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PROMOTE YOUR EVENT |
| Getting press coverage is critical to advertise your event
and bring awareness to your organization. National Trails Day®
2007 was an enormous success due to the press coverage in national and local
media outlets (including The Washington Post, Backpacker magazine, and National
Geographic Adventure) all across the U.S. Through broad media coverage in 2007,
NTD reached nearly 126 million Americans. |
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| SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING PRESS RELEASES: |
| 1. Be very clear and very specific. |
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| 2. Have the lead paragraph cover the Who, What, When, Where,
and Why — keep it brief and to the point. The body of your press release should
elaborate on the lead and may include quotes and background information. At the
end put the least important information. |
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| 3. Bring out a unique angle. |
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| SUGGESTIONS TO GET MEDIA ATTENTION: |
| 1. Submit your press release to the newspaper in the manner
they prefer (e-mail, fax, or mail). Call the newspaper to get the name of
the contact who handles your type of event and find out their preferred
method of receiving press releases. |
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| 2. Two places in newspapers with wide visibility
are the Letters to the Editor and the public notices where you can write a
letter thanking your volunteers — this doesn’t advertise your event in advance,
but submitting a letter here will bring awareness to your organization. |
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3. Follow up with a phone call. First ask if they have time to talk; be
prepared for a curt reply since they are very busy and on a time schedule. Have
the message points written out and have your press release handy. Prime calling
hours are 9:00 to 12:00; the worst is in the afternoon when their deadlines are
due.
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| Use the following links to learn more on writing
and submitting press releases or Op Ed pieces as well as to view samples:
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