Delsea Regional High School in Gloucester County, New Jersey hosted a public relations seminar for Gloucester County schools and news media outlets.
Here are the notes provided following the successful session. Anyone wanting more information may contact larry@larrylitwin.com. Much of what was discussed is availble in Litwin’s two books available on www.larrylitwin.com, digitally from Amazon for the Kindle, iPad and iPhone and at better book stores everywhere.
Public Relations Seminar Notes – December 6, 2010
Speakers – M. Larry Litwin, APR, Fellow PRSA, Rowan University Associate Professor, Public Relations/Advertising
John Barna, Editor, Gloucester County Times
Resources:
Website – www.larrylitwin.com.
Student Resources Heading – handouts pertaining to audience engagement
Workshops/PowerPoints Heading -numerous detailed PowerPoints that contain information relevant to what we do every day.
Books – The ABCs of Strategic Communication by M. Larry Litwin
The Public Relations Practioner’s Playbook by M. Larry Litwin
Questions – How to Best Share Story and Get Media Attention?
How to Market Press Releases
How Do Schools Know Appropriate Person?
What is Hierarchy of Each News Media?
65-85% of news is PR generated
Keep media list up-to-date
#1 – Relationship – Develop relationships
#2-Knowing News
#3 Knowing Deadlines
Accuracy, Timeliness
Accessibility
Communicate from inside-out
Patch.com (AOL initiative – community journalism) – opportunity for schools to celebrate community – West Deptford will be soon included.
Make videos available to news – Jim Six – handles video content from GCT
School Budget Questions
How can schools sell budgets with 2 % cap?
News release approach
Electronic release (multi-platform approach – blogs, twitter, Facebook)
Need strong, strategic message – short message
Sit down with reporter before school board meeting where budget is released. Give them the information and then follow-up
Remember information on website – 30% do not scroll to bottom of page – important message needs to be at beginning
Public education #1 commodity
United front from teachers and administrators
Turn around negatives and make them positives
Strategic message for seniors – Support education for your grandchildren
How can schools inform public without information seeming like a threat?
1. Share reality of what will happen if budget does not pass.
Identify Yes Voters
Labor Intensive – but relatively new (for school communicators) One-to-One (1-1) Marketing is effective
2. Gaining, maintaining and enhancing public support as we move forward is just one of our challenges. Our taxpayers must be reminded, “We are in this together.”
No voters will come out to vote, so it is important to get as many people as possible to vote.
Day of Election – Get volunteer organization to bring voters to polls
Vote By Mail – Identify college students especially those away at school
Suggestions/ Considerations
Story ideas to consider – What is unique about the event?
Message
Audience
Channel for communication – where does audience get their information
Timing
And don’t lose sight of the purpose (why you are communicating the message)
Be persistent, but pleasant
Monday – 3 PM – good time to contact media – looking for stories for week
Anniversary Dates are important to media – schedule an activity on an anniversary date
Reporters use Facebook for ideas and stories.
Know where information is going.
Strategic tweets – direct to website or Facebook
Plan your event for the fifth (5th) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of month – you stand better chance for coverage
No municipal or board meetings are planned for 5th day of month
To comment: larry@larrylitwin.com