“Wear It!” and “Ready, Set, Inflate”:

Changing the Future of Safer Boating

NASBLA 2010 Annual Conference

Honolulu, HI

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

2009 USCG Statistics: Key Findings

Deaths: 736 vs. 709 (in 2008) = 3.81% increaseDrownings: 543 vs. 510 (in 2008) = 6.5% increaseAccidents: 4,730 vs. 4,789 (in 2008) = 1.23% decreaseInjuries: 3,358 vs. 3,331 (in 2008) = 0.81% increase

Almost three-fourths of all fatal boating accident victims drowned, and of those, eighty-four (84) percent were not reported as wearing a life jacket.

USCG Strategic PlanThe North American Safe Boating Campaign specifically supports the following objectives of the USCG’s Strategic Plan:Objective 2. Awareness of Safe Boating PracticesObjective 4. Life Jacket Wear

The Campaign also indirectly supports many other components of the USCG’s Strategic Plan

The North American Safe Boating Campaign (“Wear It!”)Efforts of the 2010 campaign include traditional and

“non-traditional” outreach methodsTraditional: Public Service Announcement

“Wear It!”Traditional Outreach Methods:

Press Releases Distributed six search engine optimized press releases

E-Newsletters Distributed five monthly electronic newsletters on behalf

of the National Safe Boating CouncilMedia Buy/Earned Media Coverage

Placed a total of 998 print, radio, television and online media hits

Reached a potential audience of more than 287 million

“Wear It!”“Non-Traditional” Outreach Methods:

The Life Jacket Safety Dance (via Facebook Connect)

“Be a Survivor: Wear It!”8/4/2010: Lake Mohave, NV 9/4/2010: Off the coast of LA

2010 National Tiger Team MeetingHeld in Arlington, VA on Monday, August 16, 201027 Individuals from USCG, State Agencies, Non-Profit

Groups, Industry, other Organizations in attendanceFocus of the Meeting:

Review of the 2010 Campaign – Looking Ahead to the 2011 Campaign

Life Jacket Trends and how they relate to the “Wear It!” Campaign

USCG Strategy 4.2 – “Establish Life Jacket Wear-Rate Tiger Team”

Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Day – “Ready, Set, Inflate!” Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Day

Held on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 11:00 EDT / 8:00 PDT Goal: Promote life jacket wear, specifically inflatable life jackets, and general boating

safety

www.ReadySetInflate.com User-friendly format for Event

Organizers/Media/Educational

Component: Join an Event/Organize an

Event Media Section Videos/Photo Galleries RESOURCES for Event

Organizers

“Ready, Set, Inflate!”• 1,154 participants; 3 dogs in inflatable life jackets

• 29 US States, 1 US Territory, and 2 Washington D.C. locations

• 13 Canadian locations

• First Press Release announcing event was published over 190 times, reaching more than 6.2 million viewers

• Second Press Release announcing event totals and success of the event was published over 100 times, reaching more than 8.9 million impressions

•

Update: July 30, 2010 – 415 participants in Sydney, Australia

Why is “Ready, Set, Inflate” So Revolutionary?What did all of the videos

have in common?Introducing boaters to

life jacketsYearly maintenance check

We can always strive to beat the record next year (Saturday, May 21, 2011!)

- National Safe Boating Week 2010 (May 21 – 27)

Inflatable Life Jacket Education KitKit is intended to educate about inflatable life jacketsKit Includes:

Flip Chart

1 Suspender inflatable life jacket and 1 belt-pack inflatable life jacket and extra cylinders for demo

Educational DVD/Sample PSAsAdditional supporting materials (posters, reading materials, etc.)

The Kit is available for purchase from the NSBC for $225 (including shipping and handling)

Rachel BurkholderCommunications Director, NSBCoutreach@safeboatingcouncil.org

Fred MessmannDeputy Director, NSBC

deputy@safeboatingcouncil.org