Science in Society

HSRC events: Requirements for drafting and sending invitations

Science in Society • HSRC events: Requirements for drafting and sending invitations

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Challenge

Previously, invitations contained dense text in poster-type A4 sheets. These were typically printed and posted on walls and notice boards in lifts and other office spaces.

Since COVID-19, people are working from anywhere and these invitations are disseminated almost exclusively via email and social media. They are read on laptops, tablets or mobile phones where they form part of an overwhelming volume of digital communication.

Items that frustrate the reader simply won’t be read.

Crucial components of an Everlytic invite

An email message that gets straight to the point (text and links) as shown in the guidelines below

A simple eye-catching banner (jpeg)
Proper HSRC branding and logos
All text must be language-edited/proof-read
Contact email

Process required

After content signoff by the unit, the Everlytic email text and banner text must be language-edited in Word before going to design or being uploaded to Everlytic.

It must then be proofread again in Everlytic before being sent.

Here is the four-step process to be followed.

1. Template for Everlytic email invitation

Email subject line (must be very clear):

HSRC invitation to COVID-19 survey findings | 2 September 2021
HSRC seminar on malaria vaccine development | 2 December 2021

Inbox preview text (depending on their inbox views, this line will entice the reader further to open/click. Questions often work well):

COVID-19: Can age or gender increase your chance of getting infected?
Malaria vaccines could save thousands: Experts to share the latest

Title – Clear short title that immediately reveals what the event is about, font in sentence case with no unnecessary uppercase, obscure jargon or abbreviations

WEBINAR | Sleep engineering: How to boost health and cognition while you sleep
FREE ONLINE EVENT | The psychology and politics of conspiracy theories
HSRC SEMINAR | New variants drive COVID-19: What is next?

Summary and invite – 40 to 120 words – tight, interesting and friendly, avoiding jargon, the passive tense and abbreviations. Phrasing the discussion topics as questions can help to pique the reader’s interest. Remember to mention speakers and hosts. If the client insists on sharing detail about the event, you may insert a link to a longer text piece (not a poster) with more details on the HSRC website, but the website content must also be language edited before sent for web upload.

Example (108 words):
New variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 arise constantly, driving new waves of infections. What kinds of genetic changes make some variants of SARS-CoV-2 more dangerous and why have virologists long been concerned about coronaviruses in particular? What do studies of old foes — such as influenza, HIV and SARS — tell us about the course that SARS-CoV-2 may take and how we might prepare for the changes ahead?

Join us for a free, live conversation with virologists Edward Holmes (University of Sydney) and Lisa Gralinski (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); moderated by Knowable’s Eva Emerson.

The webinar is titled: New variants drive COVID-19: How do we prepare?

When? – Date and time, include day of the week

Thursday, 2 December 2021 at 14:00–16:00 SAST

Registration link – test all links to make sure they work

Please clickhere to register.
FIND OUT MORE | REGISTER NOW

Contact email for editing queries and for readers’ queries

For queries, please contact John Smith: jsmith@hsrc.ac.za

2. Jpeg banner that accompanies Everlytic email instead of A4 poster
(see examples of invitations attached at the end of this guide)

Title – Clear short title that immediately reveals what the event is about, font in sentence case with no unnecessary uppercase, obscure jargon or abbreviations

HSRC WEBINAR
Sleep engineering: How to boost health and cognition while you sleep
FREE ONLINE EVENT
The psychology and politics of conspiracy theories
INVITATION
HSRC to share COVID-19 survey findings

Optional one-liner – 20 words max to boost title

Can age or gender increase your chance of getting COVID-19?
Find out why more women have been exposed.

When? – Date and time

Thursday, 2 December 2021 at 14:00–16:00 SAST

Who? – Speakers and hosts: Picture – only use a picture if it is a very prominent speaker, e.g., celebrity, Thuli Madonsela or a minister, otherwise some names

Free, live conversation with virologists Edward Holmes and Lisa Gralinski. Hosted by the HSRC
An HSRC webinar featuring Thuli Madonsela and Tulio d’Oliveira
Hosted by the HSRC and the CSIR
Speakers: Edward Holmes and Lisa Gralinski

The banner should be adapted and converted into a customised social-media card (size and format may differ from Everlytic banner). This content must be proofread before dissemination.

Twitter/Facebook text to accompany the banner: The social media team normally write this although hashtags can be suggested and are welcome, as are suggestions of who we could tag in the posts.

4. Longer event programmes

Only include a programme in the Everlytic invite text if it is a short, single-room event.
This text does not go in a jpeg/pdf banner or poster.
For longer programmes (four-day conferences for example), rather link to a full programme on the HSRC website with registration links to the different sessions.
This longer programme also appears in text and needs to be edited before being uploaded to the website.