April 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 60

Parks & reCreatIon at Work

Monitor and Maintain Online Press
Room Materials

Enhance Media Relations Outreach
Build stronger relationships with the editors and advertising managers of your
local parenting, entertainment, sports,
and tourism publications by remembering two important principles: Editors love
original content, and they are often short
on writers, resources, and time.

Parks & Recreation A P R I L

■■ ■Add

your editorial and advertising contacts to your customer e-newsletter database if you haven't already.
■■ ■Create a monthly or yearly editorial database that includes event calendar deadlines, things to do in the community, and
advertising cut-off dates for your local
print and online outlets.
■■ ■Maintain a department " library " with
back issues of family or community lifestyle magazines. They contain invaluable contact information for a variety of
interest areas.
■■ ■Uncover really local publications, such as
coffee house bulletins, homeowners association newsletters, or hotel concierge
desk flyers-and get to know the people
producing them.
■■ ■Connect with the editors of your chamber of commerce newsletter and website.
Their publications and business relocation
packets are reaching executives, entrepreneurs, community leaders.
■■ ■Browse grocery stores and shopping center distribution racks that provide free lifestyle, parenting, and cultural magazines
and newspapers.
■■ ■Look for digital editions of industry and
local publications-and check them regularly, looking for connections between
your agency's news and events and the
publication's area of interest.

2 0 1 2 w w w . N R P A . O R G

LIaM O'MaHOny is an Information

Specialist with the City of Chandler,
Arizona, Community Services
Department. He can be reached at
liam.o'mahony@chandleraz.gov. You can
follow @ChandlerRec on Twitter and ﬁnd
Chandler Recreation on Facebook and
YouTube.

branD X / thinkstock

great avenue for their writer to showcase
one of your events or programs.
■■ ■Offer to write a story or guest column, and
also consider doing it with a set frequency.
■■ ■Invite an editor or reporter for a " ride-along; " where they shadow you or another
staff member for a particular program or
event and look for " behind-the-scenes "
insights.
■■ ■Consider submitting historical briefs or
photos that correspond to a special event
or anniversary.
■■ ■Take advantage of free online event calendar listings provided by local news
outlets and parenting websites. Just remember to plan ahead 3-6 weeks for
the best chance to be published in time
to help promote your event.
■■ ■In addition to standard press releases,
send your media contacts a periodic " tip
sheet " or monthly summary that includes
recent awards, milestones, industry news,
and conference take-aways.

Make it a priority to update your existing
press packets or create new supplemental fact sheets, photo galleries, and facility FAQs to equip your online newsroom
with the most current information. Having
these materials in ready-made folders (as
well as in PDF form on your desktop) can
help you expedite information requests
and incorporating these tools into your
website will improve the search results
for your online newsroom.
■■ ■Ensure your online press kit with photos,
history, news releases, and management
bios is current.
■■ ■Build a media coverage archive to showcase positive features, event recaps, and
editorials.
■■ ■Keep your photo gallery and logos up to
date for quick media access.
Allocating resources for traditional media outreach remains an important aspect of a successful marketing plan that
is supplemented by effective social media
management. These relationship-building
forums are necessary to supplement online initiatives so as to address the different ways in which residents of all ages
gather their news and take action with
your organization. Having a balanced
two-tiered perspective of digital content
creation and direct communications with
your stakeholders will bolster your organization's brand. And, hopefully, this dual
approach will also prevent dreaded responses from surveys and customer service interactions such as: " I didn't know
you offered that program " ; or " I never
knew about that event. Did you advertise
it? "

April 2012 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2012 - Parks & Recreation