Every Story and Event has a Beginning, Middle and End.
Since the days of watching Sesame Street in my grandma's living room, I've known this about a story. Sixteen years of schooling later, this same structure still applies. Only now, you can use it to promote an event, host a contest or look smart in front of your peers.
Early in my career, a mentor taught me to look at promoting an event the same way I looked at a story when I was young – only without the mismatched clothes and belief that boys have cooties.
This is the very beginning. These are the opening lines.
There are very few reasons to wait until the day of your event to start promoting it. Great events, like great stories, have to have a strong opening. If you’re hosting a contest, announce you are accepting applications. If you’re getting ready for the best rodeo south of Prescott, make sure you’re listed on local calendars. You can also host a preview for local TV crews or create a way to go in-studio the week before the event. You’ll need solid visuals for TV, so remember to include ideas of how you can represent your event visually in your pitch. Ideally, you want to start this process at least a month out, giving you time to secure segments on weekend and lifestyle shows. If you have the luxury of more time, start by pitching the calendar sections of long lead magazines that appeal to your target audience and work from there.
This is the middle of the story. It’s where we get to the meat.
The meat is the event itself. Most of the time, this is the easy part – invite news crews to a great event (and by great, I mean an event that has strong visuals, is close to the city, feels unique, and has community interest and support), and barring any unforeseen breaking news, it will likely get coverage. Once camera crews are at your event, make it easy for them to put a news package together. Know where the interesting visuals are and have people on hand to discuss the details. To increase the quality of your coverage, invite traveling weather reporters to broadcast live from your location the morning of the event, and remember to take your camera. If reporters are unable to attend, especially from local community publications, you can send them photos after the event for them to run.
This is the end of the story. This is how it all worked out.
After the event, it’s all about results. Was your event a midnight premier? Send out a photo of the lines along with how many people attended. Did you host a charity event? Announce how much money you raised and how that money will be used. Did elementary students go on a shopping spree to benefit their school or a nonprofit? Ask them to write letters to the editor about their experience or to go in-studio to talk about how it made them feel. To summarize, choose the most interesting or successful part of your event and spread the word.
Beginning. Middle. End. The more events I help promote, the more I recognize the importance of pitching strategy in this structure. It significantly increases your chances of quality coverage and reduces the disappointment of breaking news trumping your event the day it takes place. Which makes for a pretty great epilogue and always increases your chances at a sequel.
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