Individual Assignment 1 (15% of your marks for this course)
Deadline: Submit to Canvas before 5:00pm, Monday, 26 Oct 2019.
Please include your name and SID on the document you upload to Canvas.
Make sure you fully understand the assignment questions. Do proofread your document carefully and eliminate all avoidable mistakes. Do email me if you have any queries.
Task
Assuming you are the Public Relations Manager of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), you are asked to write a bilingual press release (English and Chinese) by using as much of the background information as you think fit. The core content of the press release should consist of about 4 to 6 paragraphs per language.
The background information is appended below – watch out for irrelevant information, bad grammar, wrong spelling, wrong tense, inappropriate sequence, etc in the information provided. Please verify through desktop research if you are uncertain about any spelling, usage, and grammar. You are reminded to apply all you have learned in the past few lessons including (but not limited to) tips for good PR writing, style and standard components of a press release, content organization rule, how to tackle headlines and lead paragraph, etc. (A tip: you can just put the word “LOGO” at the top of your press release to show that you are aware of the rule instead of pasting a HKJC logo there). Ask yourself what the objective, key messages, audience, and news angle are before you write. Decide what information to keep and what to leave out based on your PR sense and your media knowledge. You should include at least one executive quote in the press release.
BACKGROUND INFO:
(Imagine it is Oct 2018 and you are given the following info for writing a press release to be issued on 8 Nov 2018 after the ceremony)
The Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) has been in operation for ten years. The following persons will appear at the 10th-anniversary ceremony taking place on 8 Nov 2018:
Mr. Leong Cheung Club’s Executive Director (Charities and Community)
Professor Roland Chin. Hong Kong Baptist University’s (HKBU) President and Vice-Chancellor
(Note: surnames are underlined just so you know it is a Mr. Cheung instead a Mr. Leong)
The day (8 Nov) also marks the beginning of a major exhibition called “Factory-made: JCCAC 10-year Retrospective Exhibition” (period of the exhibition: 8 Nov 2018 – 30 January 2019). The exhibition will feature the unrivaled work of ten artists and will fully demonstrate JCCAC’s history and success and highlights its iconic projects in the past 10 years.
More JCCAC info:
This was a major joint project collaborated among HK Baptist University, the Home Affairs Bureau and the Hong Kong Arts Centre, under which a vacated government-owned factory building located in Shek Kip Mei was converted, revitalised and operated into a creative arts centre called the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC). The project was funded by HKJC. The idea is that it would help preserve not only the territory’s historical past as an industrial centre but also, at the same time, to nurture budding artists, bring arts to the community, enhance public interests and appreciation of local arts and culture.
It covers a total floor area of 130,000 square metres, with nine floors and a roof terrace.
It is positioned as an arts village cum arts centre, JCCAC is providing 136 studio units for artists and arts/cultural organisations. The studios are rent through a tiered rental structure with four types of tenancies, namely a) art student/graduate (who are currently attending a full-time art programme or budding artists who have graduated from a full-time art programme for no more than two years); b) artist/art group (more developed individual artists and small-sized art organisations); c) institutional (more established organisations that use the studio as a combined space for office/administrative base, rehearsal, exhibition, performance and etc., and d) commercial.
Majority of the units, accounting for 96 percent, have been offered to artist/art group, art student/graduate and institution categories at concessionary rents, while four percent of the units are rented to commercial tenancies at market rate. Some 312,000 visitors were attracted to JCCAC in 2017 by the programmes held by JCCAC and its tenants. In the past 10 years, cumulated visitors amounted to 3 million and about 250 studio artists or art groups have collaborated with JCCAC.
More HKJC info:
HKJC: Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charities and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2018/19, the Club made a record return to the Government of HK$23.3 billion in duty and profits tax and contributed HK$1.3 billion to the Lotteries Fund. Approved charity and community donations were HK$4.3 billion. The Club is Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer and one of the city’s major employers. Its Charities Trust is also one of the world’s top ten charity donors. The Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.
Leong Cheung of HKJC will announce on 8 Nov at the above-mentioned event that HKJC will donate a further HK$110 million to conduct a major renovation for JCCAC. The donation will cover: a) Major overhaul of the façade of the building; b) essential maintenance and upgrade works to comply with standard safety requirements, including replacement of air-conditioners, safety enhancement for lifts, installation of additional closed-circuit television cameras, replacement of aging emergency exit signage; c) addition of barrier-free access facilities, such as disabled toilets
The following points appear in Mr. Cheung’s speech:
“I am honored to represent the Club on this important day. And I would like to congratulate the management of JCCAC for the outstanding achievement in the first 10 years of operation.”
“I am pleased to announce that HKJC will donate a further HK$110 million to conduct a major renovation for JCCAC with the aim to prevent health and safety hazards and to strengthen its capacity in nurturing youth creativity and promoting art appreciation and education in HK.”
“JCCAC has provided the public with diverse experiences in arts and culture, offering local artists and arts groups a unique place for their creative work so that the public can have the opportunity to be in close contact with the arts. “
“ The establishment of JCCAC in itself represented a preservation of heritage. The Club has been offering support to local culture and preservation of heritage. JCCAC is one of the Club’s significant heritage revitalisation project. It not only preserves the original features of the factory, but also introduces contemporary architectural elements into the site.”
“I hope you will all visit the anniversary exhibition ‘Factory-made: JCCAC 10-year Retrospective Exhibition’ which will run till the end of January next year”
You may make up any information that you think is logical and relevant, but please make sure it doesn’t contradict any information above.
Some useful Chinese terms for your reference:
賽馬會創意藝術中心
香港賽馬會（馬會）
香港賽馬會慈善及社區事務執行總監張亮
香港浸會大學校長錢大康
Assessment Criteria:
Demonstrate knowledge of the concepts/ principles discussed in the previous lessons (including your PR and news sense) — 40%
Writing quality (ability to write clear and concise copies are accurate and logically organized with correct grammar, spelling and punctuation) – 30% for Chinese version and 30% for English version