Plumbing Africa March 2019 | Page 15

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 13 Special events Organisations are encouraged to arrange an event or meeting that will highlight World Plumbing Day. The format and content of such a meeting will vary from organisation to organisation. Some hold a breakfast, morning tea or lunch, others might host a golf day, give away World Plumbing Day treats to customers while they’re working, bake a cake, hold a forum — any type of event can be held on World Plumbing Day. General awareness raising There are many ways in which organisations and individuals can create awareness at the local level. For example, retail and wholesale businesses might want to have a special promotion on World Plumbing Day to alert their customers to the day. Plumbing industry organisations may wish to partner with wholesaler and manufacturer organisations in their country to undertake a joint promotional activity related to World Plumbing Day. Individuals might undertake activities that are designed to draw the attention of the media and the public while promoting the important underlying message of the day. For example, one prominent member of the Scottish plumbing industry dressed up with placards and distributed leaflets about the importance of plumbing in one of the main squares in Scotland’s largest city. Letters to newspapers Many countries have a practice where major newspapers carry a letter page in which letters comment on or draw attention to a cause or issue. It is suggested that prominent plumbing industry personnel in each country should write to the editors of that country’s major and local newspapers highlighting World Plumbing Day. Promote your organisation’s ‘green’ role Many plumbing industry organisations are actively involved in activities related to the environmental role of today’s plumbing industry, and World Plumbing Day provides a good opportunity to emphasise this role to the public. Talks in schools, colleges, and universities Many schools would welcome the opportunity to have a visit from a representative of the plumbing industry to talk about the health (and/or environmental) aspects of plumbing. WPC members have given talks about water and health in their local primary schools and facilitated plumbing-inspired drawing competitions. This provides an excellent opportunity to promote our industry to young people and grow their understanding of the importance of saving water, having good hygiene, and other related messages. PA March 2019 Volume 25 I Number 1