Anyone know of a group like PATH to help with design and marketing?

[Nicholai Burton]

I'd love to have someone good with PR help craft or review the Film Society's press releases. Help with graphics, stickers, t-shirts, print design, etc, would be huge as well. I've put up a few challenges on Sparked (http://sparked.com), but results are hit-or-miss in general, and we never had success with graphic design challenges on there.

[Mary Chapman]

I did press releases regularly as the Marketing Director of the art
museum in Greenville...I'd be happy to help.

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[Nicholai Burton]

Thanks Mary! I grew up in Greenville and have been to the art museum many times. Attached is a release we just put out yesterday; any critique or suggestions to keep in mind for future releases?

Our primary focus this year is maximizing exposure, making sure everyone in the tri-county knows we exist and are a go-to place for Saturday night education and entertainment. Memberships/donations/grants are important, but not nearly as important as getting people in the door. I'm sure your experience at the museum can bring some unique insight, but I'm open to advice from anyone here on the PATH list with ideas to share.

[Mary Chapman]

Nicholai,

I've attached an edited press release with a few minor suggestions.
The information in it is great. I really just rearranged it to flow a
bit differently. The only other suggestion I would have is to tailor
it to each media outlet. It is common to have different versions of
the same press release each time. I would always research the media
outlet I was sending to (print, radio, tv, etc) and the contributors
and editors for each. I would usually read at least 3 of their latest
releases to get a feel for their tone and style. Then I would use
their tone and style as much as possible in my press release to them.
So for instance, the arts writer at the Greenville News liked a
certain focus and tone. If I wrote my press release to sound like
others she'd written she always published it as is. The writer at the
Greenville Business Journal however had a completely different style
and I would write the same release in his "style". It can be
overwhelming to do this for every media outlet and every press
release. If you don't have the resources for that I would choose the
main media outlet you want to focus on (the one most of your viewers
would see or hear from) and just focus on developing a relationship
with them and learning about their style.

I realize this is a generalization but as you know, media
representatives are bombarded with hundreds of press releases a day.
They only publish and respond to the ones that interest them or the
ones where they have a relationship with the organization...and boy do
they like the red carpet treatment :)

My only other suggestion with this is to just pick one audience and
market to them. This release and correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be
targeting both the general public to attend the event and to artists
to submit their work for the event. In general, people won't have the
patience to read through which part of the release that doesn't apply
to them. In addition I would think you'd have different media outlets
that would need to cover each. Lowcountry Indie shorts seems like a
wonderful human interest story in the Lowcountry...which media people
love. The film submissions however seem to need to be marketed to the
arts organizations, educational organizations and the like. Based on
your comments for your main focus I would suggest writing a nice warm,
fuzzy release to a targeted media outlet focusing on the human
interest in the Lowcountry that your organization provides. I'll be
happy to help with that if you think it would be useful.

Anyway, hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions or if I
can help in any way.
Mary

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