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Reinventing the Tip Sheet
As part of the national PR plan, media
tip sheets are sent out on a regular basis
to over 3,000 media outlets. These tip
sheets are one page nuggets, designed to
help a reporter with the backbone of a
camp related story. Sometimes, tip sheets
are quick and easy lists for the media, Five
Ways to Prepare a First-Time Camper or Six
Ways Camp Encourages Kids to Explore Healthy
Behaviors. Other times, the tip sheets
are a bit meatier — like the
recent Camp
is Essential for All Children.
How can this help with your PR efforts?
There's no rule that says only members
of the media are allowed to take the tip
sheets and make them their own. Take, for
example, the efforts recently of ACA, Northern
California. They took the Camp
is Essential for All Children tip sheet,
and turned it into a
very nice article that appeared in several
places, including on MSNBC.com.
This can be done by any camp at any time.
If a tip sheet speaks to a program or initiative
that you are doing, for example Green
Spoken Here: Children and Nature Belong
Together, or to an issue that you know
your community is interested in, such as Keeping
Camp Costs Budget-Friendly, please
feel free to use as the basis for your
own press release or story pitch to your
local media.
Often local media want to know why the
local community should care or how something
really affects their readership or broadcast
area. By adding your information, the tip
sheet becomes more relevant and interesting.
For more information or assistance adapting
a tip sheet or to be included on the tip
sheet distribution list, contact Dawn Swindle,
Public Relations Specialist, at 765-349-3317
or dswindle@ACAcamps.org.
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Hot Topic: Camp and the Economy
You may be aware that the economy is a
media hot topic. It has colored almost
every aspect of the media, including
the discussion about camp. You may be
approached by local media and asked to
address how the economy has influenced
enrollment, financial assistance, etc.
To assist you with interviews, ACA has
developed general
key messages (PDF)
to bridge to the positive messages that
camp is for every child, regardless of
the economy. No matter what the reporter's
final story looks like, we should all make
the commitment to ensure that no interview
discusses only the economy without also
highlighting that camp is essential for
all children.
We also suggest that everyone committed
to the camp experience use these messages
to write letters to the editor and op-eds
in local and regional papers. Additionally,
these key messages can be used to respond
to blog postings or online news stories
that have a negative slant. By working
together, we can speak loud enough to be
heard.
For assistance with interviews, letters to
the editor, op-ed pieces, or blog responses,
contact Dawn Swindle at 765-349-3317 or dswindle@ACAcamps.org.
It's
Not Too Late to Join the Media
Resource Team!
Do you enjoy speaking to the media?
Do you have particular expertise or
skills that could serve as a beneficial
resource to ACA? If so, it's
not too late to join the ACA Media
Resource Team. the last year, ACA received
over 300 media requests. We would like
to expand our media resource list to
include more camps and more voices
who can share with the media the depth,
breadth, and importance of the camp
experience.
For more information on the Media
Resource Team, contact Dawn
Swindle at 765-349-3317.
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