In a major event, you must designate someone to coordinate  public  affairs  matters.  This  person  should  be relatively free of other duties. If the event involves operations,  operational  and  public  affairs  planning should be carried on together, with the public affairs aspects covered in an annex to the operation order. If the event is a major one ashore, one command directive probably  will  include  all  details,  including  public affairs, security and logistics. EVALUATION The fifth major step is to evaluate the event. This step is as important in public affairs as an exercise critique is in operations. The JO, with his media skills and public information know-how, is an ideal person to help the command and the PAO evaluate special events. After each such event, before you get deeply involved in the next event, try to answer the following questions: l l l l l Did this event accomplish its objectives? If so, why? If not, why not? Did everyone know just what his duties were and carry them out properly? What, if anything, could have been done that was not  done? What kind of media coverage did we get? Did this   event   help   or   hurt   media   relations, community relations or internal relations? How can we do it better next year? In a major event, it is appropriate for the coordi- nating  command  to  request  formal  or  informal  reports from subordinate commands. It is always a good idea to check with participants, the photo lab, media people who  covered  the  event  and  anyone  else  who  was concerned  to  find  out  what  was  done  well  and  how certain areas can be made to run more smoothly. REPORTS Evaluation is useless unless it is committed to paper. Therefore, the final step is to prepare the report(s). This should  always  be  done  unless  it  is  obviously unnecessary. Your report can be a memo to the CO attaching a clipping from the local paper, or it can be a letter to higher authority enclosing copies of your plans, clippings and photographs. In either case, the primary purpose  of  such  reports  is  to  show  what  has  been accomplished  and  to  submit  recommendations  for future similar events. Reports that do nothing but pat you on the back and tell your superiors what a wonderful job you did are worthless. SPECIAL  EVENTS  CHECKLIST Appendix VII of this manual contains a general special  events  checklist.  Study  the  entire  checklist before you use it for specific occasions. After study, you may prepare your own checklist, using pertinent items and adding others of your own choosing. CEREMONIES Learning   Objective: Identify   the   special   events planning  guidelines  for  military  ceremonies. Let us go back a few pages to that awards ceremony where the skipper is going to pin a Good Conduct Medal on that BM2’s chest. We will assume there are five petty officers receiving various awards: two Good Conduct Medals,  one  advancement  to  first  class  petty  officer,  one appointment to chief petty officer and one Letter of Appreciation to a chief transferring to the Fleet Reserve. The  CO  wants  to  present  these  awards  and  promotion certificates Friday morning after inspection. The PAO is TAD and you are responsible for coverage, plus any “arranging”  the  event  requires. This  is  a  very  simple  event.  The  crew  will  be paraded at quarters. If you are ashore and have a bit of room,  all  hands  may  pass  in  review  as  part  of  the ceremony. You probably have a small platform and you will need a public address system. What are your objectives? The CO wants to praise these  individuals  publicly  by  rewarding  them  for  good service and to encourage the nonrated men in the crew to work for advancement. This means your plans should ensure  the  following: l l l l The skipper makes each award individually and speaks to each man. The crew can hear, and if possible, see what is going  on. The  event  is  covered  by  the  ship  or  station newspaper. The releases are mailed to hometown media (via the Fleet Home Town News Center or the proper NAVINFO). This is easy. You send one of your junior JOs to the personnel  office  for  the  names  and  locations  of  the individuals concerned. He then gets basic hometown data on each, supplementing this with an interview to make sure he does not miss any good feature material. 5-19