Your Committee Issued a Report… Now What?

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Committees put significant time and effort into writing reports, which the Policy Department helps distribute to the right people at the most influential times.  In order to ensure your work has maximum impact, here are some additional steps to consider after you finalize a report:

• Promote your work! Your committee members should circulate the final report far and wide, to anyone who may find it informative or helpful.  Post the report on social media accounts (see more below), circulate it through listservs you belong to, and share it with other organizations that work on the issue.
• Communicate your position. Work with our Communications Department to draft and issue press releases, blog pieces or op-eds about your report to raise awareness and support. Let Communications know of publications, reporters or other media sources that should receive such materials so your work is getting to the right audience. City Bar communications pieces should also be broadly distributed by committee members.
  • Social media is a useful and impactful tool. The City Bar maintains a number of social media accounts across multiple platforms to promote the work of our committees. We post about committee reports where appropriate and encourage members to do the same. If you are interested in promoting committee work through your personal social media account(s), you can share the City Bar’s posts or craft your own. To help you with this, we are happy to provide sample posts for members and have created a brief guide of best practices for social media use.
• Think beyond the report.
  • Plan a CLE course or educational event. Creating a public forum where experts, advocates and other interested parties can have an open dialogue on an issue provides an excellent opportunity to educate the profession and public and generate interest. If you are interested in hosting an event or CLE, click here.
  • Produce a podcast.  Work with the Communications Department to create a podcast that highlights the topic of your report. Similar to hosting an event, podcasts provide a flexible and unique format for showcasing an issue.
  • Engage in direct advocacy. Committees are encouraged to stay involved after the issuance of a report and advance their policy recommendations through advocacy. For those more information, click here.
• Assign a report point person. Assign committee members to stay involved with and continue to follow the issues in your report. You also may be called upon to answer questions about your report from legislators, the media or other organizations.  If we reach out to you with questions, please try to answer in a timely manner, particularly in the case of press inquiries, where deadlines are tight.  We rely on your expertise.
• Keep us informed. We love to share with our membership when your work has a positive impact, so please let us know about any developments or outcomes we should promote. We post these developments on our website, newsletters and through social media.

*Click here for a full list of all City Bar related social media accounts

Contacts:
Eric Friedman, Director of Communications, efriedman@nycbar.org
Eli Cohen, Communications Associate, ecohen@nycbar.org
Elizabeth Kocienda, Director of Advocacy, ekocienda@nycbar.org