Global Pulse Day 2017 is Over!
January 18, 2017 was a day to remember for beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas. People around the globe gathered to celebrate these astonishing pulse crops — one of the final celebrations of the 2016 UN International Year of Pulses — to successfully raise awareness on the multiple benefits of consuming pulses for people and the planet.
Global Pulse Day exceeded all expectations: while last year’s Pulse Feast saw 141 events in 36 countries, this year’s celebrations broke the record of 225 events in 63 countries reaching 62 million impressions via social media.
From the 5 year old boy in Uttar Pradesh, India, who celebrated pulses by planting them in his backyard to a 96 years young grandfather cooking red lentils with fresh rosemary sprigs for his family living in a sustainable farm in South Georgia, there really is no age limit to be passionate about pulses.
We witnessed a great variety of events: some planned pulse-based staff events or parties with friends and families, others launched training for farmers or recipes promoting pulses, some hosted seminars on pulses or simply joined the social media campaign that day. We partnered with our Gourmet Gurus who shared tips to best integrate pulses in your diet through our blog.
The Pulse Feed took over www.pulses.org homepage with instant and live updates about all the events as they were being shared on social media.
Read the full social media report!
Read last year's report for Pulse Feast 2016
Details from Global Pulse Day 2017
#GlobalPulseDay #LovePulses
Description
January 18, 2017 will be the second ever Global Pulse Day, a global event to celebrate pulses and continue the momentum of the International Year of Pulses.
The first Pulse Feast took place on January 6, 2016, with 141 events spanning 36 countries, it reached 21 million people. Any event can qualify as a Global Pulse Day event from a family meal with pulses on the menu to a corporate party to a seminar on pulses. Anybody can participate in any corner of the globe and can share their Global Pulse Day event with the rest of the world by linking to the GPC IYP Secretariat either by posting information about your event and using the hashtag #GlobalPulseDay. There should be some form of live or recent coverage over 48 hours of January 18 covering the world’s time zones.
Objectives
- Encourage people around the world to eat pulses on January 18th.
- Create a global movement of endorsement/pledge to eat more pulses through social media
- Raise awareness on the benefits of consuming pulses for people and the planet
- Promote the idea of Global Pulse Day
- Continue the momentum of the International Year of Pulses 2016 (IYP2016)
Who can organize a Global Pulse Day event?
Anybody can host a Global Pulse Day event. The following target audiences would be best placed to host such an event as they are key actors in promoting pulses and may have already been involved in the 2016 Pulse Feast:
- GPC members organizations
- IYP National Committees members
- IYP Thematic Committee members
- Pulse growers
- Pulse traders
- Pulse manufacturers
- Pulse retailers
- Pulse researchers
- IYP suppliers
- Individuals
What kind of event can a Global Pulse Day event be?
- A family reunion
- Private party with friends
- Corporate party with employees and partners
- Seminar/Symposium/Event
- New Year’s party
- A meal at a restaurant
- Donations to a local food bank of pulses
- A song (or other artistic creation) in honor of pulses or your favorite pulse-based meal (many were recorded on Pulse Feast 2016)
Where can a Global Pulse Day event take place?
A Global Pulse Day event can take place anywhere but organizers should take in consideration any issues with regards to location permits. If you are planning on recording video/images at the location, check that the location allows filming in its Terms and Conditions. Here are a few examples of locations:
- Restaurant
- Company facility
- Company processing facility
- Someone’s home
- Event venue
- Public area
What are the requirements to be part of Global Pulse Day?
Global Pulse Day events can take the shape of any event organized by anyone in the world as long as it follows the following 4 requirements:
- Pulses have to be on the menu or be featured in your event/creation (any type of pulse, any type of meal, any type of cuisine, any type of catering)
- Make references to Global Pulse Day and encourage celebrations using the hashtag #GlobalPulseDay #LovePulses
- Be registered with us (please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register your event/happening)
- Share information about the event/happening/creation with the GPC IYP Secretariat: livestream video, recorded film, photos by using #GlobalPulseDay in your posts
There is no limitation on number of people (from 2 to 20,000) to be attending your event.
How can I share my Global Pulse Day event with the rest of the world?
We want Global Pulse Day to be known around the world and for people to see the creativity of Global Pulse Day organizers by having access to live and recorded images of all the events taking place around the world. Global Pulse Day will build in particular on social media to make sure that all events are shared widely and sometimes live or with little delay.
When designing your event, you should consider the following options:
- Use the Twitter hashtags #GlobalPulseDay #LovePulses to be sure to be recorded as part of our TINT feed (a social media aggregator)
- Capturing images of my event: any visual material that can be shared in social media will be of great use. Take pictures!
- Telling about your event: you can write a blog post before and after the event telling about why you are involved in celebrating pulses in 2017.
- Recording parts of my event: any type of video content (edited and non-edited) showing what your event looks like can be sent to us to be uploaded on social media platforms to be shared with us (#LovePulses @lovepulses is on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and pulses.org) including:
- A Vine
- A Video (using Periscope for instance)
It is very important that you take in consideration any Intellectual Property Rights:
Do you have consent? Get consent from anyone being shown on a video before featuring them (including parental consent if showing children)
Have you considered copyrights? Streaming artwork, logos, songs in the background, could be an inadvertent infringement of someone else’s intellectual property rights so keep this in mind.
What are the guidelines for promoting my Global Pulse Day event on Social Media?
Official hashtags: #GlobalPulseDay #LovePulses
Handle: @LovePulses
Include:
- Visuals (you can find royalty-free pictures on iyp2016.org under Resources section)
- Recipes
- Videos
Examples of tweets:
- Let’s make this year count — Eat pulses on January 18th #GlobalPulseDay
- I’m pledging to eat more pulses in 2017 and hosting a #GlobalPulseDay event on January 18th
- I’m having a #GlobalPulseDay event by eating pulses on January 18th
- I #lovepulses and so do my friends so join us on January 18th and watch our #GlobalPulseDay event in celebration of #GlobalPulseDay
We will be using TINT, a social media aggregator, to centralize all Global Pulse Day events on a single page with information coming from users all over the world across all social media platforms (15 platforms can be supported including the most popular: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest). Our main website, pulses.org, will feature Global Pulse Day prominently with a homepage takeover of the TINT flow of posts.
How can I get help to organize and promote my Global Pulse Day event?
Coordinating with the GPC IYP secretariat is essential to make sure that we can continue the momentum of 2016. Make sure you contact us throughout, and don’t hesitate to ask our guidance if you have any doubts.
Please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions, and don’t forget to use the secretariat to promote your pulse-related activities, including your launch event:
- STEP 1: Submit your event by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- STEP 2: Include our websites and social media channels on your event website if you have one: pulses.org
- STEP 3: Share your news. Send us your launch related news and hashtags to include in pulses.org.
- STEP 4: Share your event material (video, photos, posts) and we will prepare share it on our TINT page.
