It was a media snub in Oklahoma this weekend 
How many of the other states received any media attention at all? Please give your stories here, and tell us how or why you believe you were sucessful. Obviously, I need a different approach beyond merely sending out press releases to everyone in town.
Wow, thanks! Looks like several others were more fortunate/successful.
Please do tell us your secrets!
Coworkers and non-pinball friends keep congratulating me on my victory from seeing the local coverage. The only problem is that I didn't win! My picture just happens to be first in the photo set under the headline.
Quoted from alveolus:Wow, thanks! Looks like several others were more fortunate/successful.
Please do tell us your secrets!
I literally just sent the IFPA press release to the general events contacts for the two local papers in Cleveland. One of them picked it up and ran a really nice piece with live updates throughout the day. In hindsight I should have contacted local television as well.
It's been great seeing so much coverage of all the SCS events giving the competitive nature of the game more exposure to the mainstream. Even though I've told my family about all the events I've played in over the last couple years, they took a lot more interest in the SCS once it had the legitimacy of some local media presence. I'd imagine the same is true for many of the other players around the country.
Quoted from alveolus:Please do tell us your secrets!
We hired the best PR firm available to handle all of our media outreach . . . Zach Agency ftw!
Step 1) Write up a press release, with a focus on the message you are trying to get across
Step 2) Keep an ever growing list of contacts you have in various parts of the country
Step 3) Pound out email, after email, after email, after email, contacting as many news outlets in as many areas as possible. Many TV networks and local newspapers have web submission forms on their sites, so it's a ton of copying/pasting in those submission forms as well
Step 4) Follow up with anyone that happens to get back to you
It's truly a numbers game. We've had 14 media pieces hit so far, and I'm guessing that's only about a 2-3% hit rate out of all the contacts Zach is reaching out to. I believe there's at least a couple more that should be coming up at some point.
Most of the time it's no response, but sometimes you catch a slow news week at just the right time.
Shawn - Unfortunately it's just a ton of pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, opening windows. There's no real way to shortcut the work needed on the PR side, at least without investing in an actual PR company to do it all for you.
Quoted from ifpapinball:Shawn - Unfortunately it's just a ton of pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, opening windows. There's no real way to shortcut the work needed on the PR side, at least without investing in an actual PR company to do it all for you.
I'm not looking for shortcuts. I'm happy to literally knock on doors if you are speaking literally. I just wanted to know which approaches work vs. which are counter-productive or a waste of time.
Even our approach is a 97-98% FAIL (failure as in not getting a response), so even our methods aren't really productive, but it does feel good to land a media spot here and there.
Quoted from ifpapinball:but sometimes you catch a slow news week at just the right time.
This made me spit out my coffee laughing. Thanks for the morning laugh 
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Oklahoma City, OK