Keith’s note: Toward the end of this morning’s Maven press briefing, a reporter from the Travel Channel asked if NASA has any plan for marketing itself to the public so as to enhance visibility, increase funding, and that reaching out to the public is NASA’s biggest challenge and greatest opportunity. NASA SMD AA John Grunsfeld (@SciAstro) replied that NASA does not have such a plan but instead that the agency puts spectacular missions into operate and educates the public about them.
Well, “education” is not the same as “marketing”. NASA is holding a “NASASocial” in connection with the Maven launch. Alas, except for one NASA Social participant who asked a rather good question, virtually none of the NASASocial participants on-site at KSC (or their alumni elsewhere) bothered to tweet about the press event. Yet when NASA pays attention to the NASASocial people they brag about getting better access to things than the media, the swag NASA gives them, and chatter about what is said in their sessions. NASA keeps doing these socials – so they deserve credit for that – but I am not certain what they accomplish when all is said and done. Being a “Trending Topic” on Twitter only lasts while people are actually Tweeting and it only has an effect while people are awake or able to read Tweets.
I have to agree with the Travel Channel guy’s query. Does NASA have a marketing plan? I see no evidence that they do. Yes, there is some scary language in some congressional legislation that prohibits NASA from lobbying but there is also equally compelling and binding congressional language that prompts NASA to better communicate with the public. I have the clear impression that NASA finds it vastly easier to say “no” than to try and push the envelope. There are a lot of people at NASA who try but there seem to be even more who thwart them or simply sit on their hands.
NASA’s Confused Policy on Advertising, earlier post
Where are all the #NASASocial participants? Virtually none of you are tweeting press event. #Maven
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) November 17, 2013
Odd: #NASAsocial held for #Maven launch but no dial-in access for media or questions via Twitter @ today's briefing http://t.co/ZpG8uHehsG
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) November 17, 2013
We should draw a distinction between informing the public and lobbying Congress. Many government agencies go to great lengths to inform the public, I.e the military participation in airshows.
Keith’s headline is accurate-they make it up as they go.
Reminds me of the Tom lehrer song about von Braun…where the rockets come down…not my department.
NASA puts all this effort in on the front end to design the spaceship and plan the mission but when it comes time to the back end of ensuring the information gets out in a usable manner, that they leave to chance in a communications effort that has no plan, is led by people with no skill and no particular criteria for success.
NASA is not doing so well with education either. I don’t think education coordination is any better than the website lack of coordination. That is, it seems, much of the NASA education effort and it is totally uncoordinated. Of course it was only a few months ago that NASA was trying to give its communications and education functions away to the Dept of Education or the Smithsonian or whoever might take it since NASA obviously considers it to be unimportant, or not their department.