1

Forward With Fusion

Sammi Johnston

Andre Peterson

Brock Davis

Valerie Paniagua

Salt Lake Community College

 2

Purpose/Objective

There are a lot of good and easy topics to pick when you have a school project in your

business communications class. However, our group did not want to go that route just because it

is easier. We chose a topic that we are actually interested in. None of us are nuclear energy

scientists, honestly, we don’t know that much. But, we really wanted to do a project where we

could learn. The purpose of our project is to learn more ourselves so we can teach and bring

awareness to others in a way that will speak to them as well. Our objective may look a little

different since nuclear energy is such a big, heavy topic, but we believe that if we can educate

ourselves, we will be able to teach others around us and that would make a huge impact.

Audience Analysis

The purpose of this section is to identify the demographics and psychographics of the

students of Salt Lake Community College. It will then proceed to connect this information in a

meaningful way as well as demonstrate how it will affect our final project.

Demographics

· Majors

o 42.7% of SLCC students are general education majors. (Salt Lake Community

College, 2020)

· Gender

o The female to male ratio at SLCC is 1.15:1. (Salt Lake Community College,

2020)
 3

o The largest age group at SLCC consists of those who are under 18. In that

group there are 761 more female students than male students. (Salt Lake

Community College, 2020)

o 6 out of the 9 age groups listed at SLCC possess a majority of female students.

(Salt Lake Community College, 2020)

· Age

o The average age at SLCC is 22. (Salt Lake Community College, 2020)

o The largest age group of the students who attend SLCC consists of those who

are 18 and under. They make up 22.8% of the student body. (Salt Lake

Community College, 2020)

o 83% of the students who attend SLCC are of the age of 29 or younger. (Salt

Lake Community College, 2020)

· Geographical

o 6.68% of students live outside of the Salt Lake area. (Salt Lake Community

College, 2020)

o The majority of students live in or around Salt Lake County. (Salt Lake

Community College, 2020)

o The highest concentration of students live in West Jordan, Herriman, and

Riverton. These three areas make up 12% of the student body at SLCC. (Salt Lake

Community College, 2020)

· Religion

o 66% of the residents of Utah identify as Christians. (Kikprop, 2018)

o 4% of the residents of Utah identify as non Christian. (Kikprop, 2018)

 4

o 22% of the residents of Utah are unaffiliated. (Kikprop, 2018)

o 1% of the residents of Utah are unsure about their religious views. (Kikprop,

2018)

Psychographics

We came up with 5 questions that we felt would best represent the psychographics of

SLCC students as well as inform our Assertions Video. We surveyed thirty students currently

enrolled at SLCC. Their responses are recorded after the following questions.

· Would you consider yourself to be a visual learner, an audio learner, or both?

o 43% of students responded that they consider themselves to be more visual

type learners.

o 14% of students responded that they consider themselves to be more audio type

learners.

o 43% of students responded that they considered themselves to be both.

· Do you think that climate change is an issue?

o 83% of students responded yes.

o 17% of students responded no.

· On a scale from 1-5 how much do you know about nuclear energy?

o 23% of students responded 1.

o 37% of students responded 2.

o 37% of students responded 3

o 0% of students responded 4.

o 3% of students responded 5.

· Are you interested in learning more about nuclear energy?

 5

o 77% of students responded yes.

o 23% of students responded no.

· What length of video are you most likely to watch about an informative topic?

Under 3 minutes, under 5 minutes, or under 10 minutes?

o 13% of students responded under 3 minutes.

o 47% of students responded under 5 minutes.

o 40% of students responded under 10 minutes.

Analysis

One of the biggest conclusions we pulled from SLCC demographics is how young the

audience will be, the largest age group is under 18. Our medium for presentation will be geared

towards Gen Z and Millennials. Females make a larger portion of the student body, we don’t

want to make gender generalizations but there is an element of being more empathetic and

caring, we will try to appeal to pathos or emotions of the audience. From the Psychographics we

had most people preferring an audio/visual format (like a YouTube video or PowerPoint) five

minutes and under. A large percentage of the people we surveyed care about climate change and

are interested in learning more about nuclear energy, so we know there is a definite interest on

the subject in our target audience.

Messaging Goals

In our survey we found that there is a general interest in nuclear energy, but not a lot of

knowledge or confidence in the subject. Most of the world including in the United States, nuclear

energy comes with a stigma due to unprecedented disasters. We want to make a clear distinction
 6

between the types of nuclear energy. Gaining more awareness and educating people on the

benefits of exploring nuclear options as a source of energy.

Key Messages

o Distinguish difference between Nuclear Fission vs. Fusion.

When most people think of nuclear energy they are thinking of nuclear fission. That is

how current active nuclear plants get most of their energy. Nuclear fission is pretty much

the opposite and has a. way smaller waste footprint. But there needs to be serious

investment in research and development in order to make nuclear fusion possible.

o Renewable Energy can’t save the planet.

Renewable energy like solar, wind and hydroelectric is often touted as the path to

stopping global warming. The negative repercussions are rarely discussed, however.

Solar panels require a large amount of surface area and limited lifespan with no specific

plan for disposal. Wind turbines pose an ecological threat to bird species in particular

birds of prey that are an essential part of the ecosystem. Hydroelectric power can be

expensive with low returns and is susceptible to droughts. Other options must be explored

because relying entirely on renewables is not feasible.

o Investing in nuclear fusion could be the dawn of a new era.

Much like how the industrial revolution pushed humanity into an unprecedented amount

of growth for humanity; nuclear fusion would catapult us into new technology that could

alleviate the amount of environmental stress that’s been placed on the planet.
 7

o We need to think ahead to future generations

We are not living consequence free from the use of carbon-based fuels. Effects on our

environment are clear but they are snowballing to the point of no return for the planet.

With the exponential growth of the human population, the resources on earth will not be

able to sustain us for more than a couple of generations.

Channels/Deliverables

Our channels of communication were chosen with widespread accessibility in mind. Given that

our topic is a matter that involves future generations and humanity as a whole, it is a priority to

make it available to as many people as possible. Our target demographic skews disproportionally

young, having mostly internet-based channels over print is vital.

Website

o A website is a great central platform to showcase our other channels and facilitate

communication with audience and experts in the field.

Podcast

We have Contacted the ITER organization and requested an interview with one of

the scientists or professionals. We were pointed in the direction of Mark Henderson, one

of the leading physicists on the reactor project. With the podcast format we hope to

achieve 3 of the following tasks: A greater understanding of nuclear energy for the

uninformed, a thorough understanding of the project's progress and goals, and a critical

question and answer session relating to critiques and concerns. We will be using a video

call program and recording audio and video for post production editing. We are still
 8

debating to have all 4 of us in the interview or just 2. This is pending due to the decision

of the program we will use.

Flyers

o Although this is a global issue, our target demographic is SLCC alumni. We would

like to push the message locally to kickstart interest.

Tactical Plan

What? Who? When?

STRATEGIC PLAN

Budget + Audience Analysis Brock Nov. 8th

Messaging goals,channels etc. Val Nov 8th

Purpose/Objective Andre Nov. 8th

Conclusion + Branding Guide Sammi Nov. 8th

Coordinate interview w/Mark Andre Nov. 8th

DELIVERABLES

Podcast/ Sound Andre TBD

Website Val TBD

Flyers/Pitch Brock TBD

Compile Q’s for Podcast Andre TBD

 9

Budget

Description Estimated Price Funding Source

Flyers 20$ Class printing budget

(5 dollars per group member)

Branding Guide

Fonts: Chewy for Headers with 25-40 size, Merriweather for plain text size 12, Lato for

captions or lists can be smaller sized <12.

Colors:

Teal, Navy Blue, Yellow, White, Orange

Slogan: Fusion or bust, go nuclear, save the earth, recreating the sun, forward with fusion

Conclusion

In conclusion, we believe that there are more options out there for energy. Even though we can’t

make the big decisions or experiments, we can educate others and get everyone on the same page

with nuclear energy. This could change the world and give energy to generations for billions of

years.

References
 10

Kikprop, V. (2018, February 18). Major Religions Practiced in Utah.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-religious-composition-of-the-

adult-population-of-utah.html.

Salt Lake Community College. (2020). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from

http://performance.slcc.edu/Factbook/2019-

20/B_student_demographics/index.html