SITUATION
As part of its ongoing efforts to establish Milwaukee as a world hub for water-related technology, economic development, research and education, the Milwaukee Water Council recently helped facilitate a major international event: The Alliance for Water Stewardship’s first public meeting in North America. The event, which was held at UWM’s new School for Freshwater Sciences facility, was an important first step in the effort to create and implement a global standard and certification for water stewardship. Conference participants came to the conference from a wide range of countries, including Germany, Nigeria, Pakistan, Canada and the Caribbean.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES
– Raise awareness of the Alliance for Water Stewardship’s selection of Milwaukee as the host city for this prestigious and internationally significant meeting.
- Continue to position Milwaukee as the world water hub

IMPLEMENTATION
Boelter + Lincoln pitched the story to Associated Press and a local public radio station, WUWM-FM. In both cases, extensive background materials were sent and interviews arranged. In the case of WUWM-FM, an in-studio interview with the German-based executive director of AWS took place on the “Lake Effect” show, in addition to coverage the day of the event.

RESULTS
- 25 media outlets picked up the wire story, including msnbc.com, Chicago Tribune, and the ABC-TV affiliate in New York City (web).
- WUWM-FM covered on the day of the event and had AWS guests on the “Lake Effect” talk show the following day.
- Total advertising equivalency value for coverage generated exceeded $1,000,000