The Issue Calendar: a reflection after thirteen years of publication
Zero Waste Week, World Deaf Day, Coming Out Day, Buy Nothing New Month and the Week of the Disabled Child: a selection of the 502 days that will be on our agenda in 2021. Issue calendar stood. The Issue Calendar has been published for years and we are now working hard on realizing the next edition of the annual overview. After 13 successful issues, we think it is time to look back: How did the Issue Calendar come about? What do organizations think of their inclusion on the calendar and what do our employees think of the moments on the Issue Calendar? In this blog we explain the answers to these questions and various employees and organizations have their say, including managing partners Mayke and Sybrig van Keep.
What is the Issue Calendar?
The Issue Calendar is an annual calendar with all days, weeks and months of the year on which attention is drawn to social issues. The Issue Calendar provides a platform for anyone who wants to put a social issue on the agenda and sets up a day, week, month or year for this purpose.
There are a lot of “days/weeks/months of…” in the year. That is why it was decided to only put the moments on the calendar that are aimed at putting an issue on the agenda. The following five criteria have therefore been devised: it must have a clear social purpose, there must be a person or organization that organizes the moment, it must be repeated annually, the issue must be active or well-known in the Netherlands and it must not only have commercial objectives. to have.
How did the Issue Calendar come about?
Mayke says that the Issue Calendar was created when the Issuemakers company had just been founded. At the time, people found the name Issuemakers quite strange, because they associated issues with the English word for problems. An issue is a subject that plays a role in society with supporters and opponents and that has many emotions surrounding it, says Sybrig. After seeing an international annual calendar with an overview of campaigns, the idea was born to create a Dutch calendar with social issues. That idea emerged in December 2009 and a few weeks later, in January 2010, the first Issue Calendar was printed.
This year we are once again working hard on the issue calendar. A team of three people have been busy over the past few weeks checking the dates on which the issue days will be held in 2022, so that the correct dates are included. Intern Lisanne likes to see that many different disciplines are working to draw attention to their own themes: “This way you get to know what the most important topics are from all kinds of disciplines.” Fenna Mahler, an assistant who also works on the Issue Calendar, appreciates the work because she learns a lot about all the days that are organized: “It gives me confidence in the world that so much attention is drawn to essential topics.”
How has the Issue Calendar changed over the years?
The concept of the Issue Calendar has remained fairly stable in the thirteen years since its introduction. One of the biggest changes is the increase in the number of issue moments. In 2009, the Issue Calendar started with 187 items, while this number has increased to 502 on the 2022 Issue Calendar. One reason for this is that issue owners really want to be on the Issue Calendar with their moment, thinks Desiree Kemme, our office manager. According to Mayke, more days are now being organized because they have taken on a more social approach. Many organizations organize several days a year and there are even organizations that organize the same moments twice a year. For example, the National Burglary Prevention Weeks and the Week of Our Water are both organized twice a year – in the spring and in the autumn. Another change is the digitization of the Issue Calendar, says Sybrig. In the past, customers of the annual overview often asked why we don't put the calendar online. To meet this demand, it was later decided to make an online version available in addition to the printed Issue Calendar to make it easier for everyone to consult the moments and to provide background stories to the moments.
What do organizations think about (their appointment on) the Issue Calendar?
We receive positive feedback about the Issue Calendar from many organizations. Not only in terms of its use for hook-up moments in campaigns or by the media, but also for many organizations that appear on the Issue Calendar. The Issue Calendar hangs in many offices every year, something we are very proud of. The feedback that the person ultimately responsible for the Issue Calendar, Desiree, receives from many companies is that communication professionals like to use the calendar and find it very useful.
Several organizations that we have approached to write this blog are very pleased with the inclusion of their moment on the Issue Calendar. One of these is Foodwatch, which draws attention to the amount of sugar that everyone eats with the Sugar Max Day. Foodwatch says about the inclusion on the Issue Calendar: “We consider it an honor to be on the calendar! The Issue Calendar always hangs in our Foodwatch office, where we colorfully highlight all issues related to food and include them in our campaign planning.”
Paula Kragten of the Bloedserieus campaign is also very happy with the mention. The campaign aims to inform people throughout the month of November about the causes and treatment options for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB). In 2022, the month of HMB will appear on the Issue Calendar for the second time. For Kragten, the mention feels like confirmation that it is a strong, justified campaign. In addition, it is nice for them that many editors and bloggers use the Issue Calendar and the campaign receives extra attention as a result.
What do employees find the most enjoyable or most important issue on the Issue Calendar?
Of course, all issues on the calendar are important – otherwise there would be no need to mention them. However, it does differ per person which issue appeals to them most. That's why we thought it would be fun to map out what Issuemakers employees think about the activities on the Issue Calendar.
There are many different opinions within the office. For example, Desiree thinks the Night of the Refugee is the most important. She herself has been active in this regard: she went on a walk during one of these nights and raised sponsorship money. Mayke's choice for the best issue on the calendar fits in well with this. She chooses the Warm Sweater Day because the day makes it clear what it stands for (preventing energy waste) and at the same time motivates people to take action themselves (by wearing a warm sweater). “It also shows emotion and the title is beautiful,” says Mayke.
Which topic is not yet mentioned on the calendar but should be included?
The Issue Calendar is not comprehensive. It may be that issues are not yet on the Issue Calendar, because attention has only recently been drawn to the issue, or because the organization has not yet been in contact with Issue Makers about a listing. At Issuemakers we always remain alert to new social issues that deserve to be included in the Issue Calendar. That is why Issuemakers asked employees which issue deserves more attention and should still be mentioned on the calendar. For example, Lisanne believes that more LGBTI+ issues deserve to appear on the calendar, such as Pride Month. Mayke thinks Earth Overshoot Day is a very nice concept, where your own CO2footprint is calculated. This day is of course different for everyone and therefore unfortunately cannot be included in the Issue Calendar.
Several Issuemakers also have new ideas for organizing a new 'day of'. A very interesting response came from Desiree, who, after watching a documentary about stalking, discovered that a day on which people are asked to take action against stalking is still missing. Mayke is still missing a Day against Ethnic Profiling and Sybrig notes that a Day for the Politician is still missing. Because of the important work they do for our society, which involves insults and sometimes even threats, she believes politicians deserve to be put in the spotlight for a day.
