What do elephants and events have in common?

What do elephants and event design have in common? Quite a lot if you’re part of the Elephant Queen Outreach team! They’ve taken an award-winning movie about elephant conservation and are sharing its message with communities across Kenya.??

The show, which has toured the country for the past two years uses film, theatre, puppetry, music and dance to share the elephants’ perspective with those who live alongside them, in a country where the fight for resources between people and wildlife is part of everyday life. So far they’ve shared their story with 130,000 community members and children across Kenya.??

The result is a powerful piece of story-telling which has many lessons we can draw on when creating our own events. Our PR Manager Emma Blake has been inspired by the hard work and passion of the non-profit Elephant Queen Outreach team – here’s what she’s learnt:?

• Mix it up with multi media: The team use a broad mix of art forms – film, theatre, puppetry, music and dance – to provoke discussion around the often complex issue of human-wildlife co-existence Song and dance is used as an ice breaker and to create links with the local community. It also serves to transform the simple outdoor setting into a rich, cultural space.?
• Telling the story from another perspective is powerful: The film focuses on the elephant’s perspective, highlighting how similar they are to us. By the time the team moves on, two days later, the community has been immersed in a piece of storytelling and debate around human-wildlife coexistence that has transformed lifelong attitudes.??
• Tailor the content to the local area: The team has visited nearly 300 schools and more than 200 villages across Kenya – and adapted their performance for each region. Local actors were invited to audition to join the cast to create a localised version of the play. The play was performed in the local language – which the team would learn – and fused with local music traditions.? This is crucial - In Kenya, music and dance is heavily linked to the local landscape.?

The Elephant Queen Outreach & Education is a non-profit organisation, supported by Save the Elephants . Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theelephantqueenkenya/ ??

• https://theelephantqueen.com ??
• https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/save-the-elephants/ ??
• https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emma-blake-pr-manager-at-imex-00338518 ???

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