A Source Book of Activities and Events for Public Celebrations

(For more intensive examination of individual suggestions—their potentials, varieties, applica­tions, strengths, and limitations—consult the sub­ject file at your local library. In view of the amount of excellent material available, it would be pointless as well as presumptuous to pretend that the discussions and recommendations below are exhaustive.)

Advertising
l. Use the fact of your anniversary incidentally but con­tinuously in your advertising. Don't let the public forget. For example, all advertising might carry a head in bold type reading
something like: "CELEBRATING OUR        TH YEAR,"
and/or a smaller head (or subhead) reading " (number) Years in (name of city or state) ."

Comment: This is basic, of course. The regular advertising budget can encompass such small features when they are incor­porated into the regular advertising. Be sure, however, that ad­vertising over and above normal gets an over and above normal appropriation. Don't let anyone sabotage the regular advertising program by chewing away at the regular annual advertising budget for special anniversary features. Also, with some considered exceptions, remain pretty consistently with the media you nor­mally deal with. Even in a small city, there are simply too many miscellaneous outlets that would like a slice of your anniversary budget. You can't afford them. Nobody can.

2.     Do "the story of (company name) " in a series of SMALL INSTITUTIONAL-TYPE ADVERTISEMENTS WITH BRIEF COPY. Consider the "Did you know that          ?" type of presentation, incorporating a brief bit of organization history.

Comment: We suggest that you run one per week in all local papers. Three columns by six or seven inches is an attractive size. The space should carry the anniversary emblem and use large, readable type for the scanty sentence or two of copy. Produce enough copy for three months. If you like the results, repeat the same sequence four times in the Anniversary Year.

3.     Introduce a totally new, startling advertising format for the anniversary year. Sweep out everything that has been done up to the present time and begin fresh all over again.

Comment: Drastic. If your object is to startle, you'll probably succeed. But is it worthwhile, all to one side of the consultant's hefty fee? It is a serious step to throw out overnight a format which may have required years to attain public recognition and trust. Of course, if your format is about due for a revamping any­way, the situation is different. You'll never find a better time than right now.

4.Purchase selective mailing lists for special anniversary coverage. It is a way to insure that your coverage for special anniversary events (e.g., a special sale, a public spectacle, a premium offer) is 100 per cent complete in the area you want to reach.

5.Special lists can be purchased to meet your needs. Consult the listings in the Yellow Pages of your telephone directory under "Letter Companies" and "Mailing Lists."

6.Salvage the space you currently may be contributing free to various giveaway publications, bulletins, programs.

Comment: Each year companies reluctantly take thousands of dollars worth of unwanted advertising in high-school annuals, church bulletins, club programs, and so on. Those dollars can be salvaged thus: Any time a local church, club, school, association, lodge, charity or whatever approaches your company with a re­quest to take space in their publication, agree. Insist, however, that a picture of the organization's president or senior officer appear in your space with a written statement signed by the officer telling why he likes to deal with your company. No endorse­ment, no ad.
6.     Consider including in the anniversary budget an (increased) APPROPRIATION FOR COLOR ADVERTISING IN NATIONAL PERI­ODICALS DURING THE CELEBRATION.

Comment: Costs for color advertising in quality magazines of national circulation are high. Purchasers usually consider that they are paying for prestige as well as audience. When you investi­gate costs and obtain figures, be sure you know what those figures will buy. In short, be sure that the man supplying the figures is talking about the same thing you are. It is a shaking experience to build a budget around a certain figure—considered by you to be quite large enough, thank you—and then find that you have received only space costs, with art, four-color plates, and addi­tional electros still to be added in.

7.     Use advertising in out-of-city media. Especially consider county and state dailies and/or weeklies. Use the theme of an invitation to an anniversary party, stressing the idea: "Deal with the business establishments in your own community so long as they have what you want. However, if you find it necessary to
go outside, it will pay you to come to (name of city) and visit us in our anniversary mood."

Comment: If you do move into this area, diplomacy suggests that you pick a standard size for your ad (e.g., 40 inches: four columns by ten inches) and let that size prevail in all out-of-city presentations.

8._______ Run, in English, an advertisement, a greeting, or a sim­
ple ANNOUNCEMENT, e.g., "HAPPY NEW YEAR," " HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US," "THIS IS OUR ___ TH ANNIVERSARY," "TO NAME OF
city) with love." In the same space repeat the message in other languages, the more the better: French, German, Italian, Swedish, Greek, Polish, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, Norwegian, Russian, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and so on. The interest will surprise you, even in areas not particularly cosmopolitan.

9.     Use display advertising media and locations not normally USED BY THE COMPANY, such as
a. The inside and/or outside of subway, surface, elevated, urban and interurban mass-transit vehicles serving your trading area.
b.     Billboards throughout the country.
c.     Display space at transportation centers (e.g., airports, piers, railroad and bus terminals).
d.     Display or demonstration booths at public events, fairs, conventions.
e.     Space in theater, concert, sports arena, convention-hall programs.
ƒ. Advertising (lighted at night) towed behind a low-circling dirigible.
10.   Reproduce, on the anniversary of its original appear­
ance, THE COMPANY'S VERY FIRST ADVERTISEMENT. Use big white
space, perhaps with a tear-out of the original ad and very little, if any, other copy except the current anniversary emblem and standard (or new) sig cut.
11.   Run institutional advertisements saluting cities in your state which were incorporated in the same year as your company. Run these both in local papers and in the papers of the saluted city. These would not necessarily be the full newspaper page. A well laid out 4"x 10" would do the job nicely.
12.   Use local institutional advertising regularly. Comment: It is difficult if not impossible to sustain a peak mood over an entire year, but as an aid to keeping the theme and spirit of your anniversary alive in the public mind, the regular use of institutional advertising can hardly be bettered. You have, even in this "nonsale" or reminder type of advertising, an op­portunity to do quite a job of selling for your company. You may, through institutional advertising, try to change an opinion from one which presently exists about the company to one you'd prefer to have generally accepted. Or you may attempt to solidify a public opinion or conception about the company which you approve and would confirm. Or you may present a not-commonly-known fact or aspect of the company's personality or history. These are opportunities well worth exploiting. If institutional advertising is being considered even tentatively for your Anni­versary Year, it would be wise to reach early agreement on the answers to questions like
a.     Does the company favor such a program?
b.     Size, media, and frequency of appearance. Start out by visualizing these ads as being each a full newspaper page, and appearing at the rate of about one per week in your major city dailies.
c.     Schedule of content. Who will be assigned responsibility for visualizing these ads? For writing them? For clearing them? For layout treatment? For drawings, decorations, illustrations?
d.     Dates and sequence of publication.
e.     Responsibility for art, engravings, composition—production, clearance, ordering. And charged to what appropriation?

13. Collect and reprint your institutional advertisements and distribute as a year-end anniversary gift booklet.

Anniversary Book

1. Produce a high-quality commemorative anniversary book. By the term "anniversary book" we do not mean a com­pany history, although the two titles are often used interchange­ably. Naturally, there may be some company history in an anni­versary book but our usage here means a yearbook, a memorial book, a souvenir book.

Comment: Investigation of this suggestion should include a reading of the material under the "Company History" and "House Publication" headings. There are certain production areas and techniques common to all these specialized publica­tions, but the areas and techniques are not explored in full under each publication heading in this book. For example, the creation of an Advisory Board as described and recommended under "House Publication" would be as vital to the efficient production of a superior anniversary book as to the production of a company history or a special issue of the house publication. However, the material appears only under the "House Publica­tion" heading.

Other basic preparatory steps include the securing of answers to the following questions:
a. What is this book for? In other words, what do you want it to accomplish? You must decide early whether you want a memorial or a selling tool. The book can be both, but it can't be both well, and, since your decision will affect both cost and distribution, it should be as clear-cut as you can make it. Define what you want your anniversary book to do. Put it in writing.

Here's a sample of how:

"Within the framework of accepted anniversary objec­tives, our anniversary book will be contrived as a public relations and employee relations vehicle designed to in­form, to persuade, to entertain, to influence, and to build internal and external good will."
b. Who is the book for? Or: what audience are you aiming at? The answer will be intertwined with (a) above and will also in­volve content and distribution. Probably the anniversary book will go to most of, if not all of, the following:
A.    The regular employee mailing list. NOTE: Seriously consider giving added value to the anniversary book by requiring specific employee request for a copy. This device is particularly recommended when the book is an expensive one. You may use an announcement and printed coupon in the pay envelopes
or the house magazine.
B.    Officers and directors.
C.    Stockholders. Again, a request should be required if the book is an expensive one. A request coupon or post card could be included with dividend checks.
D.    Trade association executives.
E.     Schools and colleges—for employee recruiting.
F.     Public officials, community leaders, businessmen, and opinion molders.
G.    Resources, suppliers, dealers.
H. Salesmen, to give to key personnel in customer firms.
I. Representatives of special groups important to the com­pany (e.g., press, radio, television, union, city, county, state).
J. Selected patrons, clients, friends, organizations designated by management.
Distribution of an anniversary book may be made at the end of the anniversary period.

Distribution lists under "Company History" and "House Pub­lication" should also be culled. No lists are inflexible; decisions simply depend on where you must, or want to, draw the line.

c.     What will the anniversary book content be? You'll be aided in this decision by your Advisory Board or, in the absence of such, by the decisions you've made about objectives and distribution.

If you've decided on an outright memorial, go ahead and have one, and don't let anybody talk you out of it. If you want a sales tool, go ahead and make one to be proud of.

The contents of a strictly memorial book will probably lean more toward inclusion of personals, vital statistics, social events, clubs, sports, stories on the company (branches, departments, personnel, policies, growth), touches of nostalgia, and items of employee information.

The contents of a book designed to be primarily a selling tool will include a liberal amount of stories and pictures on business conditions and outlook; explanations of advertising methods, media, amounts, and results; customer services and relations; management personnel sketches and pictures; industrial prob­lems and solutions; organization plant and property.

d.     What about pictures? The more the better. We consider them so important that we are unwilling to advise production of an anniversary book if you cannot find or afford a collection of topnotch pictures. When you have a batch of graphic, imaginative illustrations to hold it together, you've got a good chance of a decent book even if your writer can't spell cat.

Long-time employees often have priceless pictures of plant or personnel groups in their albums at home. Scout around and see what you can turn up. Remember that large illustrations with captions are preferred by readers. Add a cut line, and you can tell the whole story. Newspapers and news magazines do it a hundred times a day.

If you cannot do a picture search yourself, there are indi­viduals and organizations to handle the chore for you. You can find their names and addresses in the current edition of The Literary Marketplace at your library. But get pictures!

Comment: And here is a gentle reminder of a trap editors know about but Advisory Committees generally don't. Advisory Committees—except the photographer-member and the printer-member—are apt to think that copy (the text, the written mate­rial) is the most important part of the book. That's what the writer thinks, too, but technically it ain't necessarily so. Why? Because without pictures everything comes to a full stop. Articles may be completed to the last polished adjective, all copy flaw­lessly set in type, and spaces waiting in the breath-taking layout for the illustrations. But if the illustrations aren't there, every­thing is held up, printers charge for overtime (and they aren't nearly as happy about the climbing overhead as you might think when you get their bill), and everybody is angry.

And so, to lighten the editor's production load, why not get together early in the game with the writers assigned to do special articles? Try to determine what pictures will be needed for the articles that the writers are going to write. Then get those pic­tures made and out of the way (with places held for them in the layout, of course) as soon as possible. Make sense?

e.     What about printing? Simply select the printing process that will provide for you the best reproduction of the material you plan to use. Will there be halftones, beautiful color plates, or simple line drawings? Do you plan to print on coated stock or newsprint? Will there be intricate artwork or none at all?
These are things you discuss with your printer. You aren't supposed to know the answers.

f.      Format? These few precepts:
A.    Layout must be clear and eye-catching.
B.    Art and type should be planned to offer a relaxing change of pace as the reader moves from page to page.
C.    Therefore design facing pages together.
D.    Use capitals and lower case for heads. They're easier to read and make a better appearance than all caps.
E.     Sacrifice copy for appearance always. It is not necessary to jam-pack every inch of white space with type. Let it breathe.
F.     Don't worry about size (except in relation to the budget you have). If your book is interesting, there can't be too many pages; if it's dull, drab, uninspired, it will be too thick a book however few the pages.
G.    Keep paragraphs short. Makes copy-fitting easier.
H. Read proofs separately for spelling, for English usage, for dates, locations, addresses.
I. Check personnel department for name spelling. A story loses half its wallop with a misspelled name.
g. What should it cost? This is, of course, impossible for any­one except you to answer. And here is another question you'd better get answered before you get in too deeply:

Has the policy of the company always been so thrifty that expenditure of a respectable sum for a well-produced book will bring more critical employee comment than beaming employee pride? Because face it: If the company spends $5,000 on a com­memorative anniversary book but hasn't been able to scare up a secondhand television set for the recreation room during the World Series, there's apt to be talk. On the other hand, if dis­tribution is sufficiently broad so that the per capita cost of the book averages out at perhaps $1.50 or so, it would be hard in­deed to find a less expensive or more satisfactory memento. This fact should be thoroughly underscored in the employees' house publication.
2. In selected cases (company officers, employees in the armed services, field representatives, special customers), you
MAY WISH TO HONOR THE RECIPIENT BY HAVING HIS NAME STAMPED ON THE ANNIVERSARY BOOK IN COLORED INK. Where the Color is symbolic—silver for a 25th anniversary, gold for a 50th anniver­sary—use of that color is recommended. Otherwise your domi­nant anniversary color is the logical choice.
Anniversary Hints

1. IT IS NOT NECESSARY, IN ORDER TO PRODUCE AN EXCITING AND MEMORABLE CELEBRATION, TO ASSEMBLE A COMPLETE COLLECTION of new ideas. There are not that many new ideas. There are mostly just adaptations of old ideas. It is only necessary that you take any usable suggestion which comes your way, exercise your ingenuity to add to it a touch of local color, a novel twist, a bit of extra care and thought and effort, and presto! you have a fresh effect which turns the oldest basic idea into something new and original.
 2. We have often seen in organizations with a long and EVENTFUL HISTORY A DEFINITE PREFERENCE FOR PERPETUATING THE THINGS ON WHICH THE COMPANY GREW TO THE STATURE WHICH merited a celebration. This attitude is not a bad one. A thing is not necessarily good simply because it is new. So before too many innovations are introduced into your anniversary operation, find out if there is general conviction among company executives that the time has come to abandon the forms of the past and adopt a new, or a changed, personality from this point forward in company history.

3. Read the article "Got a Birthday Coming?" by dr. otto l. bettmann, beginning on page 287 in the appendix.
Annual Report

1.     Produce an unusually readable, attractive, and thor­ough annual report. It should be a quality printing job with lots of white space, lighthearted illustrative drawings, an irrev­erent approach to statistics, pictorial explanations and diagrams instead of figures wherever possible, not a stuffy paragraph in the
book. In short, the human side of the balance sheet.

Comment: Our recommendation for this is the same as for all Anniversary Year projects: Don't undertake it at all if you aren't prepared to do it well. We recommend that, as in the case of a film, a company history, a pageant, or a radio jingle, the produc­tion of this special annual report be turned over to people who are experienced in the production of this type of piece, and who know what they are about. For reflect: When you contract to produce the sort of annual report we're talking about here, you are claiming ability to produce a piece which will hold the inter­ested attention of a good-sized slice of the general public, and, in addition, the respectful attention of professional investment ad­visors, bankers, brokers, security analysts, insurance companies, trustees of estates, pension funds, institutions, and so on. Can you do it alone?

2.     Put the substance of your annual report on a phonograph record. Make the job a dramatic production, with background noises, music, sound effects, multiple narrating voices.

Comment: The cost of jobs of either type—granting the quality you should want—can amount to practically anything. And that's not counting necessary extras like mailing envelopes, a special cover letter, and the first-class postage that the letter will require. But don't forget that it isn't all new cost. You produce an annual report every year, so keep your perspective by subtracting what it presently is costing you from the estimated cost of the anni­versary job you'd like. We know that some executives dismiss as "talking to ourselves" the production and distribution of a prize-winning annual report. To us it represents a goal definitely worth aiming for, especially in an Anniversary Year, and one more quality way to get your anniversary story told.

Incidentally, don't balk at doing such a report merely because the "75th Anniversary Report" may actually be the report for your 74th year. Or because maybe the true report for the 75th year cannot possibly be compiled and ready until early in the company's 76th year. This is a common problem easily solved by proper design and wording of the cover and title.

You may encounter some opposition from the Comptroller or Treasurer or Operations Director—whoever your financial watch­dog is—because of the possibly limited returns on the investment due to restricted distribution of your annual report. It is a legiti­mate concern, and the factor of distribution may be the key not only to obtaining approval for the project but to obtaining satis­factory results from it. If distribution can be broadened by giving the report a format with wide reader appeal, the investment will produce a good public relations job for you. If no company his­tory, employee yearbook, or public brochure is contemplated, some sort of promotional piece to tell your anniversary story to the general public is desirable. A slick annual report will suit the purpose admirably. You'll be surprised at who'll read an annual report if it's presented interestingly.

Art Exhibit

1. Borrow an art exhibit from the nearest gallery or institute (or rent one from a major gallery) and arrange a wellpublicized showing.
2. Throw open space in the company's hall(s), corridor(s), building(s), for an exhibition of paintings (or photography, or ceramics, or woodworking, or jewelry making, or whatever) by local (city, county, state) artists.
3. Sponsor an exhibit incorporating either or both of the

ABOVE AT A CENTRALLY LOCATED (AND/OR PROPERLY EQUIPPED) HALL OR SHOWROOM.
Comment: The costs for a high-caliber showing of quality paint­ings, in which the exhibitor chooses his preference in sufficient quantity to fill a large-sized exhibit hall, can run anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 or more in monthly rental, with catalog costs extra. The latter is an item difficult to estimate: How many? How big? How slick?

If your need is specialized and you are unwilling or unable to compromise (e.g., a department store wishing to tie in an exhibit of international good design—committee-selected items from for­eign countries in silverwork, jewelry, weaving, ceramics, and so on—with its own annual Import Show) the cost is probably going to be high and that fact should be faced.

However, the so-called "prorated" shows (assembled touring art) are generally very good bets for an exhibit, and you may find that your needs will be met readily and adequately by such a show. In these shows, the cost of everything (packing, insurance, catalogs, shipping, etc.) is prorated among the exhibiting galleries or sponsors, so that a very fine exhibit may be obtained for a fraction of the cost of assembling a special one. However, these shows are popular, and you'll need to speak up early for one, especially if your plans limit you in choice of show dates. So don't delay.

Atmosphere, Old-Fashioned, Early-Day

This atmosphere may be obtained or assisted by such devices as

1. The use of period dress by employees. (The rental charge made by commercial cos turners is not prohibitive, Consult the Yellow Pages in the telephone directory under "Costumes" and "Theatrical Equipment.")
2. The growing of beards, whiskers, mustaches by male employees.
3. Prominent display, and actual use where feasible, of oldfashioned equipment (e.g., bicycles, cash registers, coffee grinders, etc. Museums are full of such.).

Comment: Because it can get out of hand—by which we mean that it can become cheap and laughable and a liability to your anniversary program—unless it is managed with discrimination, taste, and restraint, you may find opinions divided on the value of this sort of activity. The business of an organization naturally will have a bearing, since obviously a brewery or a restaurant would find value in activities unbecoming or inappropriate to a cemetery or an art gallery.

A library, a bank, or a university might consider the above activities exactly the thing to underscore character, stability, and dependability. The Merchandise Manager of a modern depart­ment store—preferring to stress "the good new days" rather than "the good old days"—might question their value emphatically. The Building Superintendent or the Display Manager might go along with such ideas, not because they enthrall him but because, decorationwise, he hasn't much choice. All these things must be considered.

Attention-Getters

1. A Hollywood-type premiere of a new motion picture.
2. Parachute jump.
3. Balloon ascension.
4. Beauty contest.
5. Flagpole sitter.
6. Band concerts.
7. Searchlights.
8. Skywriting.
9. Fireworks.
10. Treasure hunt.

Comment: These activities, and all others like them, may never with safety or with justice be dismissed as mere tasteless crowd-bait. Naturally, you will exercise the wisdom and taste to select the events which will reflect most appropriately your company's personality and what the public has come to expect of your organization over the years. If, for example, yours is an organiza­tion known for strictness and ultraconservatism, you might use fewer such events than if you had long delighted in startling the community. A church might use fewer such devices than a shop­ping center, though the use of carnivals and carnival-type attrac­tions are far from unknown, and perfectly legitimate, as religious attention-getting or fund-raising devices.

The big point is this: You will be well-advised to spend some time thoughtfully reviewing with management the favored activi­ties and events. Review them in the light of the publics that will most likely be interested in, attracted to, and affected by them. Then decide whether those publics are the ones most important to the continued success and prosperity of your company. And are they, therefore, the publics you should be trying most to please? To put it another way: Just because you like an event or activity doesn't necessarily mean it is the best one for the com­pany's celebration. Nor does management approval automatically guarantee repayment of the company's investment. If a suggestion to sponsor an art exhibit at a local auditorium is enthusiastically endorsed, be sure that at the same time agreement exists that that particular "public" (the art lovers of the community), limited though it may be in comparison to some other groups, is propor­tionately more important to the company than the group which would be attracted to a harmonica band concert in the same auditorium, or a flagpole sitter outside.

Awards {See Gifts, Public)
Badges {See Identification, Employee)
Balloons
1.     Release several thousand helium-filled balloons from the roof(s) of the company building(s). Identify all of them, of course, with the company name and the anniversary emblem and slogan. In addition, stamp some of them (say, one in every eight) with a monetary value in merchandise (or gift certificate or serv­
ice coupon) when returned to the company within a specified time.

In the case of multiple-unit organizations, returns would be permitted to the nearest unit. Say 50 balloons worth $10 each; 100 worth $5 each; 150 worth $3 each; and 200 worth $2 each. Balloon orders require about 30 days notice to the vendor after the style and imprinted copy have been settled; orders for helium may re­quire twice that time.

Comment: A surprising amount of public interest can be created with this device. You will, of course, see that the event is built up properly by plenty of advance publicity and newspaper advertising. Helium-filled balloons stay in the air six or seven hours, and if there is a slight wind blowing can be depended on to travel a long way. Even in the unlikely—and highly newsworthy —event that every balloon is returned for full value in announced prizes, the investment will prove worthwhile.

2.     Attach to each balloon (up to the number of employees
the company has) a preaddressed post card, each post card CONTAINING THE NAME, OR AN ASSIGNED NUMBER, OF A COMPANY
employee. See that the employee whose name is on the post card gets a prize i£ and when his card comes back through the mails. Comment: If your Purchasing Agent can't steer you to the proper vendor for a good product, or i£ you don't have a Purchas­ing Agent, check "Advertising Specialties" in the Yellow Pages of your local telephone directory.

Banquet

1. Hold a major business-civic-memorial-testimonial ban­quet. Naturally, a company cannot in good taste hold such an event to honor itself, but reasons are never hard to locate {e.g., salute all area businesses of the same age as your company, or older; honor the management of companies with which you do business; tie in the banquet with State Products Week in your celebration schedule). Such an affair can (a) pay off many of the company's social obligations; (b) salute a number of state, city, and county dignitaries who would be present as honored guests (and you're probably going to have to salute some of them some­how anyhow, or should); and (c) remove any number of smaller luncheons or parties from necessity for consideration.

Comment: A company in business as long as yours is bound to touch the business community at many levels, and is bound to have friends at all those levels. It will be no easy task to include them all in the celebration, but it is a case of all or none. Other­wise, where are you going to draw the line?

The development of a guest list for a social event of this size presents many difficulties. We assume that you have records and guest lists from past social affairs which the company has spon­sored. These will provide a starting point for your planning.

Costs for an event like this are never the same twice, and it would be reckless indeed to state a figure here. However, a pre­liminary check list of expense items would very probably include most of the following:

Beverages (including soda and mix)
Breakage
Bartenders
Catering service
Decorations
Entertainment (include piano rental and a roving photographer to take guests' pictures)
Food
Ice bowls
Installation of public-address system
Invitations
Linen
Menus
Parking service
Place markers
Printing
Postage (on outgoing and return invitation envelopes)
Speaker's fee

Production of written material (including guest lists, invitations, programs, seating arrangements, program timetable for mas­ter of ceremonies, check lists of duties and responsibilities, timetables for participating guests and supervisory personnel, lists of furnishings)

Rental of space
Time costs for stuffing, sealing, hand-addressing envelopes; deliv­ering to post office; checking return envelopes, R.S.V.P/s, reservations, etc.

2. Choose a beautiful summer night, erect a tent in the mall (or parking lot, quadrangle, loading area, pier, or wherever), and run a buffet. It's been done frequently and makes a big hit. It's just as much work, but it has an engaging informality and, importantly, it's easier to include the wives.

Comment: Whatever you decide, decide soon, so that you have a chance at the date and place and equipment and people you want.
Barbershop Singing

Have barbershop quartette singing at specific times (e.g., 9-10 a.m., 12-1 p.m., and 4-5 p.m.) on customer floors or along tour routes each day during the first week of the celebration and during the first week of the Anniversary Month.

Comment: If you are working with a company which is at all music-minded, you may have your quartette ready-made and right at hand for you. Or if there is an orchestra or a chorus (and if management and the supervisors would go along), you may be able to adapt those facilities to your music needs with no cost except the time lost by personnel from their regular jobs.

If, however, you must employ a professional group (or several, for multiple-unit organizations), the expenses climb immediately. There are SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encour­agement of Barbershop Quartette Singing in America) groups that earn their living in this manner (and don't overlook the Sweet Adelines, the feminine counterpart of SPEBSQSA), but, as always, the good ones cost money.

Your first move, if you'd like to include this idea in your program and lack company music-makers, should be to investigate the local SPEBSQSA organization, or that in a nearby metro­politan area. You will find a civic-minded group, competent, deeply interested in this musical form for its own sake, and making only nominal charges in most cases. However, since most of the members do not do this work for a living and must fill regular hours at a job just as you do, you may have to tailor your request to the times when they are able to appear.

It will pay you to investigate, because these groups are attention-getters, and they certainly tie in with the old-time atmosphere which should to some extent flavor the celebration.

Billboards

Posters on outdoor billboards (also called poster boards or 24-sheets) offer an effective way to reach a mass audience with any message. Make use of billboards in your county. Give special attention to those situated in the vicinity of railroad and bus terminals, airports, and highways entering the city. The material you use on billboards can be identical with that on your car cards, or you may prefer to tie it in with some specific event or time period of the celebration. (For example, a billboard standing just outside a terminal and carrying a warm welcome to arriving con­vention delegates—not necessarily your own convention, either— is an excellent public relations gesture.)

Comment: Use the identifying Anniversary Year emblem, color, and slogan with the service, or offer, or invitation which consti­tutes the billboard copy. For local information, consult the Yellow Pages listing in the telephone directory under "Advertis­ing—Outdoor”. The price usually quoted to an inquirer is the monthly rental which normally includes space, art, and posting, but not paper. There is an additional charge per panel for paper. Make sure you find out what you are going to get for the charge quoted to you.

Birthday Cake
1.     AS PART OF THE COMPANY DECORATIVE SCHEME, ERECT A LARGE, tiered birthday cake (artificial, lighted with electric candles, decorated, rotating, installed by lessor1) in a prominent, street-floor spot in each of the company's buildings.

2.     Have a huge birthday cake (a real one) topped with real lighted candles, set up in a prominent spot (a window, lobby, rotunda, lounge, waiting room) against a background of emblem, slogan, and color. The cake should be big enough to be impressive, should have a slice cut out of it to prove it is real, should
be "good enough to eat." Plan to serve, or box in small imprinted containers for customer distribution, slices of this cake on Founder's Day (the birthday anniversary of the original founder of the company).

Comment: This should be undertaken only if it can be superla­tively well done, and only if the immense floor space these cakes require is readily available. In a multiple-unit organization, where three or four or five cakes might be required, costs will be a factor to be considered.

1. AS YOU APPROACH THE COMPANY FOUNDING DATE, BEGIN INTRO­DUCING THE BIRTHDAY THEME, VIA PICTURES OF BIRTHDAY CAKES AND CANDLES, INTO YOUR ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATIONS.
2. Keep the birthday-cake idea going with smaller replicas
   of the original cake cut up and served at sales meetings, trade
   shows, conventions.

1 These are as often leased or rented as purchased, but of course may be obtained either way. For local sources, see the heading "Display Designers and Builders" in the Yellow Pages of your telephone directory.

{See Kit, Suppliers'; Information Packet)
Bust of Founder {Also see Gifts, Public)

Commission a sculptor to do a bust of the founder of the company, and on the anniversary of his birth date (Founder's Day), {a) unveil it with appropriate ceremonies and establish it in a predetermined spot in a company building, or (b) present it to some city organization in whose development and growth and success the founder was deeply interested in his lifetime (£.g·, a school or an art gallery).
Comment: Either will get publicity, but let's be practical: Un­less {b) above is tied in with a substantial gift, grant, endowment, bequest or contribution of some description, it is going to be hard to sell.

Calendars

1.     Produce a souvenir anniversary calendar of the "jotdown" type (a small square of white space for brief notes at each date square), and distribute it free of charge just prior to the closing week in December of the Anniversary Year.

Comment: The company's type of business, location, popula­tion area, number of building units, and similar factors will in­fluence the number of calendars to be printed and distributed. Do some research on population, and then order one calendar for every ten people in your trading area. Distribute them on a first come, first served basis, and when the run is exhausted the distri­bution ends. If it looks like a good promotion, do it again the following December, and run one for every seven people in your population area.

1. Produce an almanac-type of calendar in connection with your anniversary. This would carry the usual type of historical dates characteristic of an almanac, but in each month there would be several dates (in ink of your anniversary color) dealing with important events in the company's history. The additional written material included in an almanac would incorporate supplementary information about the company.
2. Produce a pocket calendar (card or multileaf) as a giveaway.

Comment: The calendar is an advertising piece that should not be neglected by any organization celebrating an anniversary. It is adaptable, it is less likely than many pieces to be destroyed, and it meshes strongly but unobtrusively with the anniversary theme for repetitive impact.

Car Cards

1.     Develop message cards incorporating some combination of emblem-slogan-color, for use in public mass-transport veHICLES.

Comment: Display cards in the transportation systems are an effective way to reach mass audiences with additional impres­sions. Results are difficult to measure, but use of the cards is one more way to get your story (and the fact of your anniversary celebration) before the public. It should be considered seriously as a supplementary activity. Your local transport company or authority will direct you to a representative who will give you all the information you want. You will find that there are almost limitless combinations and variations of advertising serv­ices available in this medium. If you favor its inclusion, re­member that after you have the cards produced you're going to have to pay to have them installed in the vehicles. That some­times comes as a surprise. Find out what you're buying.

1. In some instances these cards might be sponsored, either endorsing or saluting your company. That, of course, adds another name to the copy on the card, but since yours will dominate, and since car cards are probably more supplementary than a primary activity, no harm can result.
2. Make use of some of these cards for window and build­ing DISPLAY, BULLETIN BOARDS, AND AS BACKGROUND SPOTS at exhibits, fairs, meetings, conventions, and the like.

Charity Projects
1. Around thanksgiving time, prepare a form letter for mailing to all churches and charitable organizations ïn your
CITY OR COUNTY, EXPLAINING YOUR OFFER:
Within the span of some specific inclusive dates (e.g., the day after Thanksgiving through December 20), the company promises to put into serviceable condition any shoes donated to charity. The company will accept the pairs from donors, repair them without cost, and deliver them to the charity specified. Public-service agencies may also collect shoes, leave them at the com­pany for repair, and have them returned to the collecting agen­cies for free distribution as the agencies see fit. Individuals may contribute shoes for repair, specifying the charity to receive the repaired pair. When no particular agency is selected by a donor, delivery may be made to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or any welfare bureau of the company's choice.

There would be no limit to the number of pairs accepted for repair; rather, people would be urged to clear their closets of outgrown or discarded shoes which heretofore they may have been reluctant to donate to charity because of imperfect con­dition.
Comment: The cost of this project is a brazen guess: it might go to $500 the first year. If the returns in community good will influence the company to continue the project past the one-time Anniversary Year trial, costs would probably rise some from year to year.

2. In march publicize your offer to contribute a specific percentage (say 1 per cent) of one day's sales of merchandise to the American red cross; in October make the same offer, well-publicized, of course, to the local Community Chest. Or adapt this idea to any pet company charity.
Color

It is recommended that a color, or a combination of colors, be selected for dominant use (assuming that no "com-pany color" now exists, or that the existing color will not be used) throughout the anniversary period. The selected color or colors will generally appear in close association with the chosen emblem and slogan (or theme), and—with or without the em­blem and/or slogan—in a variety of tones and combinations in decorations, backgrounds, displays.

Comment; Associated questions which require settlement in­clude those concerning responsibility for making the final deter­mination as to the color or colors; responsibility for control of the use of the color; responsibility for final decision as to color combinations to be used in specific places, events, or instances.

Company Credo

We suggest that the company develop a brief, vigorous expression of its ideals, identify it publicly as the Company Credo (or Code of Operating Ethics), set it up in eye-catching layout and striking type, and use it in a variety of ways, includ­ing imprinting paper items going into the hands of the general public.

As an example of what we mean by "Credo": Your company might proclaim a standard of performance pledging it to main­tain at all times a spirit of friendly, courteous, helpful service; to insure the complete satisfaction of every customer or patron with every transaction; to adhere under all conditions to business-operating principles which make for stability and reliability; to maintain a quality of goods and services designed to protect and insure the confidence and good will of the public.

Comment: The imprinting operation involved here is different from (though it may easily be tied in with) the imprinting of the anniversary emblem discussed elsewhere. Items which might carry such a Credo (stamp books, charge statements, suggestion blanks, sales checks, credit forms, invoices, statements of account) are not necessarily the same ones which would be imprinted with the anniversary emblem. Whether they are or not, the point to remember is this: The imprint of the anniversary emblem is usually only for the period of the celebration; the Credo may be expected to become a standard part of office forms for years.

The emblem imprint is intended to be added to paper items without changing the copy already on the pieces; the imprinting of a Credo usually will involve substitution of Credo copy for some other copy already in use. (For example, it might replace a "Thank You" message presently used on the backs of sales checks.) In such instances, there would be a small initial charge for typesetting on the first run, but no additional charge there­after on subsequent printings. In other instances, however, where the imprinting of such a Credo would involve printing on the back of a form which is now printed on one side only, or in a different location, there will be additional cost involved. The extra amount naturally will depend on whether two thou­sand or two million pieces of the item are used in a year.

Company History

1. Write, or have written, a history of your company. Decide what is wanted: a brief, quick, over-all presentation; an elaborate historical review; or a definitive production earmarked for ultimate public sale. The research, writing, and production of even a simple history is a time-eating task. Do not delay if you plan to include a company history in the anniversary program.
2. Break up a written company history into 12 chapters or sections and run a section each month in the employees' house publication during the Anniversary Year.
3. Print the finished history (unless it is a bulky, definitive volume) inexpensively as one of the regular issues of the employee publication.

Comment: We believe that a well-produced company history represents a good investment and has many things to recom­mend it. Such a volume makes an excellent, natural souvenir of the celebration; it adds to employee understanding and pride; it contributes toward bringing up-to-date and preserving accurately the company story; it offers stockholders, clients, and prospects an opportunity to become acquainted with the background, growth, and ideals of the organization; it provides a handy, permanent, authorized reference source for publicity, research, and public relations purposes.

If it's your first birthday, and you want a company history, probably you can have the job satisfactorily written by some­one in the building. Likely it won't run over four pages any­way. But if you're celebrating a Centennial Year, and you know of a publisher who might be interested in a good, substantial history of your field, be prepared to spend thousands of dollars to have the proper research and writing professionally done.

Production costs can sometimes be cut a bit by scattering the tasks involved (have the layout done here, the artwork there, the printing somewhere else), but it is our opinion that the advan­tages of having the entire operation take place under one roof whenever possible far outweigh any resulting extra costs.

Distribution should be considered thoughtfully. You will want employees to have a copy, of course, and (3) above suggests a way it might be handled. Then, in addition to the list o£ persons and organizations designated by management, copies should be provided to municipal, county, state, public, industrial, refer­ence, college, and business libraries; to museums and historical societies; to mass-information media. The distribution lists fur­nished under "Anniversary Book" and "House Publication, Em­ployee" should also be consulted.

You have a right to expect that a good history will be reviewed by the newspapers and magazines in the city where the company has its home office, and in cities where it has plants. Copies should go to them for review.

The general public? You should not treat your history cas­ually. If it is an inexpensive book, you may make it available to the public on request only. You may, for example, enclose a re­quest post card in your customers' monthly statement. If it is an expensive book you cannot, and should not, consider doing this. Make a charge, even if only enough to defray your costs.

NOTE: If you are considering a company history, start off by reading the article by Harold E. Green ("Fourteen Points to Observe in Preparing a Company History") beginning on page 293 in the Appendix. Although in our opinion some of Mr. Green's recommendations apply more accurately to an anniver­sary book—as we use the term—than to a company history, the article makes an excellent starting point for planning.

Contests (See Decorations (2); Emblem (3); Essay Contests, School; Sales Contests; Slogan (2); Suggestion Contest)
It is possible that you are attracted by the idea of contests— either some of those suggested in this section, or some of your own choice and devising—yet are discouraged by the fancied ad­ministrative involvements: arranging, judging, awarding, and SO On. If SO, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZA­TIONS WHICH WILL HANDLE ALL CONTEST DETAILS FOR YOU. Talk to your Advertising Manager, your advertising agency, or check your telephone directory Yellow Pages under "Contest Arrang­ing."
Days, Special (See Promotions, General (7), (8), (9))

A Source Book of Activities and Events 225

Decals (Ðecalcomania Transfers)

1. Develop a bright, jaunty anniversary year decal for windows, vehicles, products, and so on. The decal naturally would employ some combination of the emblem-slogan-color.
2. Every telephone in the company should bear a small anniversary year emblem (or slogan or name) as a reminder to mention the celebration in conversation whenever opportune. Your Chief Operator can furnish the number of telephones in service in all units.

Comment: Decals are inexpensive, easy to put on, easy to re­move. When you submit your order, the manufacturer will need to know the size you prefer, the number of colors you want (and remember that black and white are colors in producing a decal), the quantity you require, and whether you want them gummed on both sides (the double-duty type) or on one side only. Sizes are computed in square-inch areas. Thus a decal measuring 25 square inches could be either a rectangle five inches by five inches, or a five-inch diameter circle.

Prices will vary with the above details and are normally based on the understanding that you will furnish key-line pasteup with all necessary artwork and typeset. Decal companies have art service available from design to completed product if you want to farm out the job. Usually one month's notice is required for delivery.

Decorations (Also see Medallions, Outdoor Decorative)

1. An anniversary flag should be developed, incorporating the emblem, slogan, and color. Make it in several sizes and use it profusely during special anniversary events, both inside and outside the company buildings.
Comment: Check with your Building Superintendent and find out what plans there may be for expansion or remodeling just prior to, or during, the celebration. The answer may have an effect on the size and use of flags or pennants. Incidentally, some display managers will go along with flags but abhor pennants (standard decorative flags measure around 4/x6'; pennants 9" x 24") while others just reverse these feelings. Find out where you are before you go out on a limb. Allow six weeks to get your flags from the manufacturer after the design has been researched, drawn, accepted, and ordered.
2.     Run a contest, either public and so publicized, or re­
stricted (i.e., TO ART STUDENTS, TEACHERS, OR SIMILAR SPECIALIZED
groups) and so publicized, to design a company anniversary
FLAG.
3.     Develop a small, simple decorative unit incorporating
the anniversary emblem-slogan-color, or parts thereof, for
the interior of each elevator.
Comment: Before you go too far with this, check and see if the laws of your state will permit such installation in elevators. Some don't.
4.     Develop a display unit incorporating emblem, slogan,
COLOR, AND HUMAN FIGURES, WHICH CAN BE USED AS THE INTER­CHANGEABLE BASIS OR CORE OF A VARIETY OF DISPLAYS DURING THE ANNIVERSARY PERIOD.
Comment: This is one of those ideas that doesn't get very far without the answers to a number of questions. It's like saying: "Build me a large building. What will it cost?" Well, sure. But how big, and for what purpose, and of what materials? And so:
a.     How many figures are wanted in this unit? Movable?
b.     How big will it be? Measurements? Where is it to be used?
c.     How permanent is it to be, once located? How long must it
last? A week? A month? A year?
d.     Is it to be fixed or movable? Should it be cast in several
pieces for ease of handling?
e.     What material is it to be made of? Iron? Paper? Porcelain?
ƒ. Will it contain wiring? To light it up or make it move?
g. How much will the budget allow for this? Because it can cost every cent you care to spend.

After answering those questions you may begin planning more practically. And speaking of being practical: Don't overlook the possibility of being able to purchase or rent such a "centerpiece" (or a set of them) from some company that has just concluded an anniversary celebration.
5.     Use fabricated anniversary emblem cappers for garage
and parking-lot posts.
Comment: Make up inexpensive ones, especially for outdoor lots, because weather and vandals will exact a heavy toll. Continue replacing stolen or destroyed emblems until you have exhausted the supply you purchase, then stop.

6. Underneath any large, electric, roof-top identification signs you have, add a single line of neon or white lights spell­ING out "our ___th year." It will be seen for miles around.

7· DURING ANNIVERSARY MONTH (OR BIRTHDAY WEEK) DECORATE STREET POLES WITH EMBLEM-COLOR COMBINATIONS, ENCOMPASSING BOTH SIDES OF THE MOST TRAFFIC-IMPORTANT BLOCK AT EACH COM­PANY BUILDING.

Comment: This will require city permission. Also, your Display Manager may oppose the idea because he'd rather spend the money on quality exterior and interior decorations for the com­pany buildings. Better listen if you’ve been cutting corners there. He has a point.

Delivery Wagon

Buy or reproduce one of the company's early, horse-drawn delivery wagons (or one typical of the era) and put it in first-CLASS shape. Get and train horses to pull it (remember, few horses know how to pull a wagon today), and dress the driver appropri­ately. Have the wagon (a) make bona fide package deliveries on a different route in your community each business day, and (b) have the driver supplied with candy, made up especially for the pur­pose and bearing the company name and the anniversary emblem on the wrapper, for free distribution to the children along the route.

Comment: First see if you can find such a wagon in your area through advertisements. If this fails, check with companies that have used such a device in their own celebrations. Your efforts to uncover such a wagon will make excellent copy for your local newspapers and columnists.

When you find the wagon, there will usually be an investment required to renovate it, and to have your early-day signature and decorations painted on it. Then you will have to purchase one or two horses (which type of wagon did the company use? Single horse or team? Which type were you able to locate?) and harness equipment. It will be necessary to make arrangements to have the horses trained to pull the wagon in traffic. (This may take up to three months.) You will also need to make arrangements to board the animals and to get them in and out of the city each day. This may require rental or purchase of a horse trailer. You will need to outfit your driver properly, and pay him.

Your investment may thus run to a couple of thousand dollars, not including the driver's salary. Some o£ this outlay may be recovered at the end o£ the promotion period by selling the horses and equipment, and, of course, the wagon will actually perform delivery duties as well as publicity duties.

This activity has proved to be a phenomenal builder of good will for many companies in many cities. Its attraction can well be understood by any person who has seen a modern youngster come pounding into the house, eyes shining, with a shout of, "Mommy, Mommy, I saw a real live horse out in the street. He's out there NOW!" Children today have simply never seen a horse-drawn delivery wagon (or a horse, either, probably, except on television), and your wagon won't be out of work all summer if you choose to continue the promotion that long.
Displays (See Decorations; Exhibits)
Emblem
1.     A readily recognizable emblem (or seal, symbol, insignia, design, crest, call it what you will) for your anniversary is an effective way to obtain awareness on the part of the public and to identify all activities associated with the celebration. Adoption of such a device as the hallmark of your anniversary throughout its
span is recommended.

Comment: Early in the planning your Display Manager should have from management, or be invited to provide to management, an over-all decorative "anchor" or key in the form of definite decisions regarding the anniversary color and the composition and design of the slogan and emblem. The entire decorative scheme stands still until these points are settled.

A review of paragraph 9 on page 50, and the section "A Note on Imprinting" in Chapter 7, is recommended before any final decisions are made concerning development and use of an anni­versary emblem.

2.     Make a large mural-type blowup of the emblem for use AS A VALANCE OR BACKDROP AT MEETINGS, conventions, social functions, presentations, and in display or booth backgrounds.

1. Run an emblem-designing contest, perhaps limited to employees, and/or to art students, and/or to industrial designers. Set up an Emblem Committee headed by the Display Manager, check all potential prize winners through the United States Patent Office, and have the final selection made, and the award presented, by an industrial designer of note.

Comment: The anniversary emblem will be used in many sizes and combinations, with or without the slogan and/or color. It should be used wherever possible on materials produced in, by, or for the company during the anniversary period.

1. Have the emblem design matted. Distribution will be guided by the field in which the company is engaged. A library, for example, could reasonably expect acceptance and use of a mat of its anniversary emblem by media which would wastebasket one received from a retailer or manufacturer. Industrial editors are generally co-operative about saluting and encouraging local busi­ness organizations and noting their special celebrations. Mats may
   be offered to them through the local unit of the Industrial Editors' Association. Mats should also be made available to field staff, retailers, and all company units.
2. Naturally, if use of television is included in your plans, you will have a television slide made of your emblem. you'll furnish the artwork; the artist or studio will charge you for typesetting, pasteup and photostat.
3. Your emblem may also appear on truck panels, salespromotion LITERATURE, POINT-OF-PURCHASE DISPLAYS, and in all other ways possible to good taste and ingenuity.

Comment: It is well to consider all possible uses to which an emblem may be put. With such information, your designer will be better able to adapt styling for greatest emblem impact under all conditions of use.

Employee Identification (See Identification, Employee) Employee Publication (See House Publication, Employee) Employees' Activities and Events (Also see Open House)

1. Give each employee his birthday off with pay during anniversary year.
2. Give each employee a birthday gift approximating the christmas gift.
3. During anniversary year note each employee's birthday

BY PRESENTING A BIRTHDAY CAKE QR CORSAGE (boutonnieres for men).

1. Spotlight and honor various employee groups via stories and pictures in the employee publication and paid advertising space in local newspapers. (Examples would be members of the company's 10-Gallon Blood Donor Group; presently active members of the Quarter Century Club; third-generation employees and their families.)
2. On mother's day during anniversary year, send flowers to the mother of each employee in military service.
3. Award an orchid (or equivalent) to each employee about

WHOM THERE IS RECEIVED A WRITTEN COMMENDATION FROM A CLIENT, patron, customer. Publicize the meaning of the award to the public: "This is one of our special people."

Comment: Each company will apply appropriate safeguards to this suggestion so that it doesn't turn into an administrative booby trap or morale nightmare. Usually upon receipt of a written commendation, a routine check is made with the personnel de­partment on the over-all record of the employee receiving the commendation. The employee's supervisor retains power of veto over public recognition. The reason: Suppose there are five em­ployees in a department and the weakest one (perhaps already on warning or due for separation) gets a public commendation be­cause two personalities just happened to mesh for a moment one day. Department reaction could be very bad.

7.     Have an all-employee night at some local place or event, e.g., a circus, ball game, concert, amusement park.
Comment: This is not something you can decide to do the day before the event. In some cases, a year before will be about the right time to begin negotiations. Company reactions to this Idea differ, so before you get too far out on a limb urging it, find out what past experience may have been.

Employees, Inviting Participation of
Invite employees to submit suggestions for anniversary year activities and events. Offer no reward or inducement except the fun of sharing their thinking with management and ''getting into the act."

Comment: If employees are thus invited and do not accept the invitation, they are in no position, come anniversary time, to be critical of any program events presented.
If they do accept, they often surprise management pleasantly with the caliber of their suggestions.

We know that we are discussing practically unheard-of pro­cedure ("Not even offer prizes? You're out of your mind!"), and that the mere notion of such open invitation brings to manage­ment horrid visions of suggestions like "Send each employee and his family to Bermuda for his vacation." But it works, believe it or not.
How well it works depends, of course, on what the company hopes to achieve through such invitation.
a. Does the company hope to receive many replies?
If so, the project better be put on a prize basis, which means first ironing out the cleavage in thinking about that subject which exists in every company. One official, faced with the recommendation, will say:

"How do you propose to judge whether a suggestion is good or not? And how good or how bad? How would you like to judge the Ideas we have already reviewed and put them on a first-prize, second-prize, third-prize basis? Would you like to serve on such a committee? I wouldn't!" And immediately, from another execu­tive, comes the rebuttal: "Put this thing on a prize basis or you aren't going to get ANYTHING." To which another will add: "Inviting participation without giving prizes is worse than not asking at all."

And there you are, right in the middle. However, fortunately it is not uncharted territory. Consider:
Prizes, even in routine and standardized suggestion box opera­tion, often mean hurt feelings, resentments, and loss of future in­terest ("My suggestion was better than that one!"). Always they mean rules, committees, weighings, administration. And in this instance, somebody must pin down one out of perhaps hundreds of suggestions and say, "This one is the best of all. And this one is the second best." And so on. Fun!

The way out: Award a flat amount for every Idea submitted and accepted. Flaw: This involves a long wait on the part of the employee, because until the final anniversary program "package" is put into production, nobody can tell what may be accepted. Solution: Award the prize immediately on tentative acceptance, with no guarantee of ultimate use. In effect, of course, this means that you are going to award every Idea submitted but who needs to know this? The advantages to the company are worth consid­ering. The morale threat implicit in any judging is eliminated and distribution of a few hundred $5 or $10 awards won't break the company, which could even afford to be flexible about dupli­cations and deadlines.

b. Or does the company consider that the really important thing is extending an invitation the employees to join in the fun?

In a midwestern city, we witnessed a successful operation based on this belief. The company concerned was not dependent for program ideas on answers to its invitation. The company did feel strongly that inviting participation of the whole staff was important. Such an invitation was considered to be a morale builder, insurance against later antagonistic criticism ("Well, when the company asked for suggestions, how many did you submit?"), and one more reminder that an anniversary is coming and that a celebration is in the making.

The procedure was simplicity itself. There were two steps.
First there was an article, prominently boxed, in the employee publication. It ran something like this:
(Company) will be    years old on (date)
The entire year of 19            , now less than 12 months
away, will be our      th year as a business of promi­nence in this community.
Birthdays, whether of individuals or of businesses, are natural times for celebrating and (company) would like to mark its anniversary year in a special way. Definite final decisions about such ways must, of course, be made soon.

Within the next couple o£ weeks, each one of you will be invited to express yourself personally and freely— and anonymously, if you like—as to what you think
(company) could or should do to make an impact on this community and/or to win more friends.

Much appreciated will be any ideas or opinions you'd
care to share with us as to how best we can stamp
"SPECIAL" on the year 19__ , our    th Anniver­sary Year.

Second, there was prepared a flyer (see Figs. 32 and 33, on pages 234 and 235, for front and back), signed by the President of the company, which was hand-distributed to employees by their supervisors within two weeks after the above notice ap­peared. As you will note in reading the flyer copy, it was con­sidered wise to limit the area of acceptable suggestions. "What can we do to make a favorable impact on our community and/or make more friends for our company?" acted (a) to focus thought objectively outside and away from the personal concerns of the individual employee, and (b) thus froze out the "you oughta give each of us a month's vacation and 100 shares of stock" sort of suggestions.

Incidentally, not one of that type was received, nor were there any anonymous replies.

The results, though numerically small, delighted management.
So it boils down to this choice:

If the company is dependent on employee participation be­cause program Ideas are needed, put the project on a prize or award basis. There'll simply be a better numerical response that way.

If, however, the company doesn't care whether it receives 100 replies or none at all, if it is primarily concerned with offering a chance to share in planning without caring whether or not the chance is accepted, then just run a yarn in the employee publi­cation, follow up with a flyer, and let the results happen as they will.

The odds are you'll be pleasantly surprised.
N.B. 1: That promise—in the flyer—to acknowledge all replies is sacred. You, as Co-ordinator, may have to undertake the assign­ment and make a personal call on each employee to extend management thanks. Don't shirk or postpone. Get those acknowledge­ments completed!

N.B. 2: Make sure that somebody is detailed to clear the re­ceptacles of suggestions regularly. Or do it yourself. Otherwise you'll brood over the small returns until come Michaelmas, when
(date)

TO: ALL CO-WORKERS
Within twelve months now we'll be in the swing of our t‰ Anniversary Year, and. soon we're going to have to make up our minds about what we'll do to stamp the year "SPECIAL."
WILL YOU HELP?
What, for example, do you think we could do or should do in I9·»- to make an impact on this community and/or make more customers and friends for (company)?
A. WHAT WE HOPE YOU' LL DO

1. Jot down on the other side of this sheet a suggestion or two for an Anniversary Year activity. Don't be disappointed if you can't seem to come up with something real new and terrific. There are no "new and terrific" ideas—just renovated old ones.
2. For privacy and convenience in submitting your suggestions, y u may fold this sheet and drop it in the receptacle which will be at the. main entrance each morning and evening, and in the recreation room the rest of. each day throughout this week.

B. TO HELP YOU
We feel that each suggestion or recommendation submitted for consideration as part of the Anniversary Year celebration should be able to meet at least one of these requirements:

1. It should contain a specific benefit or potential benefit for the customer, the potential customer, or the community-at-large.
2. It should contribute toward telling the public why this company merits public favor more than does some other similar community organization.

C. WHAT WE'LL DO THEN

1. Acknowledge each suggestion.
2. Bead carefully and discuss- thoroughly each suggestion for easibility and suitability.
3. Add all accepted suggestions to the list of possible Anniversary Year activities, subject to culling when the final program is assembled.

WE'LL SURELY APPRECIATE ANY IDEAS YOU MAY CARE TO SHARE WITH US
We hope you'll participate and we look forward to hearing from you. Because the committee would like to consider and clear all submitted ideas as soon as possible, won't you please try to get yours in by (deadline date) ? Thank you.
(Signed)_____________________ , President
Fig. 32· Front of flyer requesting employee suggestions.

 (date)
TO: Anniversary Year Suggestion Committee:
ALL RIGHT THEN, WHY DON'T WE ...
(NOTE: Although we would like to acknowl- Name:
edge every suggestion, and will do so where such are signed, there is no requirement Building: that this carry your signature. If it is submitted unsigned, it will receive the Department: same care and consideration as any other.

It naturally cannot be acknowledged.)
Fig. 33. Back of flyer requesting employee suggestions.
your next use of the container will reveal a batch of uncollected replies.

Essay Contests, School

Sponsor essay contests in the schools.
Comment: Tied in with your anniversary? Probably not. At least the subject matter cannot be. You are not likely to find schools reacting favorably to being used as publicity media for your celebration. Occurring in your Anniversary Year? Definitely yes.
Essay contests are not an end in themselves. So far as school groups are concerned, such contests are useful to a company be­cause they focus the thinking and reading and talking of an age group soon to become customers, clients, patrons, members, own­ers, in their own right.

So if, after you've thought about it for a while, you decide that the effort is worth the potential future benefit, base your preparation on answers to the following questions:

a.     At whom are you going to aim the contests? You may select (a) grade-schoolers, probably from the sixth and/or seventh grades of every public, private, and parochial school in the city or county; you also have (b) the high-school levels; and (c) the college and university students. You can draw your contestants from any or all of these sources.

b.     Where do you cut off? Will you limit competition to the company's immediate area or neighborhood? Or to the community or town or city? To the county? How many schools are there all together, and how far down (or up) the line are you prepared to go with prizes for winners? If there are 200 or 300
grade schools in your county, are you big enough to handle it? If you are, fine. Otherwise, be cautious.

And then, if you're still convinced the idea is for you, here are seven steps you will take:

A.    Set up a committee. You're going to need a committee to handle this job. The person you choose as committee chairman will need patience, tact, and persuasiveness, for there is a selling job to do. Perhaps an educator locally esteemed, or some­ one connected with the local school Board or the school system, would be just the person.

B.    Then have the chairman, or a subcommittee talk with school officials. Often they are very receptive to such ideas. Occasionally they are opposed. Where you find them receptive, you have cleared the first hurdle; where you find them opposed, there is little you can do but drop the project gracefully. All such contests, to be effective, must have the active approval and support of school officials and teachers. To push into an area where there is established opposition accomplishes nothing but the creation of ill will.

C.    You will need prizes. And they will have to be attrac­tive enough to arouse interest and enthusiasm among your po­tential contestants. What will your prizes be, and how will you
divide them?

D.    You will need judges. You will need judges whose names command respect, and those names must be included in the original announcements o£ your contest. We emphasize: Much depends on the selection o£ judges. Consider local newspaper editors, librarians, clergymen, educators, attorneys.

E.     Establish the contest rules. Work them out carefully with the school officials and teachers who will be handling the actual details of the contest. The rules must be complete, clear, concise, and uncomplicated. They should set forth such things as subject matter, the opening and closing dates, maximum num­
ber of permitted words, whether material must be submitted in in ink or not, where the entry is to be sent, how many prizes there are, what the prizes are, basis of awards, date of awards, and all other necessary information.

If you plan to make background material available to con­testants on the chosen essay subject(s), be sure that it is such as will stimulate some measure of original thinking. Furnishing material so complete that with a little editing it becomes an essay is all but useless, and school officials would be perfectly justified in rejecting it.

F.     Notify public-information outlets, especially press, radio, and television. Co-operation of these media is essential, since the publicity they can give is one of the things you are seeking. See that they have a story about each contest to break along with the original announcement. Most of them will run the winning essay(s). Some will use pictures of the winner(s). Many will arrange for the appearance of winners on one of their publicservice shows.

G.    Arrange a presentation ceremony honoring the •winner(s). If the ceremony is well-staged, with perhaps a "name" speaker and music, your local radio and television stations may want to cover the program as a newsworthy event.

Exhibits

1. Produce a replica of the original company building, or the original office interior, or a scale model of the original site, community, or village as it looked at the time the company was founded.
2. Throughout company buildings, units, departments set UP DISPLAYS OF AUTHENTIC OLD FASHIONS, OLD LIGHTING EQUIPMENT, OLD MUSIC AND RECORDINGS AND INSTRUMENTS, OLD FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS, OLD CATALOGS, DIRECTORIES, PASSBOOKS AND letterheads. Use them at will or tied in with meaningful events or dates.

Comment: Although there is probably much interesting period material available to you from local sources, is there really enough to produce the atmosphere and effect you want? And if you're not sure, will the budget permit importation of any items needed to fill out a proposed display?

If you have investigated the resources of the community and are convinced that you can do the display job you want, go ahead. You know from your exploration that the material is scattered all over the area, but you also know that few owners refuse to loan their possessions for display. Neither do they ask any fee other than a perfectly reasonable request for a credit line wher­ever possible (Even if a credit line is not asked for, one should always be provided.) What you do not know, unless you've been through it before, is that the minute you decide to borrow and assemble a display from local sources, all owners of key pieces immediately leave for a three-months' vacation in Tanganyika.

So after you've decided on your needs, are sure they can be met in one way or another, have submitted your layouts, have received clearance on your request for certain display space on specific dates, allow at least three months for collecting, trans­porting, and assembling the material into the planned units.

Incidentally, make sure you know whom you're dealing with and keep your legal department aware of even your faintest mis­givings. There are people who make, if not a living, a Grade A nuisance of themselves by pressing on businessmen the unsought loan of some hideous "heirloom" for display, and then threaten­ing suit because of "damage" done to the piece while on display.

3. Hold an exhibit of old company merchandise still pos­sessed or used by customers. Select a specific inclusive period of time, say two weeks, within which the old merchandise is to be brought to a receiving desk at the company on a loan basis. Make the Building Superintendent responsible for the safety of the items until they are displayed for the exhibit and then returned to the customer. At the receiving desk—the location of which is to be widely advertised and also well-known to all personnel-each item brought in will be registered by means of a two-part claim check, one-half of which is affixed to the item loaned, and the other half given as a receipt to the person loaning the item. The number on the claim check will then be entered on a line of the register, along with the name of the article, the name, address, and telephone number of the lender, value assigned to article by lender, and finally the signature of the lender indicat­ing concurrence in the information on the line.

4. Place exhibits elsewhere than in your own building(s). For example, you do business with a local bank. It should not be too difficult to arrange for the use of some lobby space there for a reasonable period of time. Libraries frequently loan space for interesting exhibits. So do public-service companies. And if you have developed an exhibit that can be moved around that much, then you've really got a traveling exhibit. A traveling ex­hibit should go to trade shows and conventions. That's what it is for: to tell the story of your company and your company's anniversary
Comment: Best results in all exhibits seem to ensue when the display and publicity departments work together to decide what goes up, where it goes up, when it goes up, and how long it stays up.

Films

1. Produce a i6-mm prestige motion picture with a historical flavor, perhaps showing parallel growth between company and community.
2. Produce a i6-mm motion picture as a pictorial report on, and record of, the company and its operations today.

Comment: If the budget will stand production of a film, there is definitely a place for such in your employee-indoctrination and community-relations programs. Films can be used to indoc­trinate new employees, for showing to school and college stu­dents, to luncheon and civic clubs in lieu of (or in addition to) a Speakers' Bureau representative. They are better than behind-the-scenes tours and, over their average life span of five years, will be seen by more people at smaller cost per exposure. Copies may profitably be provided city and state film libraries.

Production of such a film is a job which must be farmed out unless you're running a picture studio. There is so much detail involved in preparing a film that professional outside help is necessary. Consideration of the following points may aid you in deciding whether to assign a portion of the anniversary budget to production of a business film:

a.     At this writing, a finished black-and-white sound movie costs about $1,000 per screened minute to produce. An average black-and-white sound film running 26-29 minutes costs roughly $27,500. Color, cartooning, animation, all increase this amount.

b.     Shop around a bit before selecting the studio with which you will work. Also, if possible, talk with other companies that have had films made.

c.     A month to six weeks will be required to complete a 15- minute film, including script preparation and clearance, shooting, stripping in sound, editing, and so on. Prints are generally delivered within two weeks after the film has been finished.

d.     Three out of four business films made today are done in color. Something like four in each 100 are made in both color and black and white. The percentage of films being made without sound is so small that for our discussion here the silent movie does not exist.

e.     An average budget for a business film breaks down something like this:
Production (script, sets, music, etc.)  54%
Release                                         25%
Distribution                                   21%

(Remember that the distribution costs are prorated over the average life expectancy of the film—about five years.)

ƒ. Approximately nine-tenths of the business films made today are slanted for the high-school and college-student market. This is the oncoming group of customers, consumers, employees, con­tributors, stockholders, and voters who are still forming habits of thinking and reacting that will last for a lifetime.
g. A film is a big and important budget item. If you decide to go ahead with the idea, determine its place in your celebra­tion before your promotion plans are completed.

If your investigation makes you feel that a good professional picture can be built around your company and its history, by all means go ahead. But proceed in the resigned knowledge that after you've done the best you can, after all clearances have been made and all precautions have been taken and the job is finished and in the can, there'll be some things you'll wish you had done, some things you'll wish you hadn't done, and some things you'll wish you could change.

On the other hand, remember also that such a film increases in value year by year, and ultimately becomes a priceless and irreplaceable historical study.

For long-lasting freshness keep a sharp watch for—and avoid where possible, otherwise take a most indirect approach to— things that date quickly. You can get hints from any old tele­vision movie (and, incidentally, any film made today should be produced with an eye on immediate or eventual television dis­tribution). A clothier, for example, should be chary of fashion close-ups.

Remember that the things which are an old story to you— methods and procedures and behind-the-scenes-details that you think too ordinary and dull and dry for words; places and opera­tions which have become routine and uninteresting through familiarity—are often the very things outsiders will find most interesting and impressive.

Lean over backward to avoid any appearance of back-patting or self-congratulation. It is most irritating and objectionable in a film produced for general consumption and supposedly objec­tive and impersonal. If you've done something notable that merits inclusion, treatment with a light touch is always best. If you have a story to tell, you may depend on the writer, the director, and the camera crew to bring it out. If there is no story, coy self-approval won't hide the fact.

Let your script-writer's professional skill and unbiased view­point weigh at least as heavily in production discussions as the Board of Directors' wish for immortality.

It is admittedly difficult to get a fresh documentary approach and inspired photography. That is one reason why you should discuss your dream with more than one producer. It will cost money, whoever does it, to get the job we hope you'll want, but if you get a fast-moving, interest-holding story on film, you'll get your investment back without half trying. Better order more than one print 1

Fireworks

Fireworks never seem to lose their appeal. Use them in a big way to kick off the Anniversary Year, the Anniversary Month, or to mark Founder's Day.

Comment: This must be done big or not at all. The fireworks will have to be manufactured specifically to meet your company's requirements. Begin early to assemble the bundle of permits— state, county, city, police, mayor, fire department, and so on— which will be required. We suggest also that it will be to your advantage to deal with a fireworks manufacturing company which will include in its contract the services of men to set up the pieces and remain in town to explode them. Otherwise you will probably find that the insurance required by state law for an inexperienced person to handle this assignment is all but prohibitive.

Flags (See Decorations) Gifts, Public

1. Make a public gift or award of a type which is renewable each year. (With repeated publicity value, too, don't forget.) Examples would include a college or university scholarship; an annual award granted in an essay (or other) contest for school children; a yearly prize to the local press club, garden club, public service organization, or similar group according to preference.
2. YOU MAY PREFER TO BESTOW A SINGLE ONE-TIME GIFT TO THE PUBLIC TO MARK YOUR ANNIVERSARY. It could be a gift to the public in the form of furnishings or equipment for a local in­stitution: library, hospital, museum, zoo; it could be a bequest to the city for some specific addition or improvement; it could be an endowment to some public institution to aid it in expand­ing its local public service.
3. You may establish a foundation. This is a special fund set up for a special purpose and requires a considerable outlay of money. However, when carefully contrived and executed, it can be a long-lasting source of favorable publicity.
    
   Comment: The bestowing of a public gift or award has proved to be a valuable publicity and good-will winning device for many organizations. Your gift may take any form that pleases you, and may be made subject to any rules, specifications, and limitations you care to establish. It should be permanently identified with your organization, tied in with your anniversary, and be the re­sult of much careful thought, conservative advice, and advance planning.
   Good News Folder

Inaugurate a "good news folder" program.

Comment: Here's how you do it:
With an artist's help, develop a greeting-card type of folder of average size which bespeaks quality and dignity. On the outside front cover, the artist might draw a picture of a newsboy hawk­ing a paper full of scareheads, or simply a front page bristling with headlines about war and crime and juvenile delinquency and so forth. A long, thin arrow at the bottom points right, in­dicating that the card should be opened, and at the same time serves to underscore the words "The world is so full of distressing news these days . . ." On the top, inside, the continuation words read: ". . . that it is doubly refreshing to see an item like this . . ." Now:

Any time a newspaper carries a story about someone in your community who has distinguished himself favorably, you clip out the story, paste it in place on the card, under the words "an item like this . . ." and mail it to him. Or her. Or them.

Any happy or worthwhile achievement rates a folder. A new job, a promotion, a bequest to charity, a boy elevated to Eagle Scout, a girl who bakes a prize-winning pie—all get Good News Folders. If you do not wish to be all-inclusive, you may set up your own categories of "favorite people" (e.g., teen-agers, brides, newcomers to town) and limit mailings to that group.

Important points which may not be skipped: This folder car­ries NO advertising whatsoever. Its existence is advertising enough. There is simply the company name in dignified, discreet type, above which the President of the company signs his name. And signs it personally. Every time. No rubber stamp may ever be used. The white quality envelope is addressed by hand, carries no return address, bears a first-class stamp, is never meter-stamped.

The folders will be displayed, never fear. There is a powerful psychological aspect:

Recipients of this attractive folder leave it casually on their office desks or on their home coffee tables and focus attention of visitors on their achievement, not by asking bluntly, "Did you see my name in the paper?", but by saying offhandedly, "Isn't this is a nice thing (name of company) is doing?"

This is a public relations operation pure and simple. It will make your company thousands of friends. We know that such a mailing piece has led to a flood of favorable word-of-mouth publicity and, in some cases, a surprising amount of public- and trade-press coverage.

The cost of the program will be chiefly in time. Someone must scan the local papers regularly, clip the proper items, paste the clippings in the folders, insert, seal, stamp, and hand-address. Add to this the time required for the President to sign the cards. (This can be done in batches, of course.)

If you undertake this program, you should plan to continue it—win, lose, or draw—at least for the span of the anniversary celebration. We believe that you will soon receive tangible proof, in the form of letters of appreciation from recipients, of a good­will program that is working.
History {See Company History)
House Publication, Employee
1. Produce an expanded, slick, streamlined issue of the em­ployee PUBLICATION, WITH AN INTERNAL-EXTERNAL SLANT, for the first issue of the Anniversary Year. This would be underscored to employees as the display edition of the anniversary period, so that later return to standard format, slant, and content is ex­pected and accepted. There should be two objectives for this display edition: (a) to build the pride of employees in their com­pany through distribution to the public of this striking edition of their house publication, and (b) to serve as a vehicle whereby the general public receives a colorful, leisurely, informal, and controlled, behind-the-scenes view of the organization.

Comment: A house publication should play an important role in a company anniversary observance. For as much of the period as practical, and emphatically for any of the special issues, it should adopt an internal-external atmosphere so far as such is not routine procedure. Everybody benefits.

1. Produce a supplementary, between-usual-issues edition of the publication with a heavy external slant, designed primarily for public distribution as a good-will builder.
2. Devote one entire issue sometime during the anniversary year solely to a reprint or a condensation of the company history written for the occasion.
3. Distribute the first anniversary year issue of the house publication—whether or not it is the "display" issue—to the staff between Christmas and New Year's preceding the opening of the year, thus giving employees a news break. Plan to inform staff at least a day or two before any public announcement of anni­versary plans breaks in the local newspapers.

Comment: Because there is today such an amount and variety of advice and assistance readily available to the editor of a house publication, there seems little likelihood that we will contribute anything of startling originality here. However, because there is possibly no single medium which can do more to fabricate and maintain the esteem in which a company is held than a quality house publication, and because we have not frequently seen such publications used to their full capacity for creating community good will, we offer the following thoughts about any "glamor" issue proposed for your anniversary:

a.     First, we twang the old string once more: If you do not propose to do this job well, don't start it. Stick instead to your usual format. We have no intention of defining "well" for you because long before your plans are completed you'll know whether they'll finally add up to a good job or an almost-good one. And an almost-good one won't do.

b.     Your cover design should be recognizably tied in with other Anniversary Year promotions, and should be regarded as one more way to establish the fact that the company is celebrating its the Anniversary.

c.         The use of color, both on the cover and inside, will increase attention value sufficiently to justify the additional cost. The company's anniversary color(s) should, of course, always be featured.

d.     Decide on your content and the slant of that content. Most house publications are primarily either employee or management spokesmen. We assume that we are now talking about an employee publication. However, it is a special issue of an employee publication, beamed at a wider-than-usual audience, and management probably is footing a hefty bill for it. It represents a golden opportunity for both employees and management to tell a story. It is a chance but rarely bestowed. Use it well.

e.     If we agree that the main purpose of any piece of printed material is to get itself read, let's face the fact that if a publication isn't reasonably interesting, a pretty cover and reader loyalty won't get it very far. And personally, we wouldn't want our publication read as a dreary duty anyway. Do you? So remember:
"Entertain 'em big whilst you edicate 'em gentle."

ƒ. Since not even the finest writing and most interesting ma­terial will compensate for drab, monotonous appearance, keep an eagle eye on format. And if you don't know what you need for best results, you're not necessarily supposed to. That's your printer's job. How long since you've asked him something instead of told him everything?

g. Your major objectives for this special issue have been pro­vided. They were supplied automatically by the anniversary goals this publication appeared capable of attaining by the end of the celebration. Also see (d) and (e) above.

h. Because experience shows that much time and help are lost to the editor of an employee publication, and much needless irri­tation experienced by management, due to nothing in the world but the lack of mutual understanding and agreement on a few fundamental methods and objectives, we urge you to establish an Advisory Board for this project immediately. Members of the Advisory Board should include

1. the editor of the publication;
2. the Director of Personnel;
3. the Director of Public Relations;
4. a representative of management;
5. a representative of the company union;
6. the photographer who will provide the pictures;
7. the printer who will produce the issue.

With a line-up like that you cannot go wrong. The Advisory Board should be responsible for, among other things, providing and keeping open a two-way street between management and the publication's production staff; planning, recommending, provid­ing, clearing, and expediting copy and pictures for publication; the establishment of a written editorial policy for this issue of the publication, the policy to be agreed on by the board and cleared as acceptable by management; immediate expression of prefer­ences in matters of content, including features, editorials, articles, departments, special writers and their subjects and deadlines, photographic coverage and clearances.

ï. Typography is Greek to most industrial editors. However, to be of any value at all, a publication must be read. Typography can help get it read or stop it from being read. So if you have any lurking doubts about the attractiveness and legibility of the type faces you presently are using, seriously consider hiring a compe­tent typographer to develop a basic design for this important issue. Then continue the design in the future. This will help mightily toward getting your publication read with pleasure by many who are now perhaps merely enduring it, and will contribute enor­mously toward giving management a fair return on its investment.

ƒ. The distribution of this publication should include not only the usual employee mailing list (active, retired, in service), but also all accounts, patrons, friends, resources, dealers, stockholders, board members, community leaders, opinion molders, trade as­sociation executives, and all individuals and organizations not in­cluded above but designated by management. Also examine the suggested mailing lists under "Anniversary Book" and "Company History" for additional suggestions.

L· A few additional copies of your publication, placed with selective care and intelligence in the hands of people whose opin­ions you value, is one of the most inexpensive and effective ways in existence of telling the story of what you are doing as a member of the community.

I. Distribution should be made by mail, and flat; not rolled, folded, or as a self-mailer. Copies of the publication always should be addressed to an individual, never vaguely or collectively to a company.

Identification, Employee

1. Prepare for each regular employee an anniversary pin or badge incorporating the emblem, slogan, and color.
2. Prepare for each regular employee a badge or service ribbon carrying the years of service of the wearer. Suggested text on badge: "You are being served by (name) , who has been with us for          years." Or some variation of that wording.
3. Combine (1) and (2) above.

Comment: See that the existence and meaning of these badges is well and frequently publicized throughout the anniversary period. "The men and women wearing a badge like this (illustrate it) are among our favorite people. They will go out of their way to help you." And then get the all-out backing of the personnel de­partment to make that statement a true one, instead of a silly or an irritating or a ludicrous one.
4.     If uniforms are used (i.e., waitresses, drivers, elevator
operators, guards) consider (a) restyling; (b) addition of an­
niversary EMBLEM TO JACKET, COAT, CAP, HANDKERCHIEF, SCARF, TIE, BELT.

Imprinting

The anniversary emblem, alone or in combination with color and slogan as most effective design dictates, should be imprinted on a supply of all paper items and printed forms carrying the company name and regularly going to the public. For a discussion of imprinting and an anniversary celebration, with a recommended list of items for imprinting, please see page 117.

Comment: The time element is important in this matter be­cause imprinting orders for some regularly used items must be submitted up to ten months in advance of delivery date. The usual practice is to order a nine-months' supply (instead of a full-year's supply) of anniversary imprint items (a) to avoid overstock, and (b) to allow Christmas season wrappings and decorations to infiltrate quietly and guide the spirit of celebration into its final phase.

Information Packet

Produce a general information packet covering plans for the celebration, for release to all information media. Make distribu­tion a month before opening date of the celebration.

Comment: The packet should contain a roundup story on plans for the observance of the anniversary. It need not be so circum­stantial as to dull the impact of planned events, nor need it reveal any plans the company prefers to hold for surprise value. Habit­ually use the full company name rather than any nickname, no matter how widely accepted you believe such to be.

In addition to the roundup story, the kit may contain any or all of the following:
a.     Background material on the company. Make it adequate but
don't write a history. A good way to present this material is to
make a chronological list of important company dates and events.
b.     A selection of advance news stories with release dates.
c.     A Calendar of Events.
d.     An anniversary folder, perhaps as small as four pages, de­
signed to present a quick review of the company and its products.
e.     Brief biographical sketches of top management.
ƒ. A set of 8" x 10" glossy pictures (with full explanatory cut lines) of old and new company buildings, grounds, interiors and exteriors.
g. Newspaper mats.
h. Specification sheets on products.
i. Compact data on employees, income, payroll, past and pres­ent officers.

Jingle, Radio

Production of a radio jingle should receive careful con­sideration if a company plans to initiate or expand radio cov­erage during the anniversary period.

Comment: Production of a jingle will take several months of work by qualified professionals and is considered costly by some organizations. Others believe that the expenditure of $1,000 or $2,000 for an ear-catching jingle is a justifiable investment. No two jingles ever cost the same amount of money because there are too many variables in construction and production. There is no way to estimate what your jingle will cost until you define the job, decide what you want to do, whom you want to do it, and how well you want it done. However, as a rough guide, it is safe to expect that a typical well-produced jingle will include expenditures for
a.     Singers (rehearsals and performance).
b.     Musicians (with double pay to playing contractor).
c.     Composer and arranger.
d.     Studio rental.
e.     Trust fund payment of American Federation of Musicians,
ƒ. AFTRA pension and welfare fund payment.
g. Musical productions fee (including state and federal payroll tax).
h. Three or four reels of tape. i. Four or five copies of platter, ƒ. Agency commission.

Note: If television is in your plans, be sure to have your jingle made applicable to both media—sound track for radio, film-plus-sound for television. And if your producer talks in terms of color, listen carefully. He can save you money if you'll let him set up your jingle for sound, color, and black-and-white all at one time.
Kit, Suppliers'

Produce a comprehensive presentation in kit or brochure form, covering plans for the anniversary celebration and de­signed for personal distribution to vendors, suppliers, dealers.

Comment: A thing like this is too important and too expensive to undertake without clear knowledge of where you are going and what you want when you get there. For example, what is the purpose of such a kit? How big will it be? How many copies will you need? How many colors will you use? What printing process or combination of processes?

When a little preliminary investigation can save a lot of time and worry, why guess about anything that can be such a help or such a flop as a presentation of this type? It is our suggestion that you send a memorandum of inquiry to all personnel who will be expected to use an item like this, and whose work can be helped or hindered by it. The wording of the memorandum might approach this:

"One of the projects being considered favorably for our anniversary is the development and production of some sort of presentation for our vendors, resources, suppliers, and dealers. Right there, however, all agreement ceases. What kind of presentation? Brochure? Kit? Simple? Elaborate? Severe? In arriving at any decision, much naturally depends on what we're trying to do. Would we be trying to impress? To report history? To empha­size the present? To outline the future? What would we be trying to accomplish with this particular audi­ence? Is our brochure to be bait or a conversation piece or what?

"And after that comes the question: What should such a packet or presentation contain to do the specific job you'd like to see done? A general announcement of our plans for the Anniversary Year, of course. But what else? Pictures? What pictures? A small memento (pencil, ruler, ash tray, paperweight)? What?

"So, will you help again, please? As you've done be­fore? How do you visualize a presentation aimed at the resources you deal with most frequently and satisfac­torily? What presentations have you seen that impressed you?

"Cut