They communicate with us regularly and are always looking for new approaches and potential angles to explore. 
Be. Institute – Leading The Way To A 100% Accessible Society
Campaign Overview
A new social change enterprise, Be. Institute, was launched at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on 6 May 2011.
Three innovative national campaigns were introduced on the evening: Be. Accessible, Be. Leadership and Be. Welcome. All three are highly significant for New Zealand. Be. Accessible is the country’s first nationwide accessibility programme, and Be. Leadership, New Zealand’s first national disability leadership programme. Be. Welcome is a unique location accessibility assessment programme.
Be. Institute aims to inspire and enable a 100% accessible society for all New Zealanders. The driving force behind the programmes is to improve the accessibility of the physical environment, enable better access to information, promote the inclusion and leadership of disabled people in employment and the community, and change social attitudes and behaviours.
Alexander Communications was briefed to assist with building the profile of Be. Institute and raising awareness of the three programmes and the recent Be. On The Road national tour.
In June, Be. Accessible launched a nationwide tour, Be. On The Road. The three-week roadshow visited the 12 Rugby World Cup host cities to introduce the Be. vision and accompanying programmes, and to discuss the current and future accessibility of each city.
The Be. On The Road tour received a warm welcome from each host city and the Be. team met with passionate advocates who shared and supported the Be. vision.
The news of Be. On The Road caught the attention of local media, which were curious to learn more about the Be. Institute and supporting programmes. Reporters attended the presentations, and face-to-face interviews with Be. Accessible chief executive Minnie Baragwanath were secured.
The regional publications supported the campaign by including stories about Be. Accessible visiting their city to address local accessibility. Articles were featured in the Taranaki Daily News, Southland Express, Manawatu Guardian, Nelson Mail, Waikato Times, Northern Advocate and Manawatu Standard among others.
Local radio stations and television also showed excellent interest in the campaign and several interviews with Minnie Baragwanath were secured. The news of Be. On The Road and the accessible campervan featured on Dunedin’s 9 Local News, and interviews with Ms Baragwanath were broadcast on The Breeze Manawatu, Newstalk ZB New Plymouth, More FM Rotorua and Classic Hits Whangarei.
Most recently, Next Magazine featured Minnie Baragwanath as the Change Maker personality in its August 2011 issue. The full-page spread includes a Q&A session with Ms Baragwanath and references the Be. Institute and its founding origins. In positioning Ms Baragwanath as an industry leader, the article also discussed why a social change enterprise such as the Be. Institute is necessary for our community.
Earlier in the year Simon Collins from the New Zealand Herald sat down with Tony Howe of the Disability Resource Centre. They discussed Be. Accessible and the vision of the campaign for a story which featured in the New Zealand Herald metro section.
To find out more about the Be. Institute and the supporting programmes, visit www.beaccessible.org.nz
Tags: Alexander Communications, Be. Accessible, Be. Institute, Be. Leadership, Be. On The Road, Be. Welcome, Disability Resource Centre, Dwayne Alexander, Manawatu Guardian, Manawatu Standard, Metro, Minnie Baragwanath, Nelson Mail, New Zealand Herald, Next Magazine, Northern Advocate, Simon Collins, Southland Express, Stephanie Lee, Taranaki Daily News, Tony Howe, Waikato Times
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