Public Relations: Your ticket to chapter success

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Public Relations Your ticket to chapter success
Danielle Povar, ASTD PR Specialist
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• Introductions
• Why is PR important?
• Role of PR chapter leader
• Creating and maintaining media lists
• Interacting with the media
• Group activity
• Press releases
• ASTDs 2005 PR Awareness Campaign
• QA

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Please share

• Your name
• Your chapters name
• Your position in your chapter
• One PR challenge that you face

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Why is Public Relations important?

• What can PR achieve for my ASTD Chapter?
• Is PR really that different from advertising?
• Advertising purchased
• PR earned
• How do the PR efforts of ASTDs headquarters
  help increase membership within my chapter?

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Role of the PR/Communications chapter leader

• Liaison to other members
• Coordinate communications messages and activities
• Use internal and external vehicles
• Newsletter
• Email
• Website
• Press releases
• Direct mail
• Annual report

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Interacting with the Media

• Creating media lists
• General contact information
• Beats, preferred methods of contact
• Maintaining lists
• Beats and titles change often
• Maintaining relationships
• Small towns vs. big metropolitan areas

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• Pitching
• Phone calls (proactive and reactive)
• Emails (proactive and reactive)
• Direct mail

• Interviews
• Be overly prepared
• Do not rush to answer questions
• Only speak on topics that you are truly
  knowledgeable about

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Four keys to working with the media

• Understand the publication and audience
• Understand deadlines
• Make the reporters job easier
• Follow-up

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Group Activity

• Pitching to the media
• Craft a 1-minute telephone pitch about a
  well-known speaker who will be presenting at your
  next chapter meeting. Pretend that you are
  pitching to a business/daily publication in your
  area (not trade-specific), so it must appeal to
  the general public.
• We will report out after you have time to write
  your script.

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Other PR Opportunities

• Awards programs

• Promote well-known speakers

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Press Releases

• Proper formatting
• Essential components
• Four Ws
• WIIFM (And why does it matter to my readers?)
• Media contact information

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For Immediate Release ASTD Media Contacts
Jennifer Homer 703.683.8123 jhomer_at_astd.org Danie
lle Povar 703.683.9586 dpovar_at_astd.org For the
United States Navy, Revolutionary Training
Initiatives Ensure Sailor Readiness Increased
learning opportunities may encourage more sailors
to reenlist (Alexandria, VA) August 1, 2005
When the U.S. Navy prepares its workforce to
operate in todays dynamic environment, training
and education are top priorities. The article
Trainings New Wave from the August issue of
Training Development (TD) magazine, published
by the American Society for Training
Development (ASTD), discusses the Navys methods
for creating capable, effective sailors.
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• Distribution
• Every release should not go to every reporter on
  your list.
• Alternative to releases media advisory
• Great for chapter meetings

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ASTDs 2005 Awareness Campaign

• ASTD Employee Learning Week 2005
• Components
• Press releases
• Mailings to chapters and the media with marketing
  materials (brochures, stickers, info cards)
• Employee Learning Week webcast
• Website
• Materials distributed at ASTD conferences (ICE,
  ALC)

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Q A