Summer 2017 Project

Community Relations and Youth Hockey Internship

Amanda Keator
BOSTON BRUINS: Autism Awareness Night

National Anthem: The singer of the national anthem would be Christopher Duffley. Duffley is a
well-known blind and Autistic singer who caught the attention of thousands when he sang the
national anthem at Fenway Park in 2011, 2013, and 2015. He was given the title 10 Amazing
Individuals with Autism who Shined by Autism Speaks in 2013. He has an amazing and
uplifting story. He has released two albums and went viral on YouTube when he sang during the
World Meeting of Families televised on CNN, reaching thousands in downtown Philadelphia
on over 40 jumbotrons during Pope Franciss visit in 2015. He would be a perfect choice to sing
the national anthem because of all of the positive media attention he has already brought to
Autism awareness. He fits the purpose of Autism Speaks and would be recognizable to people at
the game, since he is well-known in Boston.

For more information on Christopher Duffley: http://www.christopherduffley.com/about-

christopher-duffley/

Puck Drop: We would ask Autism Speaks to nominate or connect us with a child with Autism
who would participate in the puck drop. This would give that child a great opportunity to shine in
front of the audience and bring everyone at the games attention to Autism awareness.

In-Game Collection: The beneficiary of what is collected would be given to the Autism
Research Foundation based in Boston. The Autism Research Foundation, a non-profit created in
1990 by Dr. Margaret L. Bauman, actively responds and supports the changing needs of
members in the Autism community. This foundation helps to benefit the Autism community
through neurobiology research, improving education and awareness, family life, and enhancing
social inclusion programs. The Autism Research Foundation believes that every individual with
Autism has the right to a meaningful life and to positive outcomes. This message is important
relating to Autism awareness. To collect this money, there would be a 50-50 raffle where people
would buy a raffle ticket for ten dollars and all the proceeds would go to Autism Speaks. The
winner of the raffle would get free tickets donated by season ticket holders, get to meet the
players after a game, or get autographed apparel.

http://theautismresearchfoundation.org/

8-Spoked Salute: The 8-Spoked Salute is a very important part of the game that honors people
who have served our country. Tying the patriotic value of the 8-Spoked Salute in with Autism
Speaks is an important component of the evening. The 8-Spoked Salute would be a war veteran
that has a close family member who has Autism. The 8-Spoked Salute would stand during their
live welcome on the Garden HDX with their family member that has Autism. The Garden would
greet the man or woman of the United States Armed Forces and their family member who would
be wearing and Autism Speaks shirt that features the Boston Bruins logo, which I have put and
example of below this.

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Incorporating the Puzzle Piece (Autism Awareness): The theme of the home game would be
called the Boston Bruins Go Blue. While it would be great to have the players in warm-up
custom Autism Speaks jerseys, we would also want to get the audience at the Garden involved
too. There would also be a T-shirt Toss in between each period with white Bruins shirts that
feature the Autism Speaks puzzle piece and the blue Bruins logo I have created below. Similar to
the playoff games where there are yellow towels, blue towels that are a similar style could also
be placed on fans seats before the game. When they get to their seats, they can wave these
towels around similarly to how they do during the playoffs. To keep with the theme of Boston
Bruins Go Blue, the lights that are used in the pre-game show before warm ups would be all
blue lights. This combined with the blue towels and the blue warm up jerseys the players would
wear brings the idea of the Bruins going blue to life. By giving up the signature black and
yellow colors for the warm ups, it shows that our team stands in solidarity with Autism Speaks. I
created this design below for the Autism Awareness Night using Adobe Photoshop. These are
the designs that would be on the t shirt and what I was thinking about. I used Photoshop to turn
the actual Bruins logo blue to go with the theme. These designs and logos would also be featured
on the towels given out.

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Community Ticket Program:

Invite list for tickets:

Christopher Duffley and a family member we would invite them because he sang the
anthem and benefits from Autism Speaks.
4 tickets to go to Autism Speaks and whomever they choose to give those tickets to
because they are the focus of the evening.
4 tickets to the Autism Research Foundation in Boston, since they are benefitting from
our collection that night.
Season Ticket Holders Tickets Invite List
o For the remaining donated tickets, we could contact the Massachusetts Advocates
for Children Center for Autism. They are an independent and effective voice for
children with Autism that face significant barriers to equal educational and life
opportunities. They work with individual children and cases that are brought to
them. They have had a number of success stories where they improve the lives of
children with Autism significantly. By contacting them, they could put us in
contact with families that have been affected by a child with Autism and give that
autistic child and a family member two tickets.
http://massadvocates.org/about/mission/
o These donated season tickets would also be donated to the raffle and winner of the
Bruins Go Blue activities at the game.

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Patrices Pals: In order to involve as many Autism groups as possible, we will invite the Autism
Coalition of Massachusetts to be in the Suite for the game. This organization has locations all
around Massachusetts. They work to support individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and
try to be a collective voice for change throughout Massachusetts to effect policy change. This in
game recognition will further highlight the Autism theme for the nights game.

http://autismcoalitionofma.com/

Your Chance to Shine: In addition to the regular in game activities, we would have a table in
the main concourse asking Do You Have What It Takes To Go Blue? Fun activities like:

Floor hockey game

A Pin the tail on the donkey type of game, but with the blue puzzle piece. The
participant would be blindfolded and spun around holding a blue puzzle piece. They
would then have to fit the blue puzzle piece into the entire puzzle correctly while
blindfolded. If they get the puzzle piece in, they win.
Take the Light It Up blue quiz. Certain scores get the prize of a limited time Bruins Go
Blue t shirt. The Light It Up Blue Quiz is a quiz offered on Autism Speaks website
testing your knowledge on how much you know about Autism and testing your education
about the topic. This would bring awareness to the cause and educate people about it.
https://www.autismspeaks.org/liub/quiz
Winners of activities get free t shirts
The t shirts provided would be the same ones that I mentioned above.

We would coordinate also with Snapchat and create a Bruins Go Blue geotag that would be
there throughout the night to raise awareness. Below is an example of a geotag I created using
Adobe Illustrator. Snapchat is the newest and now one of the most popular social media outlets
today. The popularity of Snapchat to millennials has now surpassed Twitter and Facebook. It is
easy to submit a geotag to snapchat and have them use it at an event for a night. My sorority has
done it on multiple occasions for different events we have planned. This geotag would be
available on Snapchat at a filter for people to use on top of their pictures at the Autism
Awareness Night at the home game. People who use this filter would send out the snap to their

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friends or post it on their MyStory. This gets the word out about the Boston Bruins collaboration
with Autism Speaks and would be positive PR.

Another idea would that if fans post on social media (Twitter, Instagram) that night with the
hashtag #BostonBruinsGoBlue, they would be entered into a drawing for free tickets to a game.
We can filter through the posts that were created using this hashtag and randomly pick a winner.
This is raising awareness of the cause to the public. It is also bringing media attention to what the
Boston Bruins are doing to help a good cause.

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Boston Bruins Autism Event

The event would be called Become a Bruin for a Day for children with Autism and their
families. The concept of the event is that Autistic children would get to meet players and
participate in fun and physical activities that would make them feel special and connected to the
Bruins. Since children with Autism have a hard time with social settings and social skills, the
physical activity would be a great way to have them interact with the Bruins players and with
each other. There would be four stations at the event. Each station would take place for 20
minutes to fill up the two-hour long event.

1. Zamboni Rides: Kids would get a chance to ride on the Bruins two Zambonis.
I remember going to Bruins games and seeing people in between periods
riding on the Zambonis and seeing the joy of the children riding them. This
station would be a huge hit and would be a great photo and film opportunity
for the media and the families there.
2. Shoot on Tuukka: The next station would be shooting on Tuukka Rask in a
floor hockey game with plastic sticks and soft pucks. Kids can also play games
and pass around, plus Tuukka can sign autographs and take pictures.
3. Tour of the Locker room and Weight room: This would be fun and interesting
for the kids to see an inside look at what being a Bruin is really like.
4. Meet and Greet with a Bruins legend: An available Bruins legend or current
player will sign autographs and take pictures. Blades will also be there to take
pictures.

There would also be an air hockey table or two there for kids to play around on or with the
players. Blades would be at the meet and greet stations as well to take pictures with the kids and
their families.

Bruins Personalities:

Tuukka Rask, a Bruins Legend, and Blades will be at the event. Their roles are described above.

Location: TD Garden

Date of the Event: April is World Autism Month, so ideally it would take place the first week of
this month before playoffs around April, 7th 2018. Since the team will be gearing for the playoffs
and community events are usually limited, an earlier date may have to be scheduled to ensure
Tuukkas participation.

Event layout and description: The event would be hosted at the TD Garden. The floors would
be put down on the rink like they do when they have a concert at the Garden. Half the rink would
be curtained off. The half in which the Visitors bench is located would be the area for the
Zamboni rides. The Half by the Bruins home bench would be the main area for the event. This
space will be the areas for opening and closing remarks for the event, plus be the area for the
Ball Hockey/Shooting on Tuukka. Part of this area will also be where the Bruins legend and
Blades will meet and greet the kids and families. By keeping everyone in a condensed area, the
event will seem more lively and energetic. The entrance to the locker room by the Bruins bench
is where the locker room and weight room tour would start. Blades would circulate throughout

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the main floor interacting with everyone. Below is a general layout of the event that I created.

Staffing: A full-time Community Relations staff member and the Intern would supervise the
event. The intern, who is presumably a college student, would contact other university or high
school students to get them to volunteer at the event to supervise and help with overall
organization. This volunteer opportunity would be viewed as a resume builder or a fun way for
students to get in their community service hours. 10 total volunteers will be needed. Two
volunteers would staff each of the four stations to ensure everything ran smoothly. The two extra
volunteers would help set up and clean up after the event. Two members of the bull gang will be
enlisted to drive the Zambonis.

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To-pack list:

1. Goodie Bag for each of the participants.

2. Bruins Banners to hang.

3. Snacks/Drinks for the kids and families.

4. Photos of the Boston Bruins for the kids to have autographed at the event.

5. Chairs for kids and families to sit in if they need.

6. Foldable tables to put snacks on and for the Bruins legend to sit at and autograph apparel at the
meet and greet.

7. Sharpies for autographs.

Transportation: Families will be provided directions and responsible for getting themselves to
and from the event.

Timeline for the event:

10:00-10:15 Kids and families arrive at the event and check in. They will then split up into 4
teams of equal amounts. There will be a brief introduction and hello from the full-time
Community Relations member to welcome them to the event and reiterate how important Autism
Speaks is to the Boston Bruins.

10:15-10:40 Kids will go to their first assigned station, parents may talk to one another or go
with their kid to see them enjoy the event and participate.

10:4011:05: Second station

11:05-11:30: Third station

11:30-11:55: Final Station

11:55-Noon: All groups will reconvene and a final word and perhaps a group picture will be
taken.

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Budget Plan:

Budget: $1,000 + 10% buffer = $1,100

Item Cost Reason for the item

Plastic Goalie Net
Personalized soft pucks with
Boston Bruins and Autism
Speaks logo (minimum order
of 125)
Pack of soft hockey balls
Snacks (water bottles, juice
boxes, chips, granola bars)
20 Printed out 8 x 10 pictures
of the Bruins team
Total Cost = $794
$149 For floor hockey station to
shoot on Tuukka
$310 This item would be used as a
giveaway for the people
attending the event
$5 To play floor hockey with for
the shoot on Tuukka station
$250 These are there in case kids
or families need a snack
during the event. This will be
located in the main room in
the curtained off floor area
where everyone checks in.
$80 To get signed as part of the
giveaway gift

Giveaway for guests:

The item I would choose for a give away would be soft Bruins pucks and then a picture of the
Bruins signed by the players. I chose the soft puck because it is inexpensive and a nice souvenir
to give the kids. Each individual soft puck is between 70 and 90 cents. I chose the autographed
picture because it is also inexpensive to get autographs from the players.

Photo and Video To-Shoot List:

The welcome and registration table.

o Shots showing kids excited and checking in at the table. Shots of the kids all
sitting down in a group being greeted by the staff.
Kids shooting on Tuukka
o Get video and photo of kids scoring on Tuukka in that station
Videos and pictures of families and parents smiling interacting with their kids and
enjoying the event.
Locker room tours, kids interacting in the locker room and weight room
Meet and greets. Get lots of shots of kids with the players and smiling.
Shot of the Community Relations staff member with the kids, important to show
involvement of the Bruins staff members with the kids.
Zamboni rides with the kids.
Candid and genuine shots of kids in each station, these can then be used in the media to
show the positive reaction from the kids to the event.

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 A few formal shots and group pictures
Take some video clips of interviews with the kids asking them about the event, the
Bruins, and what they liked about the day

Expected attendance at each event.

I would invite 20 kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and then each child could bring up to 5
family members. These family members could be parents or siblings. This would mean the event
in total would be around 100 people. For the stations, they would be split up into groups of 5
kids with their family members they brought with them. I would contact Autism Speaks and have
them put us in contact with families that have kids we could invite.

PR Plan to Gain Coverage of the Events:

1. Overview
This event will gain the Bruins good media coverage and positive PR in the Boston community.
The Bruins brand will improve because of their association with helping and supporting Autism
Speaks.
2. Goals
To raise awareness of Autism in the Boston community
Show the Boston Bruins support for the Autism Speaks organization
Gain positive media attention for the Bruins and the players
3. Strategies
To create an event that creates positive attention for both Autism Speaks and the Bruins
organization. By doing this, people will have a good feeling about the Bruins brand and better
understanding of Autism.

4. Target audiences
Our target audience for this PR plan is the Boston and Autism communities.
5. Key target media
The specific publications and programs I will direct my PR efforts toward are The Boston Globe,
The Boston Herald, The Boston Metro, Boston Magazine, NESN, WHDH Sports News, WCVB,
CSNNE, and FOX 25 Boston.
6. Recommendations
I would contact each Sports Editor or Community Events/Happenings at each of these
publications. I will develop a press kit to send them after the event has occurred. The press kit
would include the story that publications will pitch about our event. I would angle the event as a
human interest story. The key to this touching piece would be finding a family in Boston that has
an Autistic child that is a big Bruins fan. We could tie this family in with the whole event and
show how organizations like Autism Speaks and the Boston Bruins come together to raise
awareness. The kit would also include a press release and a fact sheet about everything that

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happened during the event. I would also send along B roll film for online publication or
television, candid shots, and other good still imagery from the event. The logos I have created for
the t-shirt with the blue Bruins logo will also be sent along as well in case they want to use or
show them. This press kit would essentially give these publications all the tools they need to put
together a piece on our event. Media outlets will want to share this story with their viewers
because it will draw them in with a heartwarming piece that ties in a Boston sports team that the
whole community loves.

Marketing Campaign

Social Media Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Twitter: The average tweet is only shown on someones feed for approximately 19
minutes and then it is out of sight. It is very important to keep track of how often we are
posting and at what times. We would want to have pre-coverage, post-coverage, and
coverage during the actual event. Before the event, tweets would go out about our
collaboration with Autism Speaks to gain awareness of Autism and educate people about
it. This is when we would reveal the blue Bruins logo. We could also get pictures of kids
who have Autism in Bruins gear or jerseys to tweet out. This would show our support of
the cause and to let people know about our event coming up. An example of a tweet we
could put out before the event would be The Boston Bruins have teamed up with
@AutismSpeaks to create and event where kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders can live
out their dream of becoming a Bruin for a day. Lets all celebrate #WorldAutismMonth
! Attached with the tweet would be a picture of the blue Bruins logo I created and the
Autism Speaks logo. The event would also be live-tweeted with pictures of the kids with
the Bruins legend and pictures of them participating in the station activities. I have
noticed the Bruins Twitter account is very active live-tweeting games, so we could do
that same kind of social media marketing tactic throughout the day of the event. After the
event, we could then tweet out more pictures getting out the word about the positive
event we just had.
Facebook: I would definitely want to use Facebook Live for before and during the event.
We could do Facebook Live with me or another staff member holding the camera and
asking Tuukka, the Bruins legend, or Blades about the event and what they will be doing
there. They would talk about the event and then talk about how they were excited for it.
During Blades Facebook Live video, he could do a funny dance or hold up the Autism
Speaks and Bruins logos together. Facebook Live is a great way to reach the public
because it would notify everyone that follows the Bruins on Facebook that we have gone
live and they can watch our live streamed video. After that, the video we filmed will post
permanently to the page for people to keep viewing. We could use Facebook Live as well
during the event. This would show the public all the positive things happening and
increase positive PR. After Become a Bruin for a Day, we would then post all of the
great photos that we got from the day into a Facebook album for the whole Boston
community to see.
Instagram: Instagram is an important tool to use because it has become increasingly more
relevant for the younger demographic more so than Facebook. On April 1st, we would

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 post a picture of the Autism Speaks and Bruins logo together to announce that it is World
Autism Month. This would let the public know about our collaboration with the Autism
Speaks organization. Similar to Twitter, throughout the event we would post pictures and
videos of the kids participating having fun during the day. This would be a great way to
promote our collaboration and show that the Bruins care about this community.
Throughout the month of April after the event, we could continue to post these pictures
and videos we got from that day.

b. Boston Bruins website.

The copy for the website about the event would be posted under the news section of the website.
It would be a summary of the event and why we are doing it. Below the post about the event,
there would be pictures and videos from throughout the day. Here is the copy for what would be
written and posted on the website after the event:

Autism Speaks Become a Bruins for a Day

An initiative by the Boston Bruins and Autism Speaks to promote awareness and education about
Autism Spectrum Disorders

On Saturday, April 7th the Boston Bruins and Autism Speaks teamed up to make the dreams of
families who have been affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders a reality. The TD Garden hosted
the Become a Bruin for a Day event. Children that have Autism Spectrum Disorders participated
in Zamboni rides and a floor hockey game where they got to shoot on Tuukka Rask. They also
got private tours of the locker room and weight room and were able to meet Bruins legends. All
the event attendees and Bruins organization members celebrated World Autism Month together.

Autism Speaks is dedicated to enhancing lives today and accelerating lives for tomorrow. They
promote solutions across the spectrum and throughout the lifespan of individuals with Autism
Spectrum Disorder and other related conditions.

c. Email campaign.

For the email campaign, we would send out a few emails to spread the word about our work with
Autism Speaks. The first email would be sent out on April 1st to notify the Bruins fan base and
Boston community how they are celebrating World Autism Month. The email would go out to
the entire fan base and email list that we have. We would then also get an email list from our
Autism Speaks partners to send out the emails to the Autism community they have in Boston so
they are aware of the Boston Bruins support for them. I have created a template on Adobe
InDesign to show you an example of the first email we would send out. Another email would go
out after this to talk about why the Bruins chose this cause and why it is important to them. After
the Become a Bruin for a Day event happens, another email will go out with pictures and a
summary of the event.

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d. Broadcast partners: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub.

We would tell our broadcast partners about the event and give them the same press kit that we
used for the PR plan. Media people just want to get attention from their viewers. What will get
attention from them is delivering them a human interest story that pulls at the heart strings. This
story would include footage from the event. This footage would be of interviews with the kids,
them playing floor hockey with Tuukka Rask, and other fun shots from the day. We would tell
them that they should show this story to their viewers because Boston is a sports centered city.

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Our community in Boston is so close-knit because of the professional sports they have here.
Viewers will be interested in this story because they are interested in sports and this bring to life
who the people behind the jerseys and under the helmets actually are. This human interest story
would be very well-liked because people like to see their sports idols doing good things for their
community.

Recap Report

The unique community appearance would first involve Tuukka Rask, the Bruins goalie. His
purpose of his visit would be to play in a game of floor hockey with the kids participating in the
event. He would stand in goal and let the kids shoot on him and then he could give them some
pointers to help them improve their shot. The next person involved in the community appearance
at the event would be any Bruins legend available. I was thinking that Cam Neely or Bobby Orr
would be good choices. They would be there at the meet and greet station to sign apparel or take
pictures. This would be so cool for the kids to meet a Boston hockey superstar. Blades would
also be at the event to bring energy and for photo opportunities.

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