June 12: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

It's an awkward truth, but it is one we need to accept and leverage.

The scientific community will never be the vanguard of brand development and creative information sharing. When it comes to capturing our target audiences’ attention, we will always be playing second fiddle to businesses that hire public relations agencies based in London and Dubai, and influencers that film in their basement in Des Moines with seven million followers and a heavenly ring light.

But never fear—there is a massive opportunity to learn here.

As science communicators, we need to expand our wings and take inspiration from other sectors' creative advancements. From millions of dollars spent on travel advertising to the billions of TikToks viewed per day—there is a whole wealth of creative information sharing and branding out there that we need to jump on.

In this session, I will take you through case studies of businesses and individuals (that, ostensibly, have nothing to do with science!), and point out just where they go right, and why they have captured the public's imagination.

Then I will explain how, as scientists and science communicators, we can co-opt these fresh ideas successfully into ways to communicate the essential scientific work that we do, explain why it matters, and, of course, inspire action.

Presenter: Sumeep Bath

Sumeep is a seasoned, skilled—and somewhat sardonic—communications professional from London, UK—now based in Winnipeg, Canada. He has been working for over 15 years in the communications field, including for the Embassy of Argentina in London, and for the Press and Public Diplomacy Section of the Delegation of the European Union to the USA in Washington, D.C.

For the last ten years, he has built an identity for IISD Experimental Lakes Area to bring a human face, accessibility (and a sense of humour!) to what has become a relatively unique science communication brand in Canada.

He manages all media outreach, social media, and communications products for that facility to ensure that the world knows all about how IISD-ELA does freshwater science like nowhere else, why it should matter to you, and how we can translate that science into policy that matters.

He speaks fluent English, Spanish and French.