42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



PROMOTION TECHNIQUES 



One of the first requirements of a new organization is to establish 

 connections which will make its services known. Promotion was a 

 major endeavor of the Washington office during its first 6 months 

 of operation. Ways and means of establishing relationships were 

 discussed at the Board meetings. It was agreed that the Director 

 should have a free hand in his official and unofficial relations with 

 representatives of Government agencies, on the ground that any 

 rules and regulations would only hamper him. The point was a 

 good one, because it is easily seen how complicated rules restrict the 

 service activities of many Government agencies. 



The Ethnogeographic Board faced a dual promotion problem, 

 namely, the establishment of contacts both with the Government and 

 war agencies, and with academic institutions and scholars. Some 

 techniques cover both fields, but on the whole the approaches are 

 distinct. 



It is axiomatic that the best publicity is successful and significant 

 performance. The Board's standard activities, such as distributing 

 mimeographed lists, preparing area reports, and sponsoring dinner 

 conferences, served the secondary purpose of advertising its services. 

 The availability of the Area Roster and the information service was 

 also good publicity. However, these were not techniques aimed pri- 

 marily at establishing public relations and consequently will be dis- 

 cussed elsewhere. 



Government Relations 



The Directorate had considerable success in establishing the Board 

 in war-confused Washington in spite of marked competition from 

 Government agencies, both old and new, which were making every 

 efifort to get themselves known and heard. The backing by four 

 powerful and well-known Sponsors was highly important, first in es- 

 tablishing connections, and second in allaying suspicion that the Eth- 

 nogeographic Board might not be what it seemed. Although the pro- 

 motion techniques were not particularly unique, they deserve to be 

 examined for the record. 



I. personal contacts 



The Director spent a large part of his time in the initial months 

 meeting people in Government agencies and following up all leads. 

 He was already widely acquainted with Washington from his pre- 

 vious post at the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1932 to 1937. 



