Executive Summary
The ACCESS communications plan is designed to foster a cohesive and impactful brand-messaging experience across internal and external channels. Developed by representatives from each ACCESS team, the plan presents a concise summary of ACCESS products, contributors and messaging to resonate with and empower ACCESS-funded team members and our ecosystem’s stakeholders.
Collaboration is the focus of the communication strategy. By leveraging cross-team and cross-program collaboration, we seek to maximize the impact of our collective achievements and discoveries. By amplifying the work of our staff, working groups, Resource Providers, related programs and end-user communities, we are building a framework that thrives with input from many vantage points and fosters a place for the dynamic exchange of information, ideas and feedback.
By providing the necessary tools and support, this plan aims to empower staff who can be regular contributors and ambassadors to effectively communicate the value and significance of the work within ACCESS to our wider communities.
This plan aims to represent and unify our messaging, amplify our collective impact, and establish strong communication pathways. By interfacing with related ACCESS Working Groups (WG) and Standing Committees (SC) (DEI, Web Presence, Broadening Participation, Personas, etc.), we are well-positioned to adapt our tactics to enhance our visibility, better engage our stakeholders and contribute meaningfully to the interests of broader research and educational communities. It is important to note that, like any communication plan, its success is also dependent on an engaged and motivated community of stakeholders; without that, no communication plan can be as impactful as desired.
In this plan you will find:
Background Information
Background Information
PROJECT DESCRIPTION | The National Science Foundation’s ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support) program builds upon decades of investment in cyberinfrastructure and expands the ecosystem with capabilities for new modes of research while further democratizing participation. Five teams are currently funded, with one expected to be awarded in the first calendar quarter of 2024:
ACCESS is an ecosystem that relies on contributions from a wide range of vital processes and components to serve diverse teams working on complex research and education challenges and to ultimately democratize access to CI resources, services and expertise. This ecosystem is ever-evolving and transforming with new initiatives and groups participating. |
CAMPAIGN TIMELINE | May 1, 2024 – April 30, 2025 |
REVISION CADENCE | This plan is reviewed on a quarterly basis by the working group leads and with additional input from awardees, working groups and the ACCESS Executive Council (EC). |
ORGANIZATIONAL | The ACCESS Program-wide Goals serve as guiding principles to the communications messaging:
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PROJECT / TEAM | The ACCESS Communications team is a collective representing all awardees; it is facilitated by a leader from the ACCESS Coordination Office (ACO) and supported by the program’s Executive Council. Our communications goal is to collectively seek opportunities to build bi-directional communications pathways with ACCESS teams, working groups, resource providers, related programs, and the broader research and educational community. The ACO has set and monitors specific metrics such as media hits to our website, social media impressions, etc. (see “Metrics” below) as part of its quarterly reporting to the NSF. We also utilize feedback from surveys to guide our endeavors. To be successful, it requires an engaged, proactive community of stakeholders. |
COMMUNICATION | Overall Objectives
PY3-Deliverables
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KEY AUDIENCES |
The above audiences follow the Personas defined by that Working Group. Key Messaging for the above audiences is described in a later section of this plan. |
METRICSWhat does success look like? | In support of our program goals:
Quarterly metrics can be accessed by contacting dinameek@illinois.edu. |
Contacts and Resources
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM CONTACTS | Dina Meek, dinameek@illinois.edu Andrew Helregel, ahelreg2@uillinois.edu Megan Janeski, mjaneski@illinois.edu Cindy Wong, cwong@sdsc.edu Megan Johnson, mmjohns2@illinois.edu Shira Feldman, shiraf@ucar.edu Karen Green, karengreen929@gmail.com (Newsletter Editor) |
ACCESS COMMS PARTNERS(include campus partners and industry partners) | Allocations – Stephen Deems (http://allocations.access-ci.org ) Support – Alana Romanella (http://support.access-ci.org ) Operations- Leslie Froeschl (http://operations.access-ci.org ) Metrics – Tom Furlani (http://metrics.access-ci.org ) NSF – sgeva@nsf.gov, Fernanda Pemberton (Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Comms) Comms leads from Resource Providers (TBD) |
ACCESS WORKING GROUP CONTACTS | Working Group representatives interface with the Communications team to provide updates on current initiatives, messaging and priorities to amplify through various communications channels. Each lead is provided with the communications tools and mechanisms available to amplify group efforts and increase bi-directional engagement with the Communications team. Input from these groups is critical to keep up with the evolving ecosystem to which ACCESS serves and will be sought on a regular basis.
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SITUATION SUMMARY
As ACCESS reaches a more mature state, including the definition of our program goals and personas we’re trying to reach, it’s time now for us to plan more targeted communications. We’ll also incorporate the feedback we’ve received from newsletter surveys, a website usability survey and any other vetted feedback we’ve received over the past year on how to make our communications more impactful.
KEY MESSAGES BY AUDIENCE
The following audiences are defined by the five personas determined by the ACCESS Personas Working Group:
Audience | Key messages |
ACCESS Working Groups & ACCESS Staff |
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Desired Actions: Provide regular updates to communications teams on messaging and campaigns; link the communications team with other related programs; provide feedback on how to better our overall communications strategy; use our materials request form to help you represent the program at events. | |
Collaboration & Content Considerations: Each ACCESS staff member and Standing Committee/Working Group is encouraged to provide suggestions for how this communication plan and corresponding tools might better suit their unique needs. | |
Computational Researchers (all experience levels) |
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Desired Actions: Request an allocation; join an Affinity Group; join the Computational Scientist Support Network (CSSN); subscribe to the newsletter; submit a CCEP request; request MATCHPlus/Premier; share and apply to the STEP program; share your news and events with us; provide us with your feedback. | |
Collaboration & Content Considerations: Several ACCESS plans (Democratization and Evaluation), as well as groups (EAB, Personas, RAC, RP Forum, Web & Branding), will help to better refine and rescope communication efforts to these audiences. Feedback from these stakeholders can help drive changes in the allocations policies, the support resources offered, and the data availability through XDMoD, as well as highlights for the Communications team. | |
Resource Providers (RPs) & Potential RPs |
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Desired Actions: Promote your News & Events through ACCESS; further foster your communities through Affinity Groups; explore XDMoD; share a growing set of infrastructure information; provide coordinated resource access services that enable researchers; subscribe and provide content to community and staff newsletters; share specific needs/problems of your resource/program that integrating with ACCESS could help address; participate in the ACCESS Incident Response Trust Group; share your science highlights with ACCESS; reach out to us to learn how to get started with integrating your resource. | |
Collaboration & Content Considerations: To better refine messaging regarding the value of integrating a resource within ACCESS, this plan will rely on input from the RP Forum, Operations and Allocations teams, as well as related programs. | |
NSF & Related Programs/Groups |
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Desired Actions: Get in contact with ACCESS; share your program’s News & Events; provide feedback to ACCESS; amplify ACCESS initiatives within yourrespective programs. | |
Collaboration & Content Considerations: To keep up with the complex, growing ecosystem, this plan will require input from the rich, diverse perspectives of all program staff and stakeholders. Building and augmenting a list of related programs and contacts will further amplify the bi-directional communications efforts of ACCESS and any program it interfaces with. | |
Class Instructors |
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Desired Actions: Make sure your college students are aware of the STEP program and encourage applications. Check out news on how students have used ACCESS in their coursework. Find out more about getting started. | |
Collaboration & Content Considerations: Periodic checks of the Allocations database can shed light on the types of activities Class Instructors are pursuing with their allocations. With this information, more targeted news and campaigns can be disseminated. |
Graduate Students |
Engagement Program (STEP).
and educational tools also at no cost.
documentation and more.
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Desired Actions: Talk to your advisor and request an ACCESS allocation;once you’ve attained an allocation, start a collaboration within your institution or with investigators from another institution; acknowledge ACCESS in your publications and be sure to upload your accepted publications in the ACCESS database; if you are interested in considering or pursuing a career in cyberinfrastructure (operations, data/networking, cybersecurity), apply for the STEP program. Check out news on how students have used ACCESS in their coursework. Find out more about getting started. | |
Collaboration & Content Considerations: Calls for contributions can be considered to allow graduates to submit their research highlights and publications for inclusion in ACCESS communications. |
Tools
Branding | To build a strong, cohesive, and consistent brand presence, the ACO Comms team led the development of a visual identity system, approved by the EC and subsequently used throughout the ACCESS program content. The visual identity system:
Currently, the Comms team is restyling the logos to remove the tagline (a new one will be considered) and add the NSF logo. Branded assets, including PowerPoints, logos, etc., are available on the Comms Team Wiki. Additionally, the ACO Comms team has developed a style guide for written communications and is working on written conventions and a brand voice document. The Branding and Web Presence Working Group has developed style guides and resources for designers and developers available on GitHub. |
http://access-ci.org | The centerpiece of all ACCESS communications efforts is a web presence that provides access to newsletters, news and feature articles, information on the services provided by the Service Teams, and other user and public-facing communications.
Currently, the Web Presence Working Group is engaging with SGX3 on a usability study to determine how to improve the web presence. |
Newsletters | The Comms team produces two digital newsletters:
In PY3, the Communications team will refresh both newsletters based on feedback from annual surveys. Additionally, the Support team sends out the biweekly ACCESS Support Digest, with news of events and training sent to 13k+ subscribers.
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Email Communications | While the website and newsletters will be the primary vehicles of communication, emails can be employed in the case of:
The ACO Comms team has developed templates with ACCESS branding and leverages the Constant Contact platform to distribute emails. Additionally, Service Areas have access to the email platform along with templates designed for their Service Areas in order to communicate as needed with audience lists they develop. |
Announcements & Events | The Support team provides Announcements and Events functionality that can be leveraged by anyone with an ACCESS ID. |
Outage News | The Operations team provides the ecosystem with Infrastructure News for publishing and discovering outages of various services and at Resource Provider sites. |
Integration News | The Operations team provides the ecosystem with Integration News that communicates changes to integration roadmaps, tools, and related services. |
Events Supplies | The ACO Comms team provides:
ACCESS staff can arrange to order and have shipped materials via the Comms Team wiki. |
Social Media | The ACO Comms team maintains social media accounts including:
A social media strategy includes amplification of:
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Instant Messaging | ACCESS also leverages Slack channels for both ACCESS-wide communication and engagement with communities such as Resource Providers, Campus Champions, and related programs. |
Media Relations | The team maintains a close relationship with HPCwire and additional news outlets to ensure applicable stories are shared with the overall U.S. community. The team also engages with media relations teams from the ACCESS users’ institutions to ensure that their regional media is aware of the broader impact of ACCESS efforts. |
Government Relations | The team regularly updates the NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA) so that they may re-purpose science/user stories as they see fit for their media outlets etc. |
Feedback Mechanisms and Contact Us
Insights and suggestions from all persons interested in ACCESS play a crucial part in shaping our communication strategies and enhancing the overall program. You can contact an ACCESS Communications representative by submitting a ticket. We appreciate detailed feedback and will work to respond to inquiries promptly.
Sustainability Considerations
By continuously evaluating the targeted audiences, messaging, and schedule with other ACCESS groups and individuals, we’ll simultaneously build flexibility and agility within the program’s communications strategy. Being flexible in adapting strategies to align with evolving needs identified by the experts in our program and within our community is key to successful collaboration. In addition to messaging, the team will monitor emerging trends in communication channels and technologies. Further, constant monitoring of the plan will ensure we have the right level of resources allocated to communications activities.
Appendices
Communications Contacts to Expand ACCESS Ecosystem
Program | Contact Name | Contact Email |
PATh | Mats Rynge | |
AI Institutes (SAIL) | Ginger Welsh | |
MS-CC | ||
MRI | ||
Trusted CI (NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence) | ||
NSF CyberTeam | ||
CyberTraining, Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC) | ||
Campus Champions | Cyd Burrows-Schilling | |
CSSN Network | ||
Internet2 | Daphne McCanse (can add another later) | |
CaRCC | Daphne McCanse | |
RMACC | ||
American Indian Science and Engineering Society | ||
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers | ||
FARR RCN | Christine Kirkpatrick | |
American Geophysical Union | ||
United States Research Software Engineer Assc. | ||
Department of Education | Miguel Cardona | |
Office of Indian Education | Julian Guerrero | |
Department of Energy | ||
Department of Defense |
2. ACCESS Service Team Outputs
A rich collection of diverse services and products have evolved from ACCESS including the following:
Allocations
XRAS – the eXtensible Resource Allocation Service, the software that powers the allocations process
Project Types – the different ways researchers and educators can request allocations
Resource Catalog – a listing of the resources available under ACCESS and other programs
Exchange Calculator – the “currency” used to exchange for time on resources available in ACCESS
Allocations Policies – the guidelines and procedures for how the allocations process takes place
Review Panel – a peer review process (for large requests) made up of computational experts
Innovative Pilots – novel features and changes to allocations landscape
Support
Computational Science Support Network (CSSN) – a program to assist prospective, new, and current users through a range of activities
CSSN Community Engagement Program (CCEP) – provides travel awards in exchange for community engagement, feedback forums, documentation, and additional contributions to ACCESS
Events – a self-service portal for individuals and programs to promote their upcoming events
Announcements – a self-service portal for individuals and programs to promote their news
Knowledge Base – documentation, Q&A discussion threads (http://Ask.CI ), recommended links (CI Links), and more
MATCH Services (Plus/Premier) – connects researchers with consultants, mentors, and students to help solve their research problems
Resource Advisor – a tool to guide researchers and educators to resources that will suit their needs
Affinity Groups – communities that share common interests and exchange knowledge
OnDemand – an easy-to-use web portal to allow researchers to compute through a web browser
Pegasus – a workflow manager to construct, run, and debug across various compute environments
Operations
ACCESS IDs (Identity and Access Management) – account management functionality for ACCESS
Integration Roadmaps – a step-by-step guide of how to add a new resource to ACCESS
Concierge Integration Experts – human resources to assist with the integration of new resources
Cyberinfrastructure Description Repository (CiDeR) – a database of ACCESS resource descriptions
Information Sharing Platform APIs – APIs for ACCESS affiliated software developers and infrastructure operators that enable ACCESS infrastructure discovery, including descriptions and dynamic status information. Information available through the APIs is aggregated from RPs and multiple databases
Infrastructure News and Outages – news about ACCESS integrated resources and online services
Security Incident Reporter – allows anyone to report a cybersecurity incident that affects ACCESS
Acceptable Use Policy – practices ACCESS ID holders must agree to in order to participate
Privacy Policy – details the information gathered through the ACCESS services
User Identity Dashboard – allows ACCESS ID holders to modify their information (email, institution)
SSH Key Register – a mechanism to add or remove access credentials for secure shell protocols
Multi-Factor Authentication – enhanced account security measures; ACCESS utilizes Duo
Student Training & Engagement Program (STEP) – an internship effort to grow the community of cyberinfrastructure professionals
Metrics
ACCESS XDMoD – provides reporting capabilities for the resources that are allocated under ACCESS, including the ability for researchers and systems personnel to monitor usage, measure quality of service, and measure job level performance
Open XDMoD – open source software that allows academic and industrial data centers to monitor usage and performance of their local CI and generate custom reports for their stakeholders
NetSage for ACCESS – an open source, privacy-aware network measurement, analysis and visualization service
XDMoD Data Analytics Framework/Jupyter Notebooks – provides an enhanced programming environment for researchers to analyze data from ACCESS resources
ACO
External Advisory Board – provides the Executive Council with advice on the various services
Executive Council – coordinated top-level inter-awardee governance in ACCESS
Communications – coordinates and facilitates the communication of program developments and science success to the broad community via monthly newsletters, press releases, social media and other means. Also facilitates communications internally to the program via the internal monthly newsletter and other mechanisms
Program Coordination – in addition to the Executive Council and External Advisory Board, the ACO supports many program-wide efforts to further mature the program. E.g., developing processes for Working Groups and Standing Committees, facilitating the development of program-wide goals, etc. In addition, the ACO provides a suite of tools to support program-wide coordination and management
2. Communications Schedule
Milestones
Date Milestone
May MS-CC, May 29–31 – Wash, DC
SGX3 Usability Study Report
June Quarterly Program Meeting (virtual)
July PEARC, July 21–24 – Providence, RI
BRICCS Conference (DATES)
International HPC Summer School (July 7–12) – Kobe, Japan
Unite 2023 UNCF Summit for Black Education, July 28–August 1 – Atlanta
Quarterly Reports
Refreshed ACCESS Advance and Inside ACCESS launch
August
September Quarterly Program Meeting, Pittsburgh
Tapia Conference, Sept 18–20 – San Diego
Campus Cyberinfrastructure* PI Workshop (DATES)
October Grace Hopper, October 8–11– Philadelphia
HBCU Conference on Climate Change (DATES)
SACNAS, (Oct 31–Nov2) – Phoenix
Quarterly Reports
Meeting of NSF’s AI Institute PIs
November SC24, November 17–22 – Atlanta
December Quarterly Program Meeting (virtual)
January Quarterly Reports
February STEP Applications open
March Quarterly Program Meeting (in–person, TBD)
Emerging Researchers Conference (March 14–15)
April Quarterly Reports
Annual Panel Reviews
Communications Plan
Schedule | Milestone/Messaging | Channel (website, newsletters, email, social media, event) | Owner | Metrics |
May 2024 |
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June 2024 |
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n/a
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July 2024 |
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August 2024 |
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September 2024 |
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October 2024 |
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n/a
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n/a
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November 2024 |
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December 2024 |
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January 2024 |
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February 2024 |
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March 2024 |
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April 2024 |
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