We look back on a very interesting, inspiring iBBA day. The program of the iBBA day on science communication consisted of 3 parts, of which 2 were about communicating your research to the broader public, and the third about communicating with stakeholders and target groups, including them into your research. The program was nicely varied, with speakers from within and outside iBBA.
Gijsbert Siertsema, VU director of marketing and communication opened the meeting, followed by the keynote speaker Frank Kupper from the Athena Institute & Network Institute.
There was a variety of modes of presentation, with Erik Scherder presenting online about the benefits and pitfalls of media presence, Lennart de Groot presenting videos of the Hoe? Zo! Show, a science theatre show for kids, and Mark van Vugt being interviewed by Josh Tybur.
Active participation of target groups in the research was presented by Yara Toenders, working with adolescent representatives to help recruiting and shaping the research (YoungXperts); Marit Sijbrandij, Elaborating on research into mental health issues in (and with) refugees; and lastly Rob Wüst, shared his experiences of patient participation via Social Media, participants who are your best Spokesmen, even to the extent that they advocated him getting a Grant.
In the final session, our faculty press officer Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Doede van der Hoeven explained how they can help you with stepping out into the media, things to be aware of, or to avoid. Kilian Wawoe showed us how to sell our research, like selling soap, advocating a shift from the focus on Content level, a bit towards Product level, but mostly to the Needs level.
In general, that reflected the day very well: what do you want to tell, who is your audience, why do they need your results, and how do you target them? Heleen Slagter added her experiences with Twitter and other platforms as well, emphasising the audience, but also the connection with other research and researchers.
The presentations gave rise to a lively discussion within the discussion panel, where clear pros and cons to reaching out to the public were defended. However, the most interesting was the very engaging discussion with the audience. Josh Tybur had the difficult task to end that interesting exchange of opinions, but wrapped the whole day up nicely.
The discussions continued afterwards with drinks.