26 October 2003: Public Relations Programs for 500 years

The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives

The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast on Hillside 88.0 FM
Broadcast 300 for Sunday 26 October 2003

This script is entitled: Public Relations Programs for 500 years

Sir Thomas Brown (1605-1682) wrote, "Time, which antiquates antiquities, and hath an art to make dust of all things hath yet spared these minor monuments."

The British Museum holds in trust for the nation and the world a collection of art and antiquities for ancient and living cultures. Housed in one of Britain's architectural landmarks, the collection is one of the finest in existence spanning more than 2 million years of human history. Access to the collections is free.

What we have in common with the British Museum is the preservation of important artifacts and good public relations management.

Today we celebrate the milestone of Buddhist Hour broadcast number 300. The Buddhist Hour broadcast is just one of our treasures.

Our Founder John D. Hughes was the Executive Producer for the first 240 broadcasts. This is 4 cycles of 60 broadcasts. We thank John D. Hughes for establishing the Buddhist Hour Broadcast.

The radio script number 240 for Sunday 1 September 2002 was entitled "Reading Chan Landscape Pieces".

Our Teacher founded the Chan Academy at Upwey, Victoria, on 6 February 1986.

Our Teacher, has mastered the classical Chan landscape genre.

We have hundreds of paintings by internationally recognised Chan Masters preserved at our Temple.

This broadcast marks the 300th radio program and our fifth cycle of 60 broadcasts.

We thank our new Executive Producer Ms Pennie White and our dedicated Buddhist Hour Team for broadcasting the fifth cycle of 60 broadcasts.

On this auspicious occasion of the 300th broadcast we would like to present to you the way we practice public relations in our organisation. This in one way we ensure that our Buddha Dhamma Temple will last for at least 500 years.

On of these ways is this Buddhist Hour broadcast. We have received numerous requests for this to be available globally over the Internet. We are planning for this from of delivery to occur in the next two years.

One of our members, Evelin Halls has conducted a public relations programs analysis for our Centre, the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.. Evelin Halls completed this project as part of her major in Communication and Media Studies at Monash University, Clayton Campus, Victoria, Australia, at the Faculty of Arts, School of Political & Social Inquiry.

The Macquarie Dictionary defines public relations (PR) as "the practice of promoting goodwill among the public for a company, government body, individual or the like; the practice of working to present a favorable image" (cited in Tymson & Lazar: 2002, p. 3).

This report included examples of how our organisation has built goodwill and how we promote our image to our publics. There exist many definitions of what public relations is, but in its essence Public Relations means to communicate chosen messages to a target group to promote and maintain a good image.

The analysis in this report shows how we clearly meet our objectives as stated in our brochure: “To introduce a philosophy of life based on Buddha Dhamma” and “To encourage the study, practice and realisation of Buddha Dhamma”.

The criteria chosen for this public relations assessment are a four-stage formula that consist of research, action, communication and evaluation (Marston cited in Tymson & Lazar: 2002, p. 110), also referred to as RACE. It will be demonstrated that the Centre performs well when compared to the RACE formula.

We are a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) and an Associated Institution of the World Buddhist University (WBU). Our Centre operates on a local, national and global level. Public relations have a multi-disciplined and multi-media nature. The range of PR communication activities practiced at the organisation is impressive. It can be said that the organisation operates in an extensive range of areas displaying a profound understanding of the multi-media nature of PR, as will be demonstrated.

The knowledge base of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. is information rich. The examples selected for this project are a newspaper article, our Centre's brochure and a statement of purposes from our in-house publication.

When asked what publics our organisation attempts to reach, the interviewee, our president Mr Julian Bamford, explained that there are three tiers. The first tier is the Buddhist community on a local and global level. As a member and Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, the Centre is connected to approximately 80,000 people. These target groups are Members of the Sangha (Venerable Monks and Nuns), practicing Buddhists and lay persons.

Being an Associated Institution of the World Buddhist University is the second tier. These publics are Buddhist persons particularly interested in teaching, training, research, publications and academics.

The third tier is the local and global multicultural publics that include non-Buddhist persons. For example, our Centre is a member of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria. Activities like the weekly Camberwell market stall reach mostly non-Buddhist persons.

Our organisation has links to many Temples in Australia and Overseas, for example to Chinese, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Thai and Mongolian Temples. These are some examples that show how broad the publics of the Centre are. The founder has taught over one million persons in 14 countries. The next target is to reach two million persons. It will be possible by using new information technologies like the Internet. This report will give examples of how the publics are reached.

The fact that the organisation is said to be a peak Buddhist organisation can be confirmed by looking at its Public Relations programs, as this analysis will show. When RACE is used as criteria, that is research, action, communication and evaluation, it can be said that the initial research to set up the Public Relations program was masterfully done by the founder and scholar Mr John D. Hughes who has had great vision and the aim to have the organisation running for at least 500 years.

John Hughes has been networking on numerous levels for over 50 years with over one million persons. It is an impossible task to cover all Public Relations that has been done but it is hoped that the few examples that can be given here will suffice to give at least a hint of the extent and high standard of the Public Relations programs applied.

From the viewpoint of what avenues we use to communicate and what our coverage is, it is wide-ranging: the Centre produces its own brochures, various publications, radio broadcasts, websites, events, reports, videos, holds regular market and flower stalls to raise funds, has exhibitions, auctions, offers Buddha Dhamma Teaching classes and Sumi-e painting classes, and it has Australia's largest specialist Buddhist library, the John D. Hughes Collection, that is accessible via the Australian Libraries Gateway website at www.nla.gov.au/libraries.

The list of our coverage would be too big to be completed at this location. All these activities build a part of our Public Relations programs and are actively carried out by members of our organisation. In terms of evaluation, we produce reports, maintain a database and count and evaluate our emails, for example. Documentation of activities is carefully done and is accessible on our Centre's well-designed computer systems, filing cabinets and the library.

In the interview conducted as part of the Public Relations assessment, our president stated that the organisation has been operating for 25 years. The founder has systematically and continually networked the Temple with the community and has over time taught members the skill of Public Relations.

The following newspaper article is one example chosen to show how proficiently Public Relations is applied; it meets all aspects of RACE - research, action, communication and evaluation. As a standard, we have networked the local community via the local newspapers on the occasions of special events. One such special event was when on 25 June 2002, Dr Ananda Guruge, United Nations Ambassador, Dean of the Faculty of Buddhist studies at Hsi Lai University, USA, Vice-president of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and former diplomat, visited our Centre.

Local media were contacted and invited, a press kit that included a press release, brochures and other relevant information was prepared and distributed. Photo opportunities were provided. The article published in the local newspaper is a reflection of top PR, because it is written in a way that a positive image is promoted.

For example, Dr Guruge is quoted in the article in the Ranges Trader Mail titled "Buddhist leaders meet in Upwey" as having said: "John has done a great service to Australia, Victoria and to this Upwey community... This centre gives this community a reason to be proud of. It represents the entire Oceania as far as Buddhism is concerned (Cameron 2002: p. 9)". This statement is also a reflection of promoting goodwill.

Many colored photographs of the event were uploaded onto the Centre's flagship journal, the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review Online, (BDDR Online), Volume 12 No. 2. (http://www.bdcu.org.au/BDDR/bddr12no2/meeting.html).

Furthermore, a recollection of the event was broadcast on the Buddhist Hour at Hillside Radio 88 FM on 23 June 2002. All radio scripts are also uploaded and archived on the Internet on our website www.bdcublessings.net.au. Tapes and digital disks of each broadcast are stored in the Centre's library to preserve our history of events.

We send copies of audiotapes to two Vietnamese Temples in Melbourne, who play the broadcasts for their younger students who find it easier to learn Buddha Dhamma in English than in the Vietnamese language.

We store all documents produced on the Centre's computer two LAN systems to be preserved for research, study and evaluation and are great references for future PR projects. The example of Dr Guruge's visit illustrates how skillfully the manifold Public Relations chain of workings is managed.

It also shows how the organisation applies Public Relations on a local and global level to build goodwill and a positive image. Furthermore, the example of how we practice public relations demonstrates how the key objectives of the Centre are met, because a wide audience is reached to introduce a life based on Buddha Dhamma, and the study, practice and realisation of Buddha Dhamma is encouraged.

John D. Hughes once said to his students "We produce milestones, not tombstones". Milestones are good Public Relations. Today is our 300th Buddhist Hour broadcast, an example of an important milestone that contributed to our Public Relations image.

Strong intention is generated by members to continue to come up with new Public Relations programs, such as to hold a weekly flower stall to raise funds, which is currently being researched and planned. Research, action and communication are well applied. Evaluation is also addressed, as the next paragraph will show.

Our Centre has external email as well as an intranet with an internal email program. One way how Pubic Relations is evaluated is the amount of emails that come in and go out. We present these results at our monthly general meetings in the correspondence report.

We receive a substantial feedback from persons and organisations from around the world that come via email. Recently, we requested other Buddhist persons to write accolades for the occasion of Founder's Day and John D. Hughes 73rd birth anniversary on 9 September 2003. Many persons responded. We published the accolades.

Our websites have counters and we can track what countries the visitors come from, how much time they spent on the web pages and what language they use, for example.

This shows that the organisation evaluates its audience. Another strength of the organisation is that everything is written down and stored in a way that the data can be found again. Future persons that will benefit from the information stored, and the aim to run the organisation for at least 500 years are always kept in mind.

To answer the question how the organisation's communications are managed, our president said that there exist written down policies, visions and conceptual documents. A number of regular publications are produced.

For example, reports on projects start off as documents, and then they are copied and pasted into the Brooking Street Bugle (BSB), our internal publication. Selected internal and external emails are also copied into the Bugle. We edit the contents carefully to ensure good PR. The Bugle goes online, uploaded by members of our Centre.

Currently every step of the building of the new kitchen is documented and uploaded on the Brooking Street Bugle website. Often the online version of the Brooking Street Bugle features great photographs, which can only enhance the public relations. This publication meets all criteria selected for this Public Relations assessment as well as the Centre's objectives, e.g. the stated purposes of the Brooking Street Bugle are strong, clear and well written, as the following communication analysis will confirm.

Communication is the fundamental basis of all public relations. Tymson & Lazar give a list of eleven Principles of Communication in The New Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual (Tymson & Lazar 2002: p. 18).

Next it will be shown why the Centre communicates well by applying these principles as communication criteria. The short text selected for analysis comes from the Brooking Street Bugle and is titled "The Purposes of this Publication" (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.).

1. Credibility.
The purposes stated are met. For example, it is articulated as one of the purposes that scheduled Buddhist educational events are declared, celebrated and recorded. What is said is done, thus the text is credible and instills confidence in the audience.

2. Context
The publisher, the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., encourages participation and allows for feedback, e.g. giving the Centre’s email address as well as the postal address and telephone number encourages feedback. Thus persons are invited to contact the Centre. Also, an appeal for funds is enclosed, which is another form of participation.

3. Content
The content has meaning to the receiver. Messages are precise and to the point. For example, when reading the purposes of this publication, there arises no confusion what this is about. The content is relevant to an audience who might seek information in the area of Buddha Dhamma practices and also to non-Buddhist persons who are interested in learning how to run a not-for-profit organisation.

4. Clarity
This piece of text is written clear and precise yet it contains all the information needed, for example, it is stated that the publication is written in a style recognisable for English as a second language speakers. This is a clear sentence in itself because it is put in simple terms. To write for second language speakers is suitable for a global audience. This way it is more likely that the sender means the same as the receiver.

5. Continuity
There is enough repetition in this publication to help the message being penetrated. The purposes stated are met and thus emphasised throughout the newsletter.

6. Consistency
The message is consistent; there are no contradictions to be found.

7. Channels
The Internet is an appropriate channel that receivers use and respect. The web is a suitable environment to publish the Brooking Street Bugle to make it available globally. It also means that any Regional Centre in the world can access this information as well as anyone else with access to the Internet who is interested in the information. Many persons can benefit from the publication. Moreover, the printed version is sent to the State library for research and preservation purposes, and copies are stored in the specialist Buddhist library, the John D. Hughes Collection.

8. Capability
The authors are aware of the receiver's capabilities. The text is effective and effortless to read because there is no clutter or irrelevant information. And again, non-native speakers are considered. For example, there are no acronyms used because a receiver from another country may not be familiar with them. Everything is spelled out.

9. Complete
The text is complete because all important details are explained in the text.

10. Concrete
There were no abstract words found in the text. The words are concrete.

11. Courtesy
There is nothing in the text that would be likely to trigger a negative reaction in the reader. Friendly words that have no negative connotations are used.

In summary it can be said that this text as well as all other publications of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. meet the five styles of "Cultivation of Friendliness, Practicality, Professionalism, Cultural Adaptability and Scholarship".

True communication works two-way, and the above short analysis shows that the organisation practises true communication. The interviewee also mentioned that many texts have readability statistics at the end, for example the radio scripts, as a way of checking the levels of written products.

Our president mentioned during the interview that all members are responsible for Public Relations. When there is a project carried out, there is a project leader. The leader usually speaks publicly at events, but still everything else that is being said about the organisation by any member has to do with Public Relations and is thus important. Good Public Relations is good action.

The way we dress is part of our good Public Relations standards.

At present it is the senior members who know the organisation's Public Relations programs. It is recommended by our consultant that they provide training to new members so that the Centre may be able to continue to operate with high Public Relations standards. This would help the organisation to last for 500 years or more.

The best way of training is for persons to attend all sorts of different events together with an experienced member, that is internal and external events. The best learning tool is to read all the valuable information available.

Public Relations is relevant in all areas, so the more knowledge a member has, the better their Public Relations skills will become. Our students are thus encouraged to read widely. That is, all publications from the Centre including the websites, as well as Buddhist texts in the library, the John D. Hughes Collection.

Another recommendation is to keep up the research to find new projects. Fundraising is important for any not-for-profit organisation and also provides a great opportunity for PR practice. "Successful fundraising is largely dependent on a good supportive public relations program" (Tymson & Lazar, 2002: p. 424).

The Public Relations model recommended in The New Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual is: set objectives, plan and budget, implement and evaluate (Tymson & Lazar, 2003: p. 29). This basic model can be expanded in practice.

It would be beneficial to use this model very consciously when writing plans, as there is always room for improvement. PR cannot be overestimated, as it is significant. It is also helpful to do frequent SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and to write these results down for evaluation. SWOT analysis can be done easily and quickly.

It was a challenge to condense this report into just a few words – 80,000 words could have been easily written as the organisation's public relations programs are so extensive. Even the Centre's beautiful surroundings and Chan garden are great Public Relations.

Our Chan Garden is a suitable place for person to learn Buddha Dhamma. By viewing the Chan Garden over the four season students can overtime come to understand impermanence (in Pali, anicca).

The analysis showed that the Centre's Public Relations is of exceptionally high standard. For this reason, the report primarily demonstrated why these public relations programs are good. It was shown that the organisation meets the criteria of the four-stage formula RACE – research, action, communication and evaluation.

It is hoped that the analysis and examples given convey a picture of our Public Relations program workings. It was shown how we apply Pubic Relations on local and global levels. A special emphasis on communication analysis was presented, which showed that the communication practices are excellent. The importance of public relations was stressed and some recommendations were made. These included training, to mindfully use and expand the basic PR model, which is to set objectives, plan and budget, implement and evaluate, and to do SWOT analysis.

May the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. continue to build goodwill.

May the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. continue to be successful.

May the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. last for at least 500 years to help many beings.

This report is dedicated to our Teacher John D. Hughes and his wife Anita, and to all past, present and future Buddha Dhamma students.

Today's script was written by Julian Bamford, Evelin Halls and Pennie White.

References

Buddha Dhyana Dana Review Online, Volume 12 No, 2, "International Buddhist leaders meet in Upwey 20 June 2002",
http://www.bdcu.org.au/BDDR/bddr12no2/meeting.html, accessed 15 October 2003

Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., The Brooking Street Bugle, http://www.bsbonline.com.au, accessed 9 October 2003, page 3 printed versions

Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., 2003, Chan Academy Australia brochure

Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast, "International Buddhist Leaders meet in Upwey",
http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio230.html, 23 June 2002, accessed 15 October 2003

Cameron, E, "Buddhist leaders meet in Upwey", Ranges Trader Mail, 25 June 2002, p. 9

Tymson, C and Lazar (2002), The New Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual, Tymson Communications, Chatswood NSW, pp. 3, 18, 29, 110, 424

Bibliography

Australian Libraries Gateway, http://www.nla.gov.au/libraries

Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., "2003 Outline of Program for Teachings, Seminars and Classes", http://www.bdcu.org.au/program03.html

Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., "Memorandum of Association of The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.", http://www.bdcu.org.au/company/memorandum.html

Holtz, H (1993), How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant, Third Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York

Macnamara, Jim R., Public Relations Institute of Australia, “The Ad Value of PR?”, http://www.pria.com.au/documents/AdValue.doc

Public Relations Institute of Australia, http://www.pria.com.au

Tymson, C and Sherman, B (1996), The New Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual, Millennium Books, Alexandria NSW

Online Publications of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.:

Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., http://www.bdcu.org.au
Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, http://www.bddronline.net.au
Brooking Street Bugle, http://www.bsbonline.com.au
Longhair Australian News, http://www.bsbonline.com.au/longhair/index.html
Buy Resolved – A Work in Progress, http://www.buyresolved.com.au
Blessings, http://www.bdcublessings.net.au
Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast, http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio.html
Archive for Buddhist Hour Radio scripts, http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/archive.html
John D. Hughes, http://www.buyresolved.com.au/johndhughes/index.html

Counts

Words: 3175
Characters: 16683
Paragraphs: 79
Sentences: 172

Averages

Sentences per paragraph: 2.4
Words per Sentence: 18.4
Characters per word: 5.1

Readability Statistics

Passive Sentences: 29%
Flesch Reading Ease score: 42
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: 11.8

Readability Statistics

When Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it can display information about the reading level of the document, including the following readability scores. Each readability score bases its rating on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence.

Flesch Reading Ease score

Rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard documents, aim for a score of approximately 60 to 70.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score

Rates text on a U.S. grade-school level. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document. For most standard documents, aim for a score of approximately 7.0 to 8.0.

Disclaimer:

As we, the Chan Academy Australia, a registered business name of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., do not control the actions of our service providers from time to time, make no warranty as to the continuous operation of our website(s). Also, we make no assertion as to the veracity of any of the information included in any of the links with our websites, or another source accessed through our website(s).

Accordingly, we accept no liability to any user or subsequent third party, either expressed or implied, whether or not caused by error or omission on either our part, or a member, employee or other person associated with the Chan Academy Australia (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.)

This Radio Script is for Free Distribution. It contains Buddha Dhamma material and is provided for the purpose of research and study.

Permission is given to make printouts of this publication for FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY. Please keep it in a clean place. "The gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts".

For more information, contact the Centre or better still, come and visit us.