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Abstract
Recognizing that an
increasing number of food writers were covering food chemistry research
emanating from ACS journals and meetings, in 2000 the American Chemical
Society, the world's largest scientific society, sponsored a workshop
that offered food journalists and writers a new perspective on the science
of food and introduced them to our rich array of resources on food chemistry.
Reporters attending the two-day workshop, "Cooks with Chemistry:
The Elements of Chocolate," had access to top experts, participated
in hands-on activities and tastings, and were sent home with recipes and
other background information they could use to develop future stories.
Reporters from some
of the nation's highest circulation newspapers and magazines attended
the seminar, including Prevention and Good Housekeeping
magazines and daily newspapers such as the Portland Oregonian and
the Albany Times-Union. Coverage inspired by or about the workshop
has reached a potential audience of more than 3 million readers. The seminar
was so successful that the Society sponsored a second workshop, "Cooks
with Chemistry: The Formulas for Flavor," in September 2001.
Toolkits
- The ACS Office
of Communications and the Baltimore design firm Manger, Steck &
Koch created a special invitation to introduce the seminar and encourage
food journalists to attend. Sprayed with a chocolate scent and printed
in cocoa colors, the invitation included an insert detailing the speakers
and seminar specifics.
- Attendees were
promised the following as part of the seminar experience:
- Access to top-level
experts in chemistry and cooking, in an intimate setting;
- A short format
that allowed an overnight stay but minimized travel time;
- An understanding
of the science behind chocolate's flavor, taste, texture and health
benefits, plus chemistry basics to help home chefs;
- Recipes and
resources to use in developing a wide range of stories.
- The one-evening,
one-day seminar began with dinner and an introductory talk, and included
an overnight stay and a 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. day of presentations, as well
as a tour of the Belmont Conference Center, which includes 18th-century
buildings set on an 85-acre woodland and meadow property. Ample time
for one-on-one and casual exchanges between speakers and reporters were
provided during receptions, meals and breaks.
- To illustrate
the principles being taught in the seminar, nearly every meal and break
featured a chocolate confection, from chocolate boxes filled with a
variety of handmade truffles to double chocolate pudding. Recipes for
every chocolate confection served during the two-day seminar were provided
to the journalists in their resource materials, and several of the reporters
reprinted the Belmont recipes in the resulting coverage.
- As a parting gift,
all participants received a special chemistry t-shirt with "chocolate"
spelled out in the symbols from the periodic table of elements, and
a thank-you chocolate bar with a wrapper specially designed for the
seminar.
Research
- The American Chemical
Society, a nonprofit professional society for chemists and chemical
engineers, is the largest scientific society in the world, with more
than 163,000 members - many of whom are agricultural and food chemists
working for the government, universities, and large and small businesses.
Their research includes such topics as the health benefits of foods,
taste and flavor, food safety, nutrition, and even how chemistry can
help home cooks and professional chefs improve their cooking techniques
and food choices.
- The Society publishes
the respected Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and
convenes major conferences that include research presentations from
the members of its Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
- In addition, the
Society's Belmont Conference Center, located near Baltimore, offers
outstanding culinary services to meetings and conferences held there.
- The effort was
an expansion of the Society's media relations and communications efforts,
reaching beyond its traditional work with science journalists. The Society's
Office of Communications recognized that such an increasing number of
food writers were covering chemistry research emanating from ACS journals
and meetings that, by the end of 2000, ACS-generated news about food
chemistry topics reached a greater potential audience through media
coverage than any other single subject category, more than 80 million.
Evaluation
- A 60-paper research
symposium on chocolate and caffeine, sponsored by the ACS Division of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, at the Society's spring national meeting
in 1999 received extensive media coverage - proving its appeal - and
provided us with several experts.
- Our top selections
for speakers eagerly accepted our invitations and were generous with
their time, information resources, handouts, ideas and energy. Reporters
told us that this lineup of speakers made accepting the invitation a
"must" from a culinary and scientific point of view.
- A wide variety
of food journalists attended, representing all areas of food media.
Newspaper food section writers and editors, magazine food editors, freelance
writers and even cookbook authors attended. Journalists came from distant
Portland, Ore., and Napa Valley, Calif., and nearby Philadelphia and
Washington, D.C.
- More than enough
reporters responded to fill the conference well before our cutoff date
for replies, and we maintained a list of 22 would-be attendees who requested
that they receive any printed conference materials as a follow-up.
- Some of the nation's
highest circulation newspapers and magazines were represented. Attendees
included food editors and writers from magazines and newspapers that
reach more than 10 million readers, including: Prevention magazine,
Good Housekeeping magazine, Weight Watchers magazine,
the Albany Times-Union, the Portland Oregonian, the Washington
Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Just as impressive
are the publications expressing strong interest but unable to send a
representative due to schedule conflicts: Gourmet magazine, Cook's
Illustrated magazine, Martha Stewart Living magazine, Ladies
Home Journal, and the San Diego Union-Tribune, among others.
These interested media represent over 8 million readers and demonstrate
the wider potential for such a seminar.
- Immediate coverage
resulted from the seminar, featuring insights about chocolate chemistry
as well as coverage of ACS and Belmont Conference Center. Thus far,
coverage inspired by or about the seminar has reached a potential audience
through the news media of some 3.3 million readers.
- Evaluations from
both reporters and speakers were positive and produced needed suggestions
for adjustments and future opportunities. Journalists and speakers encouraged
ACS to continue our outreach to food media and gave us important leads
and ideas on how to do so.
Budget
$38,000-$40,000
Contact
Denise Graveline,
Director
Office of Communications
American Chemical Society
1155 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 872-6245
E-mail: d_graveline@acs.org
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Created: 7/9/2002
Last updated: 8/6/2002
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
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