you have a contest? If a contest, what rules did you set up? May I have a copy of the rules? How did you control scope of emblem design?
3. What goals or objectives did you set up for your celebration? Do you feel you attained them? Or most of them? On what facts do you base your answer?
4. What was your over-all budget? How much of that was plus-over-normal? (Or, to put it another way, how much of that would your organization have spent routinely for promotion in the year anyway?) How was it broken down?
5. What committees did you set up? Why so many? Or so few?
6. Do you have a diagram of your committee setup (perhaps you called it an Organization Chart)? Do you have a diagram of the chain of command you used to control overlapping and duplication of effort?
7. In a statewide (or nationwide) organization like yours, how did you knit all your offices (some of them almost as big and important and in cities of size comparable to the home office) into the fabric of your celebration?
8. What outside help—advertising agency, public relations counsel, free-lance artists or writers—did you retain in addition to the talent available within your own organization?
9. Did you publish a special history or yearbook? For private or public distribution? How much did it cost you? For how many copies? Who wrote it? Printed it? What would you do differently if you had to do it over again? How far ahead did you start re­searching it? May I borrow a copy?
10. May I see, or borrow, any available copies of the progress reports to management which you prepared from time to time
    during planning days?
11. Did you come across any helpful books or articles on the holding of business celebrations? What were they?
12. I'd appreciate the loan of any anniversary material you can spare, such as souvenirs, brochures, letterheads, decals, labels, stickers, calendars, buttons, pins, blotters, matches.
13. May I have, or borrow, copies of any back issues of your employee publication which carry stories on any aspect of your observance?
14. Did you make a Calendar of Events? May I have a copy?
15. What did you do about the good suggestions for activities and events which came along after your program was almost definitely determined?
16. How did you measure or evaluate results? What yardstick(s) did you use to see how close you came to achieving your original goals?
17. What did you do, or neglect to do, that you regret most now that it is all over?

Take along a fat notebook and write your fingers off during this quiz. When you finish, you'll have a respectable percentage of satisfactory answers, and your head will be buzzing with ideas for expanding your research. If you haven't felt it before, you now know that you can handle this job. And that kind of confidence is something nobody can ever put a price on.

OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES

But suppose your company is the only significant frog in the community puddle and the celebration on which you are now working is the biggest local event since the treaty with the Indians. In fact, not only the biggest but The Only. In such a situation you aren't going to find anybody you can question. Locally, you're a pioneer.
But all is not darkness.

It then becomes part of your job to make some trips to the nearest cities of size where you can find companies that have celebrated anniversaries and, question list in hand, approach their Public Relations Directors. Your General Chairman ex­pects you to make such necessary out-of-town investigations just as surely as he expects you to utilize every opportunity to visit the establishments of competitors in your company's field.

Mobilize your company's officers and executives behind any such project on which you need help. Or get the General Chair­man to mobilize them. They all have friends outside the com­munity among officers of organizations which have observed public anniversaries. Have them write the letters, arrange the appointments, smooth your path. You have a right to such help, and if you don't get it ask the General Chairman why.

You may, of course, choose first to review the following list of information resources and see what you have right at hand. Al­though the trips to other sections of the state or country may be necessary ultimately anyway, a local company is part of its im­mediate surroundings, and your organization's deepest roots are right where you are working now. So as the time comes or the need arises, you should consult

1. The Association of Commerce. Your company probably holds membership in the association not only in the home office community but in each of the cities where it has plants or units. It therefore has a solid claim on association help over and above the enlightened self-interest which would enlist association aid anyway. Often you'll be surprised at the assistance you'll get not only from the association, but from some of your competitors who are also members. Talk with the head of the association's pub­licity division; get lists of upcoming conventions and public events for possible tie-in; get lists of clubs, groups, and associations which might be invited to participate in some mutually profitable manner.
2. Newspapers. If a local newspaper is old enough to have had a significant anniversary of its own, it almost certainly published bulky anniversary editions at the time. You are going to require a large backlog of historical and statistical material about the community and the area, and those anniversary editions of the newspaper are packed full of just exactly the sort of material you are looking for.

1. Libraries. The local history section, among others. Also it is often easier to examine newspaper files in a library than in a newspaper office, especially if the library is using microfilmed records.
2. Museums. Local, county, and state historical museums and societies often make available on loan—for no more than the cost of hauling, insurance, and a credit line at the display—superb exhibit material.
3. Schools, colleges, universities—and their reference libraries, department heads—public relations, business administration, his­tory, journalism—and staffs.
4. Municipal bureaus, departments, commissions.
5. The local art institute, society, or school.
6. The office of the Superintendent of Schools.

The Yellow Pages (classified section) of your telephone directory. Also you'll frequently find meaty historical sections in the front of city directories and the regular telephone directory.

7. The telephone company—for the priceless reference information in old directories, and as a source for old equipment for use in period displays.
8. The gas, electric, light-and-power companies—for historical and display items.
9. The Office Manager or Purchasing Agent of your company. He can be a mine of information on where to get—and at what price—an unbelievable variety of goods and services.
10. The files of your company's publications.
11. The files at your company's trade associations.
12. The company scrapbook or newspaper clipping file.
13. And for mail inquiries: The Supervisor of Documents of the Government Printing Office, the Bureau of the Census, and the Department of Commerce, all at Washington 25, D.C.

If you thoroughly tap these resources, and the others which will result from them in chain-reaction fashion, you'll have enough productive leads to keep you busy for a long, long time.

EYES AND EARS OPEN; MOUTH SHUT!

Meantime, with the approval of your General Chairman (you're no longer a mystery in the company, but check with him anyway— he may think you are!) you should be ranging farther afield inside the organization in the process of making friends. You'll be meeting unit managers, department heads, section chiefs, service directors, floor supervisors, foremen. You'll be stopped in your orientation jaunts by the more aggressive or the more inquisitive, and to each you'll furnish a brief and amiable explanation of who you are and what you're up to. And you'll find you aren't half the secret some may fondly think.

You will listen, listen, listen. You will collect everybody's opinions and ideas. You'll keep your notebook open, and your mouth shut. Everything is grist for your mill right now, and there is no such thing as a silly or preposterous suggestion. It is not yet up to you to decide on the merits of individual ideas. That re­sponsibility may come later, when the General Chairman is tired of the job. Right now you simply collect them, polish them into all possible clarity, and hold them for presentation to the Gen­eral Chairman.

It should not be necessary to warn you to be on the close-mouthed side Keep your lip buttoned most of the time and do the major share of your talking only to the General Chairman.

Inevitably you will make friends—good friends—among persons of consequence in the company. And what could be more natural than to give those friends a bit of inside information now and then? Or an off-the-record opinion? Or an informal progress re­port? Especially since they are persons who normally would rate such information anyway. The comfort of such relaxed confidence can be immensely tempting when things go wrong and nobody appreciates you. The impulse to fish for an approving comment, a confirming opinion, or an impressed look, the urge to tell all when "they" have been acting more than usually stupid, is all too human.

But don't do it. It can boomerang murderously. Bite your tongue and keep quiet. Your friends are undoubtedly the finest people in the organization, but it's still not up to you to broad­cast gratuitous information. Don't drop your guard or it won't be long before one of your friends (who sees the General Chair­man as often as you do, and maybe a little bit oftener) says:

"Well, well, G.C. I see we're going to do thus and so for our anniversary."

And the General Chairman, who up to then had been looking on the idea with considerable favor, r'ars back and says:
"Well, now, I'M not so sure. Who told you that?"

And all you've been building up will be for nothing, because in an instant you've shrunk to the size of just another employee with a flapping lip. It isn't worth it.

REQUESTING IDEAS

At this time it is appropriate for you to prepare and distribute within the company your first written solicitation of ideas and suggestions. Keep it short, direct, informal, and as eye-catching as possible. It might approach in tone the sample (Fig. 3) on page 39 of this chapter.

Clear the distribution of this first request with your General Chairman. It will be just as well not to make it company-wide

When the notes are completed and the flyers prepared, hand-sign each note and hand-sign each flyer, clip one of each together, address them to those on the General Chairman's list, and put them into the office mail.

Then, after allowing adequate time for delivery to the proper desks, make a telephone call to each person on the list. Confirm that the note and flyer came from you. Confirm that it is a specific request for recommendations for anniversary activities. Reiterate the suggestion that each recipient consult with personnel in his jurisdiction and get their ideas, too. And if they don't want to in­clude everybody in their jurisdiction, at least they should talk with those in whom they routinely repose confidence and trust.

You could phrase your end of the conversation something like this:
"By now you've probably received my call for help, and you know that we're going after celebration ideas in earnest. And because I don't want to overlook any sources—the flyer only went to a selected group of you fellows—I'm wondering if you'd want to discuss the content of it with your staff? Surely it seems that we should get help from as many sources as possible, and, if you agree, would you talk with the people in your jurisdiction? You either may bring up the matter informally or I'll send you some extra flyers, minus the cover note, which you can distribute as an opening wedge. Do it soon, though, will you? So your people can have a bit of time to think about it? And . . . will you mark your calendar to expect me about two weeks from now to collect your ideas and discuss them with you? If there's a definite day and hour you'd like to nail down right now, let's do so. I know it doesn't give much time, but we've got to get moving. Thanks a lot!"

THE THIRD WEEK IN THE FIRST MONTH

And then, along about the third week on the job, you'll have absorbed enough company atmosphere to be ready for a serious talk with the General Chairman.

As you know from Chapter 1, one of our recommendations to the General Chairman is that he maintain an open-door policy for you at his office. We haven't changed. But courtesy and ef­ficiency both require that you find out how he'd like the majority of his conferences with you to be handled. So find out and handle them that way.

Maybe you'll discover that the "drop in anytime" arrangement is always all right. Or maybe it is sometimes all right and some­times so wrong it will set you back days. Or maybe he'll prefer that you arrange all but emergency visits through his secretary.

Many busy men choose this latter way. Not because it makes them feel important or because they just naturally like to make things tough or because they don't really want to see you. They prefer it because they know that when an appointment is arranged in this way, there's been enough time reserved so that a produc­tive, unhurried, and mutually satisfactory visit can be held.

Even if you've found the drop-in visit to be routinely all right, give a little more importance to this first serious talk. Arrange it in advance through the General Chairman's secretary. Ask for a little more time than you've usually required. Explain that you'd like it to be a sort of air clearing, preliminary planning session for both of you. Say that while no Great Thoughts may emerge from the discussion, you consider the occasion important and would like to present some complex matters for considera­tion and possible decision.

Actually, what you plan to do is appear with an armload of hot potatoes for him to juggle, but you may find you haven't a surprise in the lot. Probably he's been wondering and worrying about these very points for days. Wondering if you'd be smart enough to see their significance, and worrying over answers.

You will be well-advised, therefore, to go prepared with some definite recommendations of your own on each point you plan to raise. We recognize that most of the important final decisions on anniversary matters will come out of the General Chairman's office. Nonetheless, one of the main reasons you're in your present job is because someone was needed to carry a large share of the planning burden, and your stature in the organization will in­crease tremendously when you demonstrate ability to do some independent thinking about a problem.

Not all of your recommendations will be accepted. That does not matter. You are expected to listen carefully to management preferences and put them into effect if they are reasonable and desirable—and maybe sometimes even if they aren't. The point is: Have some opinions. Make some suggestions. Supply some recom­mendations. Or stop pretending you're a Co-ordinator.

Now, although you have asked for, and are entitled to, and will probably get, a meeting alone with the General Chairman, do not be disconcerted if—when you arrive—you find some other company executives "sitting in." Or if, as your meeting with the General Chairman progresses, some other executives casually are invited in by telephone "to get their thinking on this." Or if they appear, ostensibly on other errands, but stay and stay and stay. Just be glad you've put some preparation into this meeting, be­cause if other men are sharing it with you and the General Chair­man you can bet your bottom dollar they'll be carrying a lot of weight when anniversary decisions are being made. In short, they're a committee, no matter what anybody says.

The following 13 questions are of direct, immediate, and vital importance to the success of your anniversary celebration. They merit—indeed, must have—early and definite answers. They con­stitute the bedrock on which the structure of your celebration will be erected.

To help you and your General Chairman arrive at some judi­cious conclusions, each question presented below is immediately followed by a comment which may be used as a springboard for discussion. Once again: these are comments on, not answers to, the questions. They should serve, however, to guide you firmly past many a tempting but sterile bypath, and by as direct a route as possible to some sound decisions.

CONSTRUCTING A FOUNDATION

/. What is our problem?
Comment: We are committed to the production of a public anniversary celebration for this organization.
2. Why?
Comment: Management knows why. If management has not yet determined why, no further work should be undertaken until the reason or reasons are clearly defined and accepted. It is im­portant to management's faith in the ultimate worth of this effort that this point be settled finally. A celebration undertaken for even the simplest of reasons can be most rewarding, provided those reasons are satisfactory and/or inspiring to management. There is nothing in the least inspiring about getting so tangled up in when and how to celebrate that nobody stops to wonder why.
5. How do we organize this project?
Comment: It is first necessary to select a goal, or several goals, considered desirable of attainment as a result of observance effort. The General Chairman probably already has said to you, in substance: "What goals are we going to shoot for in this thing?" Now is the time to decide. How? By reviewing the list of goals at the end of this chapter, by accepting or adapting some of the examples given, or by creating goals out of the company's unique needs and personality. Thus you will frame a set of tan­gible objectives which you may reasonably expect to obtain from an anniversary celebration, in exchange for the time, the money, and the effort you are ready to expend on it.
4. As a result of the time, money, and effort we spend on this celebration what goals or objectives do we hope to obtain?
Comment: At the end of this chapter will be found a list of 22 desirable objectives for a celebration such as you are under­taking. They are all good, given the proper circumstances. They are all worthwhile, though they may not all be pertinent to your needs. A selection may be made directly from this list, or you may simply use the list as a source of inspiration for the creation of a list of your own.

We do not recommend the selection of a large number of goals for attainment. We have seen a company select 10 or 12 noble objectives and then spread itself paper-thin trying to achieve them. In our opinion, four or five goals should be the limit.

The only advantage we have been able to see (and it is a dubious one) in choosing a large number of goals is that thereby everyone is satisfied and things get under way. And, as a corollary, with a large number of goals, there isn't an idea or a suggestion too outlandish to be justified as "contributing to a goal," if somebody wants it in the program badly enough.

However, even where there is a practically unlimited budget, the selection of a large number of goals represents loose thinking. You may not believe it now, but you are going to accumulate more good ideas for the achievement of every anniversary goal-ideas you plain hate to eliminate—than any company possibly could afford to include, or find time to present. So tighten up the corporate thinking as much as possible, select a minimum of goals with a maximum of care, and anchor all anniversary plans to them.

If, to get action, you must accept a large number of goals, then go ahead and accept them. But accept them with the certain knowledge—which you might mention to management, just to show you know—that ultimately you will be forced to jettison most of them as excess baggage.

PICK SOME GOALS AHEAD OF TIME

You, as Co-ordinator, will be well-advised to select—ahead of meeting time and with care and thought—four or five goals, and recommend them to your General Chairman for acceptance. The General Chairman may make substitutions at the meeting or later, or goal changes may come about in other ways at some future time. That does not matter. The important point is that by handling the selection of anniversary goals in this way you get things started. If the General Chairman is not satisfied with the list you prepare, suggest alternates, but try to get him to determine the goals without going to a committee. If you ever submit the list on page 55 to a committee for selection, you'll never be done with the wrangling and the time-wasting and the hairsplitting and the confusion. So pinpoint the objectives by saying:

"Here, Mr. General Chairman, are goals which I believe we should attempt to attain as a result of our anniversary period efforts:
"a. Our celebration should serve to stimulate the friendliest possible attitude on the part of the public toward the company name and organization.
"b. Our celebration should include improvement of things and activities which are already a part of this company.
"c. Our celebration should leave a lasting favorable impres­sion on the community.
"d. Our celebration should create local and even national
awareness that the company has been in existence    
years."

If these goals are accepted by the General Chairman, you're off to a good, sound start. If he wants more of them, or different ones, encourage him. And if he wants to submit the whole ques­tion to a committee, bite your tongue and go along. Try, how­ever, to get some interim commitment as to where you are head­ing. As Co-ordinator, you need objectives for guidance now, not three weeks from now. You aren't going to get a foot from shore without them. So try to come out of the meeting with some goals. The best way to do it is to go in with some. At no time force anyone to think if you can avoid it. It will ruin your progress and your popularity. Just recollect how hard thinking is for you, and unobtrusively provide answers with your questions as you go along.
5. At the end of the celebration, on whom do we want our efforts to have made an impact?
Comment: Without necessarily being all-inclusive, here is a list of the groups or "publics" which the company might wish to affect or impress:
a. The organization's own field, including competitors, sup­
pliers, trade associations, trade press
No____________________ Maybe___
b.______________ Employees—active, retired, in service; their relatives,
friends, neighbors-
Yes____________ No____ Maybe____
c.     Officers and directors-
Yes____________ No____ Maybe____
d.     Customers and potential customers-
Yes____________ No____ Maybe____
e.     Local, county, state public officials—
Yes____________ No____ Maybe____
ƒ. Opinion molders—radio, press, television editors, writers,
commentators; clergy; key industrialists and business­
men; educators-
Yes____________ No____ Maybe____
g. Special groups, internal and external—Quarter Century
Club, Veterans' Club, union, children (orphaned, handi­
capped, teen-age), pertinent men's and women's labor,
minority, religious, civic, fraternal, professional clubs,
groups, associations-
Yes____________ No____ Maybe____
6. When all the above matters are resolved satisfactorily, what comes next?

Comment: It's time to take two further planning steps:
a. Begin to make a collection of the ways in which this com­pany is unique, the ways in which it is different from all others in the area. Chapter 4 contains instructions on how to proceed, and shows a sample list of the sort you may expect to collect. Don't ignore this suggestion and don't overlook it in the press of things to be done. Check it right now in the margin of the page, because the assembling of this list, and then the spotlight­ing and selling of the "differences," is a high-priority activity for the celebration's promotional program.

Another suggestion we've not seen carried as far as we believe it merits is the making of the celebration into a period of appre-ciation and thanksgiving. The idea is to abandon the "Gee whiz" approach, and eradicate every tinge of blatant "Ain't we wonderful?" Instead, turn the spotlight unwaveringly on others, and bask modestly in reflected glory. Admittedly, it's pretty ex­pensive basking, and, although the trend is steadily away from self-glorification in anniversary emphasis, it may be awhile yet before any lengthy celebration is produced on a complete you-did-it basis. However, those who might be interested in the no­tion could think in terms of dedicating each of the 12 months of the Anniversary

Year, one by one, to (for example):
January:        the nation—America
February:     the company's state
March:         the company's city
April:            legislators
May:            city departments (fire, police, health, etc.)
June:            company officers and directors
July: company customers, supporters, contributors
August:         company employees
September:   veterans
October:      resources, vendors, suppliers
November:   dealers, field representatives
December:   contemporary city businesses

The theme would be public acknowledgment of indebtedness to all who have contributed toward development of an economic, social, and political climate wherein an organization may live to celebrate a birthday of consequence.
b. Begin to choose activities and events which might possibly become part of the anniversary celebration program. Naturally, no activity or event should receive consideration unless it con­tributes to the attainment of the selected anniversary goals and tends to affect or impress the chosen "publics."
7. What is to be the duration of the celebration?
Comment: Theoretically an anniversary celebration is limited only by the imagination of its sponsors and the size of the budget the Board of Directors can be coaxed into authorizing. With no restrictions in those two areas, any company should be able to produce an observance combining a long and lively life with practically universal appeal. Actually, however, practical con­siderations soon rear their cautionary heads. A company finds itself limited, for example, by its objectives and its potential audience, by the problem of personnel or the existing economic climate, by geographical location or amount of preparatory time available, by its own traditions, or by what the community has come to expect of it over the years.

The duration of a celebration may be influenced by some of the same considerations, but a great deal of leeway still exists.

A company is perfectly free to do nothing at all right up to the Anniversary Month or the Birthday Week and then cut loose. Or it can wait until the actual anniversary date and make a splash. In fact, the splash has been cut finer than that on oc­casion, and a company can, if it chooses, spend half-a-million dollars in an hour by sponsoring a nationwide color television show on its birthday.

There are three generally popular time spans:
a.     A year-long observance, with special emphasis during the Anniversary Month, and on such other occasions during the year as lend themselves to specific activities.
b.     A six-month observance so planned that, if successful or desirable, it can be presented twice in a year. The theory here is that double impact can be obtained from the planning and props of one set of events. The observance of recognized holidays naturally will vary in the two halves (e.g., the St. Valentine's Day motif and planning, versus that of Labor Day), but materials have proved surprisingly adaptable. The planning for the Anniversary Month itself might encompass either an entirely new and separate presentation, or contain a repeat of the cream of the six-months' programs. Theoretically the props obtained for an event may thus be made to do double duty, with substantial savings and no loss of public interest.

Public interest will not lessen. Memories are short. However, if events are elaborate, storage of props is going to be a problem, and storage costs may well eat up the anticipated savings. If sev­eral company units or buildings are involved, it also becomes necessary to insure that sufficient trained personnel will be avail­able both times around.

c.     A period of several months, naturally including the birthday month and week and day, with events spaced throughout. This avoids the strain of a year-long effort on the one hand, and, on the other, the numbing effect of a couple of weeks jammed with anniversary events.

Regardless of the period selected, pace your events carefully. Space the big ones—and see that they get progressively bigger right to the end—and introduce smaller ones in between to maintain public interest.
8. How much time do we need?
Comment: Now that the company has decided to produce an anniversary program, everyone is suddenly wondering appre­hensively why the decision was postponed so long. Is there, in fact, enough time left to develop a celebration worth the trouble?

Such concern is a healthy sign and bodes well for the success of the project. When people are worried, obviously they care. How­ever, there is no pat answer for questions where so many variables are involved. Any anniversary celebration requires an immense amount of preparation before it can be, or should be, launched. Any anniversary celebration requires time, money, and personnel. When any of these components is restricted or eliminated, a realistic appraisal of the remainder becomes imperative.

We participated, for example, in the preliminary research which a large bank began five years prior to the opening of its centennial year. An insurance company of national scope began its planning twenty months ahead of opening date. A large de­partment store began planning eighteen months ahead. All had excellent celebrations.

If you have this much time, your position is sound. You can even handle a lot of the production chores yourself and possibly save some money that way.

On the other hand, if you're beginning late—and we believe anything under eighteen months is seriously late—but have the budget to assign most of your major tasks to outside agencies, you still have a chance to get the celebration you want. (By major tasks we mean research, writing, production, design, photography, layout, etc.) There will be some things, of course, you'll simply have to skip. If, for example, your scheduled opening is set for six months from the day you decide to have a celebration, it's just about impossible to hope for a pageant to open the period.

If you're beginning late and do not have much of a budget, your problems are formidable. Lack of budget means that time-eating production items, whether writing institutional advertis­ing or painting props, cannot be farmed out. It means that of the three vital celebration ingredients—time, money, personnel—you lack two: time and money. Better lower your sights and concen­trate your efforts on a limited objective and sharp impact.

p. Does any company emblem or insignia exist? If so, will it be used for anniversary identification? If not, will an anniversary emblem be commissioned?

Comment: The use of an easily recognizable emblem or insignia for your Anniversary Year is an effective way to heighten public awareness, and to identify and unify all activities and elements of the observance. Development of such an emblem is recommended. Once produced, it should be used wherever possible on items produced or used in, for, and by the company during the Anni­versary Year and, with or without the theme slogan, it should be imprinted on all items listed on page 117.

An organization which has not had—up to the time of its anni­versary celebration—any such emblem, and commissions one for anniversary use, should give serious thought to making the em­blem a permanent part of future company identification. There is no need to drop it at the end of the anniversary period.

Some organizations which possess an emblem and/or slogan choose this time to redesign the emblem and revise, or replace, the slogan. They could not choose a better time.

Questions to be decided include: Who will be responsible for making final decisions as to emblem design? Who will control its use, and guard against misuse, in all printed advertising and publicity?
10. What is to be the theme of the celebration?
Comment: This looks like an easy one, but it will cause some long, long thoughts. Just see that they don't get too long. An early decision on this can be important in giving direction to the whole project.

In music, a theme is the principal melodic phrase on which a composition or movement is based: a short melody which fur­nishes the foundation for variation, development, and other modified repetition. Some semblance of the original form and intent must naturally remain evident throughout.

In an anniversary celebration, a memorial, an observance of any scope or consequence, a theme is a recurring emphasis, appearing and reappearing throughout the period's activities, events, parts, segments, and components. It provides their common denominator and ties them all together into a sensible and obvious unit. Without a basic theme, the activities o£ an anniversary period are in danger of degenerating into a batch o£ unrelated and flagrant bids for public attention.

Actually a theme may be no more than a good catchy slogan. This is true so often that in this book the words "theme" and "slogan" are used interchangeably. An acceptable slogan must be pithy enough so that it may be easily combined with and used with the emblem. There's no better place to begin in the develop­ment of a theme than trying your hand at some slogans.

Where will the ideas come from? From almost anywhere. From your company's thoughts about itself; from the thoughts (well, some of them anyway!) of patrons, customers, supporters about your company; from the reasons and purposes the company has for being in existence; from the ways in which it is different from other companies.

11.   Does a company color or color combination exist? If so, will it be used in the Anniversary Year? If not, what color scheme is to be identified with the celebration?

Comment: Whether or not such now exists, a color or a com­bination of colors should be selected for dominant use during the anniversary period. The emblem, the slogan (theme), and the color will be widely used in countless variations and combinations for decorations, advertising, displays, packaging, backgrounds, and printing throughout the year.

These additional questions should be settled: Who will be responsible for making the final decision on color selection? Who is to be the arbiter in color selection and combination for specific displays (counter, ledge, window, floor, hall, lobby, rotunda, audi­torium, elevator, street, parking lot, and so on and on)? Who will control the use of color in and on company buildings? Out­side the grounds in special events (e.g., street decoration)?
12.   What will we call our Anniversary Year?
Comment: Although creating a special name for an Anniversary Year is a common practice and, of course, amounts to one more way of getting the story across, we do not consider it a matter of great importance. We mention it here merely because the ques­tion frequently arises. The selection of a name for an anniver­sary celebration often overlaps confusingly into the area of theme (slogan) determination—a matter we consider of much greater import. Selection of a name (unless it is intended for deliberate public emphasis and dissemination just like the theme) is usually simply a matter of hitting on a handy and convenient tag for informal use. It is a matter which tends to take care of itself as plans jell. Actually, there isn't much variety possible in such des­ignations without moving into the "cute" area (you know: the sell-abration" and the "10th serving you-bilee"), which in our opinion is a major catastrophe.

Technically, a birthday is a day, and technically an anniver­sary is a day. In most instances, however, a company birthday or anniversary covers any period from a month up to a full year, and that fact complicates fabrication or selection of a name.

Our advice: don't worry about it. Except that if you're cele­brating a 75th anniversary, be watchful of the term Diamond Jubilee. It is perfectly legitimate, of course. The catch is that the Jewelry Industry Council has been supporting recognition of the 60th anniversary as the Diamond Jubilee, and social arbiters rec­ognize either the 60th or 75th year as the Diamond Jubilee. Just to make sure you don't lose 15 years' prestige, we think you'd better spell out your 75th anniversary instead of calling it a Dia­mond Jubilee. You've earned the recognition. Be sure you get it.
13. What will be the scope of participation of other company units?
Comment: This question is pertinent when the company hold­ing the celebration is a multiple-unit organization with branches, factories, plants, stores, warehouses, and service units scattered across a city, a state, or many states. It does not matter whether these units are, or aren't, comparable to the parent unit in size, facilities, responsibilities, or location.

Multiple-unit organizations commonly tend to center their ob­servance activities most heavily at the parent building or loca­tion, which is usually the original, or first, or oldest. Usually this parent location encompasses the home office, contains the largest concentration of employees, and houses the administrative offices.
If yours is a multiple-unit organization, it is important morale-wise to make early and clear-cut decision as to the kind and amount of participation of all units. And then tell them what the plans are through their superintendents or managers.

Is their participation to be restricted to use of the emblem, theme, and colors in displays, supplies, and other general mat& rials? To a mention, when logically called for in any presenta­tion of company history? To participation in any special mer­chandising, or sales, or customer-participation programs?

Or is it to be a full and complete participation in all aspects of the celebration? If so, each potential activity and event must be scanned with particular care. Obviously, a specially tailored program cannot be designed for each location, yet trouble can result from an activity which may go well at one or two loca­tions and fall flat at others. Further, the cost of every idea you choose for inclusion in the anniversary schedule must be multi­plied by the number of participating units, and that can make even a generous budget look puny.

If the secondary units are widely scattered, you must decide how much, and what kind of, impact you want to make on the communities involved. Those questions should be answered only after thorough discussion with the manager—local or area—who will be responsible for presenting the anniversary program.

Actually that area manager can have a lot of fun and the com­pany can reap a lot of good will with nothing more elaborate than some "Area Days" or "Neighborhood Days" with informal volunteer parties. Volunteer to the point where the local em­ployees even furnish the coffee and cake for the traditional Open House.

Continuous contact should be kept with subordinate units by means of an anniversary newsletter (it need not be elaborate) reporting progress, exchanging ideas, and supplying solutions to problems. A good plan is for the home office to provide each unit with a looseleaf Anniversary Year workbook at the beginning of planning. Insert sheets then can be furnished regularly as they are developed. Each step taken in preparation and in celebration at the parent unit may be duplicated at every branch so far as that branch wishes or can afford.

Company executives should (should? must!) consider it vital to be on hand for important dates or events at branches, whether that means a trip across town or across the country. And we mean Top Brass. Sending the third assistant personnel director won't do, nice fellow though he undoubtedly is.

WELL, THAT'S DONE!

Certainly it would be ideal if you could end this meeting with decisions reached on all the above questions, but let's face it: you'll be lucky to get firm decisions on half of them.

On the remainder, there is only one thing you can do: keep pushing for a decision. And with each push have ready a recom­mendation of your own, plus a sound reason for urging it.

On some matters (even involving important color, emblem de­sign, or theme decisions), you may experience a disheartening wait, sometimes lasting months, before you can get a commit­ment. We don't know why. The deadly daily pressure, maybe. But all the same, where indecisive leadership exists, it is a time bomb ticking away in the foundation of your program.

Lack of concrete information as to the design and content of emblem, color preferences, or the favored theme for the celebra­tion completely stymies the development of display ideas. Fur­ther, it makes impossible the seeking of bids or letting of con­tracts on any operation or item involving imprinting or other use of the emblem-color-theme combination.

Vague or inconclusive decisions about the extent of unit par­ticipation can erupt into jealous bickering six months from now. An impractical choice of goals can shatter your celebration, and a careless choice of publics can bury it. Do all you can to obtain prompt, unequivocal decisions from the General Chairman, and do all you can to make those decisions easy for him. After all, remember that while you are asking for decisions on this single aspect of the company's over-all operation, he has a dozen other men knocking on his door asking for decisions no other aspects of the over-all operation.

This being so, you may be sure that any suggestion you make as Co-ordinator—the one person whose entire time and energy and thought is being devoted to this project—will be received with attention and appreciation.

As a person, you'll come out of the meeting bigger than you went in. You'll come out with increased confidence in yourself, your direction, and your ability to handle whatever develops. In short, you'll come out more certainly Co-ordinator than ever before.

You'll have a batch of new ideas to investigate and evaluate, new projects to research, new questions to answer. A rich harvest indeed to garner from any meeting.
You're definitely on your way!

A LIST OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Here is a list of objectives which might be sought as a result of the time, money, and effort a company expends on a period of public celebration.
We want our celebration to

1. Focus favorable public attention on the (company) name and organization.
2. Stimulate the friendliest possible attitude on the part of the public toward the (company) name and organiza tion.
3. Emphasize the present and future rather than the past.
4. Include improvement of things we already have or do.
5. Enhance community interest in and support of our local enterprises.
6. Broaden services to the customer beyond the expected meeting of basic needs.
7. Further recognition of the (company's) contribution to the community and its participation in community activiies.
8. Increase the employees' pride in their company, thus making them a more potent force in relation to (company) customers.
9. Leave a lasting favorable impression on the community.
10. Be modest in cost.
11. Increase the efficiency with which this company performs its primary task {e.g., selling, caring for the sick, distributing news, making concrete mixers, managing estates, or whatever).
12. Create closer working relationships with various community organizations.
13. Celebrate the anniversary (or observance period) in such a way as to make the public feel that they are participating in the celebration.
14. Include (company) acceptance of responsibility for ac­tive leadership in outside activities and functions which promote general community welfare.
15. Create local and even national awareness that (company) has been in existence (business) (so many) years.
16. Contain a direct benefit or potential benefit for company customers, potential customers, and/or the community at large.
17. Increase sales (i.e., expand customer acceptance of, and awaken new-customer interest in, the company and its goods, products, services, and thereby achieve a substantial increase in volume).
18.  Contribute toward telling the public why it should deal with this particular company rather than with some other similar local establishment, institution, or organization.
19. Express appreciation to our various publics, and to the city, county, and state in which the company has grown and expanded.
20.  Create the feeling that this is a down-to-earth organization, interested in people as well as in big business deals.
21. Launch, and create favorable public acceptance for, a new product, model, package, service.
22. Hold and increase stockholders' confidence.

Every activity or event considered for inclusion in the final anniversary celebration package, and every responsibility assumed in connection therewith, should be scrutinized closely in the light of whatever goals finally are chosen from, or developed from, the above (or any other) list.

Whatever goals or objectives are selected or created should be clearly stated in any blueprint for action and should be treated as key factors in the establishment of any specific activity touch­ing anniversary observance.

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