Strategic Tactics and Techniques

Strategic Tactics and Techniques

The major constraint of the proposed PR project was a very tight budget, which did not permit any paid advertising or an expensive PR campaign. Therefore, methods of free or very low cost communications and personal contacts of those involved with the Museum had to be used. Several factors combined to make the museum and the story of its revitalization appealing to the mass media.

During "Perestroika" and after, strict supervision of the press by the political establishment first weakened and then was lifted. Newspapers were no longer told what to write about and new ones emerged every week. Competition for news and events was stiff. Museums, even in St. Petersburg, did not know how to publicize themselves. They had little or no idea of what public relations was or how to deal with the media, so there was (and to some extent still is)

a deficit of information from them. Therefore, cultural life, with the exception of theaters and show business, was inadequately covered and hence newspapers welcomed such information. The museum’s former director and granddaughter of Popov, Ekaterina Popova-Kiandskaya, had

a gift of persuasion and understood the importance of publicity. Media targeted for the public information campaign were those with audiences that might have a natural interest in scientific or educational topics or for whom some of the little-known stories about Popov might be appealing. They included:

1. The in-house University newsletter, Elektrik

2. The in-house University radio station

3. A high circulation newspaper, Smena, whose target audience is mainly young people.

4. Popular news radio program, “Petersburg Panorama”.

5. The television news channel, “Telekurier”

6. A municipal newspaper, Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti

7. A television program dedicated to scientific news review, “Sunday Labyrinth”

8. A documentary film studio in Siberia and a feature film studio in Moscow

9. Art clubs

10. Theaters and concert halls

11. Scientific journals on electrical engineering published in Russia

12. International scientific journals on electrical engineering

13. The St. Petersburg Orthodox Russian Diocese and Seminary

14. Religious organizations abroad

1. When information about Popov was released, the following points were stressed to “humanize” his image in the eyes of undergraduates and educators. He was presented 1. When information about Popov was released, the following points were stressed to “humanize” his image in the eyes of undergraduates and educators. He was presented

Dedicated Photographer: A film showing this aspect of his life, including his photographs, was produced and aired on a popular television program “Sunday Labyrinth”. Popov made a number of photos of churches and cathedrals at the end of the nineteenth century. They were unique because of the buildings were destroyed in the twentieth century. This documentary also showed photographs of peasant children, ships moored in the harbor of Kronstadt, views of St. Petersburg, as well as photos Alexander Popov brought home from his trip to the World Exhibition in Chicago, USA. This television program was a success, and not only with the general viewing audience, but also with professional photographers who sent their letters of appreciation to the director of the “Sunday Labyrinth”.

Music and Art Connoisseur: Alexander Popov had a large sheet music collection and his son became a composer. The city's most popular radio station devoted one of its programs to the role of music in the life of Popov’s family. His son’s lyric song was performed on the program. The tradition of musical soirees was revived in Popov’s memorial apartment, which is part of the museum. The organizers of these soirees invited not only performers of classical music, but also sculptors, painters, actors and the faculty of the University, many of whom are genuinely interested in art. These recitals gave a good opportunity for the budding soloists and composers in St. Petersburg to demonstrate their art to public. They were good for the Museum’s image, because they enhanced its reputation in the city’s artistic circles. Popov’s wife was a painter. Among her friends were many famous poets at the turn of the nineteenth century. One of them was the renowned Anna Akhmatova. A Memorial Museum for Anna Akhmatova opened in 1988 and Ekaterina Kyandskaya-Popova, the then director of the Popov Museum, gave a portrait of Akhmatova done by Popov’s wife to the museum. Stories of this generous act reflected positively on the Popov Museum’s image.

Scientist-Believer : Alexander Popov was a fifth generation priest’s son. The Museum established friendly contacts with the St.Petersburg Seminary, where the Museum’s workers presented several papers about Popov. In turn, the Seminary and the St. Petersburg diocese sent a letter of congratulations on a Popov anniversary and clergy became regular attendees of recitals. They also gave talks at the Museum. These occasions attracted more faculty and staff to the Museum.

Prolific Inventor : The University’s paper, Elektrik, started a series of articles on Popov’s contribution to the development of X-ray and high-frequency technologies as well as X-ray measurements. Another series was dedicated to important inventions of Popov in the field of wireless communication in addition to the invention of radio receiver. All together there were 10 articles published. A local youth paper also published an article which emphasized the role of Popov in creating new UHF devices used in medicine, in developing methods of photographing explosions, and research into X-ray technology.

Representative of Russian Cultural Heritage : The memorial status of the Museum allowed it to Representative of Russian Cultural Heritage : The memorial status of the Museum allowed it to

Respected associate and outstanding researcher : Due to the Museum director’s efforts, the almost forgotten history of a school of physics that existed in the Electrotechnical Institute (now University), whose director was Alexander Popov, was revived. Elektrik published a series of articles by the Museum’s director about the outstanding electrical engineers who worked, at different times, in the university’s departments. In honor of Professor Voinarovsky, who succeeded Alexander Popov as Rector of the Institute, a memorial plaque was placed in one of the university’s buildings. Several events were devoted to Alexander Popov ‘s scientific tutors, such as Professor Khvolson, a famous physicist.

Talented Educator : Special attention was paid to Alexander Popov’s teaching activity. He designed 42 new laboratory experiments for students in the most advanced fields of physics of his time, described and published their purposes, and created unique prototypes of special devices. Few university professors equal such activity today. Popov’s contribution in creating the institute’s experimental base was brought into focus in guided tours of the Museum, and stressed in the Elektrik.

Collaborative and practical inventor : When the realistic picture of the scientific basis and the history of St. Petersburg School of Physics was reconstructed, the invention of wireless communication ceased to be, in the eyes of museum visitors, a miracle achieved by a hermit scientist. The invention is shown to be solidly based on the works of a whole constellation of physicists and the result of applied science for the benefit of the Russian Navy.

No enemy of Marconi : An important step towards ending the confrontation of the two camps of historians who could not come to terms about the “invention” of radio communication was the organization of an exhibition “Popov and Marconi – Crossing the Bridge”. Documents were displayed about the work and inventions of both, copies of patents, the book written by Marconi’s daughter, and an invitation from Marconi’s firm sent to Popov.

One of several responsible for invention of radio communication : The Museum Board discarded the thesis that Popov was “father of radio communication” and dedicated several scientific sessions to the works of Hertz, Lodge, and Branly. The Museum's policy is to make all the documents in its possession available, and let people draw their own conclusions. Those documents indicate that May 7, 1895, Popov demonstrated, for the first time, wireless transmission of short and long signals. He published the description of this experiment and the scheme of the devices (transmitter and receiver) in a Russian scientific journal in January 1896. Marconi's patent application is dated July 2, 1896; the patent was granted June 4, 1897.

An entrepreneur: Unlike the former propaganda claims of “basic scientist” Popov versus “entrepreneur” Marconi, the PR efforts aimed to show Popov’s entrepreneurial (commercial) An entrepreneur: Unlike the former propaganda claims of “basic scientist” Popov versus “entrepreneur” Marconi, the PR efforts aimed to show Popov’s entrepreneurial (commercial)

2. Secondary information dissemination was intended to separate Popov from the old “Iron Curtain” ideology and shows the propaganda’s adverse effects.

Popov’s invention was the outcome of his international contacts : The invention of wireless communication was shown as the result of the open, free-flowing communication among members of the international scientific community. Alexander Popov spoke several European languages (French, German and English). He read Maxwell’s works in the original when conceiving and making the receiver. Popov was well aware of the latest technical achievements by his contemporaries in the USA, Germany and France. He had his paper on the radio receiver published by a British scientific journal. Popov established professional and business contacts with the business circles of the USA, France and Germany. The Elektrik newspaper published three articles about the international links of Alexander Popov and they received many positive comments from faculty and students.

The “Iron Curtain” ideology plagued Popov’s family and relations : The official fight with the “cosmopolites” during the totalitarian Stalinist government and the “Iron Curtain” policy was a tragedy for Popov’s relatives. Popov’s son-in-law, Associate Professor Kyandsky, lost his position in the Electrotechnical institute for mentioning the names of foreign scientists whom he saw as contributors to the theory and practice of wireless communication. Soon after, he went blind and died. Many of Popov’s students and close friends were persecuted and spent their last days in the Gulag. In the 90’s, Elektrik and the city newspaper had published a number of articles stating that the Stalinist propaganda used the name of A.Popov in political intrigues, without giving a thought to the fates of his relatives.

Biographies of persecuted scientists were reconstructed using the Museum’s archival materials : More than twenty articles devoted to the biographies and fates of the scientists who were persecuted under the Stalinist regime were published in Elektrik. The Museum’s Board has established close ties with the public organization “Memorial” that is involved with the history of victims of Stalinist regime. Several brochures have been published. The public now recognizes the name of Alexander Popov in association with the disclaiming of totalitarianism and reconstructing the true picture of the history of science.

The Museum’s dire financial and physical condition was a result of past propaganda: Several issues of the television program Telekurier were devoted to the cash-strapped Museum. This part of the campaign emphasized that the history of science should not be a card in political games where achievements are used and then forgotten. Only with consistent care and attention to its needs can the Museum survive.

The University Museum was a basis for tradition : Through publications and in-house radio service the University’s public was acquainted with the status of museums at other universities, devoted to great names in the history of science, such as the Roentgen Museum and the Marconi Museum. The aim was raising awareness of the role of museums as the conveyers of traditions and reflections of a civilized society.

3. To change popular attitudes towards engineering, the PR tactics were based on the following assumptions:

Throughout the world there is a growing interest in the history of engineering and inventions. There are automobile museums, clock museums, etc.

The “new” is actually a long forgotten “old”. The communication technologies of the turn of the century were using substances that were prototypes of modern synergetic systems built on the principles of Prigozhin-Haken theory.