public relations and press manual for event promotion

niversity Public Relations and Press Manual for Event Promotions Produced by: Hillary Bonner Modified: Fall 2004 U A O ctivities rganization BGSU Bowling Green State University I UAO Table of Contents Introduction What’s this all about? An explanation of what this manual says and does. Public Relations A guide to the how’s and why’s of dealing with the media. Fliers Where to put them and how to make them. Alternative Routes Other methods to attract attention. Conclusion Now get out there and promote! Appendix Examples, explanations and how-to’s. 20 19 13 1 II 21 II UAO Introduction Knowledge of promotions, public relations and audience is key to the success of any event. What good is an event that is not publicized, that has no audience? It holds no value and no incentive to consider similar events in the future. Consider this: A band comes to play a UAO event. Students and people in the community like this band and its music.  e band visited bars in Bowling Green several times before and has successfully drawn hundreds of people. For this event, however, there are no articles in the paper, only a few fl iers scattered throughout campus and no real publicity executed.  e event is a fl op with sparse attendance and a community outrage when, the week after, there is a review of the show and people fi nd out that a band they like was here and they were not informed. UAO now has a disgruntled community to deal with who discounts UAO as an organization who wastes money on events with no attendance.  e above situation is hypothetical, however, it could have been avoided through proper promotional techniques.  roughout the following pages are ways to promote events and be attentive to a diverse audience in order to get the most out of each event UAO chooses to hold.  ese means do not stop the day of the show. Press releases, fl iers, radio and newspaper advertisements and e-mail alerts are all good ways of getting a head start on promotions. Publicity should begin weeks or months prior to the event, depending on the size, and continue afterward by gathering audience feedback.  e diverse BGSU community is paying for these events indirectly.  ey should have a say in where the money is going. In short, promotions are as important as the actual event itself. If the people are interested in the event and they are notifi ed, they will come. However, if they are not familiar with the band or movie, but it is in their face enough, they will also come. Hype is the key to success in the world of event planning and promotion.  is manual will explain proper techniques in promoting an event or organization. It will distinguish the good from the bad in the worlds of fl ier design and placement, press release content and construction and media kit inclusion and design. It will also explain alternate routes to promotion and give examples and details on how you can make your organization or event stand out above the rest. Public relations are an integral part of any promotional plan. Consider it free publicity. Press releases, relationships with an organization’s publics and event relations management are all important to the success of an event. According to Reporting for the Media Seventh Edition, public relations is “planned and continuous communication designed to project a positive image about an organization, an issue or a product to the public. “ It is important because, through this avenue, an organization establishes good relationships with the media and its publics. Key elements to eff ective public relations include media-friendly press re- leases, media kits describing the organization and its goals as well as posters, brochures and pamphlets.  e key to public relations? Be yourself, but do it professionally. People like to think they matter, so if you do not think they do, then maybe you should think about using a different outlet to advertise. Be sincere when dealing with the public, tough when dealing with the media, and understanding when dealing with your peers and the others who are helping this event take-off . Use visuals whenever possible to get your point across on paper. Make people believe that your organization is “hip” without having to open your mouth. But, most of all do not fall behind in your public relations plan. If you are the only one assigned to an event, your plate is full for the next fi ve weeks. Do not try to pile everything into the last week. You will be dealing with other people’s schedules (the media, for example), and if you try to cram, everything will fall apart. 1 1 UAO Public Relations Fedler, Bender, Davenport, Drager. Reporting for the Media; Seventh Edition. New York. Oxford University Press, Inc., 2001. p. 471. 1 2 UAO Public Relations Elements of PublicRelations Audience Feedback Good Media Relations Fixing the Bad Stuff Sample Public Relations Plan A Timeline How and When it Should be Done Press Releases Contact Info Timeliness Journalistic Style Formatting Media Kits Formatting Content 3 4 6 10 3 UAO Elements of PR  e individual in charge of public relations for an organization should establish and keep good relations with its publics and the media.  ese relationships, if kept well, are essential to on-going event attendance and media publications. How to establish and keep relations Gain audience feedback via the following: Post a comments link to the website to gain feedback on past and upcoming events. UAO works with a diverse audience so fi nding out what events students and faculty are interested in and then following through on those activites is a great way to ensure attendance. Encourage students and faculty to come to UAO’s offi ce. Provide them with comment cards or feedback forms to fi nd out what they enjoyed and what they would like to see from UAO in the future. How to develop good media relations Keep press releases professional and in journalistic format. Be consistent. Once a press release is formatted, keep it that way.  is develops a media familiarity with the organization and helps the editors recognize a release from your organization at fi rst glance. Purchase advertisements through media that gives you coverage on a regular basis, like BGNews How to fi x the bad stuff If an event becomes controversial or openly upsets a portion of the publics or media, address the issue immediately. Send out press releases explaining how and why events are chosen. If a group of people is upset by the event, send an apology and possibly off er them free tickets to the next event or some other form of compensation for the misunderstanding. Be apologetic, but stand your ground. Explain why UAO chose that event. 4 UAO Sample PR Plan Sample Public Relations Plan A good public relations plan should begin as soon as your event is planned and the execution is underway. Remain ahead of the game, but do not get too far ahead. For example, if UAO is hosting a concert and promotion begins before the band is completely fi nalized, the risk of the band backing out is a possible PR disaster. To save the embarrassment and other repercussions of announcing an event that might not happen, wait until the plans are fi nalized and then begin promoting it about fi ve weeks prior to the event. On the following pages are rough guidelines for a good public relations plan. Five Weeks Prior to the Event Begin advertisement and fl ier design.  ese designs should be completed, with the fl iers at the printer before the end of the fi rst week of advertising. Decide where you will advertise (WBGU,  e BGNews, etc.) and contact them to fi nd out how much it will cost, what size space you will need, when the ad will run, etc. Write press releases and decide which media vehicles you will use for this event (i.e.  e BGNews). If you have time, you should contact the vehicle(s) to give them a heads-up on the release. Three Weeks Prior to the Event Send press releases to the decided vehicles. Begin posting fl iers on and around campus. Send advertisements to the media you decided upon and be sure they are at the size and standards you discussed previously. Two Weeks Prior to the Event Follow up with the vehicle(s) that received your press releases. Check to see if they have any questions and be sure that your story is going to run. Also, fi nd out when it will run. Check on your advertisements to ensure that they were correct and that payment was received. 5 UAO Sample PR Plan One Week Prior to the Event Flier intensively for the event. Get as many of your people as possible around campus with small handbills and word-of-mouth advertising. Send out an e-mail to UAO’s list proc, the university’s listproc if you have access to it, and Marketing and Communications highlighting the upcoming event and listing a schedule of other events in the future . Design and print handbills with a schedule of upcoming UAO events and meeting times on them. If you have a large event coming up, dedicate one side of the fl ier to that event and the other to a schedule. At the Event UAO members and friends should canvass the event with the handbills for upcoming events. Place clipboards strategically around the venue (at doors, on merchandise and refreshment booths, etc.).  e clipboards should have UAO pens with them and should have an e-mail list sign up on them for UAO’s web list. If possible, set up a UAO information table at one or more of the entrances to promote upcoming shows and off er info on UAO, membership opportunities and objectives. Include comment cards on this table, asking people what they think about this event and what they would like to see in the future. Encourage them to visit the website.  ere should also be novelty items available to the public which are described more in detail in the Alternate Routes section of this manual. The Week Following the Event Send out an e-mail containing the following: Construct a survey asking those attended if they had a good time, what the organization could have done diff erently, if they would like to see the band, speaker or event return to campus, if not, why?, etc. Set up an auto reply to thank those who participated in the survey. Make them believe their opinion matters and UAO will try to incorporate those opinions. Follow their directions. Make the changes the majority wants to see, within reasonable limits. Use journalistic style  e best way to ensure publication of a release is to write the release with little need for editing.  is way the editors do not have to spend a lot of time on the organization’s media release. Include the most pertinient information in the fi rst paragraph.  is paragraph should include the who, what, where, when, why and how of the event it is announcing.  is fi rst sentence or two is called the lead. Refer to an Associated Press Style Guide for journalistic style guidelines.  ese guidelines are universally used by media and news organizations and the use of these leave little need for editing.  e stylebook can be found in the bookstore or the BGNews offi ce. Do not use fl are! Keep the new release objective as opposed to fl owery. It is diffi cult to do this if the writer is excited about the event or organization, but news writing is objective. So, to better the chances of publication, keep the release about the event itself and not about how great it will be. 2 UAO Press Releases Key Elements For an Effective Press Release Provide correct and apparent contact information List name of contact person, their phone number and e-mail, the organization’s web address and physical address Contact info should be located parallel to the organization’s logo at the top of the page Be timely  e person in charge of the news release should know the deadlines of the media he/she is working with and should send it via e-mail or fax in order to ensure prompt delivery and publication of the article  e release should read the date for release above or below the contact information. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE is typically the best way to ensure the release is not lost in the shuffl e 6 UAO Press Releases Key Elements For an Effective Press Release Provide correct and apparent contact information List name of contact person, their phone number and e-mail, the organization’s web address and physical address. Contact info should be located parallel to the organization’s logo at the top of the page. Be timely  e person in charge of the news release should know the deadlines of the media he/she is working with and should send it via e-mail or fax in order to ensure prompt delivery and publication of the article.  e release should read the date for release above or below the contact information. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE is typically the best way to ensure the release is not lost in the shuffl e. Journalistic Style Guidelines A glossary outlining the boldfaced journalistic terms can be found in Appendix B. 7 UAO Press Releases Key Elements For an Effective Press Release Format properly Contact information FOR IMMEDIATE RELEAASE Headline or title should be centered in all caps just above the body of the text.  e headline should sum up the story without using more than two lines.  e headline should be single-spaced and the body should be 1.5 spaces. Begin body of the news release one-third of the way down the page. Ty pe “ —more—“ at the bottom of the page if the release is more than one page. At the top of each proceeding page a slug line should appear. Ty pe “ end” at the end of the release. Formatting Guidelines  e following two pages display some good and bad elements of an eff ective press release. For more examples of press release formatting, content and structural guidelines, please refer to Appendix A. [...]... like these and no one will forget UAO! Conclusion 20 UAO The knowledge of promotions, public relations and audience in this manual is key to the success of any event Now that you hold this knowledge you can promote any event to any crowd and make it a success! Consider this: A band comes to play a UAO event Students and people in the community have never heard of this band or its music For this event, ... upcoming events and previous press The kit should be graphically simple, yet pleasing, and should remain between two to three pages Formatting Page one A short history and explanation of the organization The organization’s goals and services to the publics it serves Page two An outline of the organization’s past, present and future events Keep this to the larger and more affluent events Also, on-going events,... the ways UAO spends their money Do not forget to gain their feedback Find out what they want to see and hear Imbed the UAO image and logo into the minds of all students and faculty through consistency and continuous exposure Follow the timeline for promoting an event and watch the ticket sales soar! Hype is the key to success in the world of event planning and promotion Appendix A 21 UAO The following... should have a feel and a pizzazz to which people can relate For example, a “black and white movie night” flier should look antique and capture the feel of a black and white movie from the colors, logo, and font choice A person who likes black and white movies will be attracted to the flier before they even read the content If you pull them in with the design, they will read the flier, and chances are better... BGNews, fliers scattered throughout campus and downtown and handbills with the event information on them on every table in every building on campus The event is a complete success with sold-out tickets and a community in love with the music UAO has introduced to them The week after, there is a buzz around campus about the next UAO event The UAO now has an informed community who revels at UAO’s ability... University Hall and Moseley Hall The pin boards in the Union Fliers 16 UAO Handbilling The absolute best way to spread the word through fliers is hand billing Hand billing occurs when you give everyone in the organization a stack of hand bills and turn them loose on their fellow students This allows for instant feedback and guaranteed delivery of the message Also, people tend to stuff a hand bill in their... fridge Hand these out at UAO events and information tables, in the Union, around campus and downtown on the weekends Everyone loves free stuff! Some other ideas Throw frisbees at unsuspecting students on campus with a UAO schedule taped to the underside and UAO’s logo printed on top Give away free UAO stickers in abundance put them everywhere! Hand out goodie bags filled with candy and UAO schedules Ask Freddie,... These stands are typically wallpapered with fliers for every event, meeting, speaker or lunch special imaginable How will any one of them stand out or grab the attention of passer-bys? They meld into one another and each becomes a “wallflower.” Outlined in this section are ways to make UAO’s fliers stand out against the rest using color techniques, logo placement, and type settings that will stand out... bold and all capital letters centered at the top of the page This should be a one to two line summation of the story Broiler Plate A broiler plate should appear at the bottom of each press release It should contain information about the organization’s origin, history and obligations to the public Press Releases 9 UAO Flare Be objective when writing for the news Inserting things that talk up the event. .. that will at least give the reader a feel for what you are all about Here are some points you can include: Plans: Let the reader know what you’ve got on the burner for the next couple months History: How was the organization formed? When? What bands have played for your organization? Speakers? What special events do you do? Press Clippings If you’ve gotten press coverage in the past, its important . event stand out above the rest. Public relations are an integral part of any promotional plan. Consider it free publicity. Press releases, relationships with an organization’s publics and event. establish and keep good relations with its publics and the media.  ese relationships, if kept well, are essential to on-going event attendance and media publications. How to establish and keep relations . University Press, Inc., 2001. p. 471. 1 2 UAO Public Relations Elements of PublicRelations Audience Feedback Good Media Relations Fixing the Bad Stuff Sample Public Relations Plan A Timeline How and