It’s Coeliac Awareness Week here in the UK – 14-20 May. Did you know?
There are a number of events going on across the country, and Coeliac UK have managed to get coverage on a lot of mainstream media – radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. Their newsletter about this week’s events is available here.
But how many people are actually aware of the Awareness Week?
A search on Google for ‘Coeliac Awareness Week’, gives 553 results (85 if I restrict it to sites from the UK only). Some for last year, obviously, and some for other countries, but this isn’t bad coverage. Much of it is from Health Trusts, online newspapers and a few entrepreneurial retailers who are marketing their gluten free wares on the back of the Awareness Week.
However, in terms of blogs, a search on Technorati reveals that there have been all of 5 posts so far covering this week (there were rather more covering the Australian Coeliac Awareness Week, which was back in March – 10 posts) – and 3 of those are from this blog (more to come I hope!).
The other bloggers who’ve noticed this Awareness Week are:
- Gavin Ayling – a Conservative Councillor in Sussex
- Eating Britain – written by David and Sarah, foodies from Brighton (also Sussex)
Now this, I think, is quite interesting. 5 posts so far this week, when there are about 90-100 posts every day that Technorati tracks tagged as ‘gluten free’. This is a worldwide figure, it’s true, but still …
Possibly this means that Coeliac UK hasn’t yet grasped the power of blogging as a communication device, though they’ve obviously worked hard this year to get articles into 13 magazines and 3 national papers, coverage on the BBC website as well as coverage on television.
I do think that coverage this year is better than last, and there are a lot of events on, organised by the local support groups, which should help spread the word.
But do you think Coeliac UK needs a blogger on board, to blog on coeliac issues, and raise the CUK profile? As far as the blogosphere goes, there isn’t really any awareness of the Awareness Week …
  |
I’ve written a book summarising what we’ve learnt over 20 years of dealing with the gluten free diet, and it might be just what you’re looking for. It packs the lessons we’ve learned into what I hope is a helpful and straightforward guidebook. It’s available on Amazon, as a paperback or for your Kindle… |
Thanks for pointing to us. I agree that there is not enough “talk” or “chatter” happening regarding this week, but this is partly due to people who are not affected not actually having much knowledge of it.
Without some kind of Radio mentions nationwide the talk will not spread far as it is not something that every day people will be looking for.
Perhaps contacting our respective local radio stations may help us spread the word?
David
http://www.EatingBritain.com
Hi David – thanks for visiting.
I didn’t mean to suggest that CUK should ignore the mainstream media – far from it – because you’re right that that is the way to reach most people, and I think they’ve done well to get as many articles as they have this year.
But I do think they could do more online. I notice, for example, (prompted by discussion on the messageboard today) that CUK don’t mention the Awareness Week on their home page this week. This is likely to be the landing page for people wanting to find out about CD and about CUK – I think the new visitors should be explicitly welcomed and directed to more information.
Agreed 100% :)
Hi, Thanks for the link too!
I am always intrigued that some causes or campaigns manage to get publicity seemingly for free while others really struggle. I have yet to understand what causes each situation…
Gavin – hi, and thanks for visiting.
I’m not sure what makes some issues national and some not, either. I’m wondering whether an upsurge of interest among politicians might help – which is of course what CUK have been working on recently. Or it might simply be a matter of grassroots momentum.