Field Placement: UCLA Health and Media Research Group
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Preceptor: Dr. Deborah Glik
Student Name: Yaroslav Metelyuk
Year: 2002

Narrowcasting Campaign "No Drinks For Me"

I spent the summer of 2002 working at UCLA Media Center with Dr.Glik (my preceptor) on a narrowcasting-educational campaign known under the name "No Drinks For Me". The goal of this campaign was to educate the residents of Compton, CA about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy. According to previous research it was found that many young women in areas such as Compton didnt have a clear idea about the effect of alcohol on the developmet of fetes and often drank, smoke during pregnency. No Drinks For Me was designed to target such people and let them know that drinking can harm the development of fetes and so drinking should be completely avoided during pregnancy or during the period when pregnency may occur. To bring this message to the attention of our target populton a number of organizations and agancies were involved and a number of means were designed as medium to pass the information. The project was sponsored by CDC and basically executed by three organizations: UCLA Media Center, I`mpossible advertising agency, and MotherNet LA. UCLA designed the project, I`mpossible helped with the anti-drinking posters, cards and t-shirts, and MotherNet LA distributed the posters and cards in strategic places throughout Compton.

The design and development of the campaign have started during the spring 2002 if not earlier and the project is still underway at the time when i write this report (june 2003). As an intern i was lucky to work on this project during a very interesting time - summer 2002. I worked about 60% of my time at UCLA Media Center and about 40% at I`mpossible Advertising agency at that time. Throughout the period of my internship i was exposed to planning and logistical part of the campaign at UCLA and materials developmet part at I`mpossible Advertising. I was glad to have a chance to participate in the meetings at UCLA which had to do with the develpment and planning of the campaign and witness all the possible constrains and ways to deal with them. I was also glad that I clould witness sessions of brainstorming at I`mpossible and see how they come out with that huge number of ideas. unfortunately due to unexpected circumctances i missed out on focus groups part where compton residents spoke out in favour or agains the ideas but since i heard a lot about that activity afterwards i feel that i have gotten that experience vicariously.

After i have spent 9 weeks at UCLA and I`mpossible and after i developed a whole picture of the project, how it was made and how it was executed, i offered to make a short documentary which would summerize all the activities that were undertaken and which would bring different people and different efforts together to tell a simple and comprehensive story about the educational campaign with the name "No Drinks For Me" and a goal to help people (mostly women, of course) to understand that drinking during the pregnency may harm their babies. The documentary, as it was originaly planned was to become a video which could be used in class or be a promotional film for MotherNet LA. To make this documentary, i have spent a day with Patsy Adams in Compton and filmed her daily routine. Patsy not only put up and mainteined posters that day but also shared her vision about the campaign and its philosophy. Patsy`s day in Compton constitutes the core of the documentary. In the intervals there are interviews of people who played key roles in the project: Dr. Glik, Dr. Prelip, Amy Myerson, and Rax Wilder.

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