Always near the top of the To Do list for any event committee members and chairs is to reach out to the media!

But how exactly do you do that?

What’s going to relay to journalists that your event is well organized,professional, and most important, fresh and fun?! That it’s as completely brilliant as you know it’s going to be? That it’s story-worthy? How much is enough? What’s not enough?

Here’s a checklist of what you should make available to media, and how and when you should get it to them:

1. Press Release(s)

This is an obvious one, but questions still often arise as to what exactly one’s press release should include. Opinions vary, but a safe guideline is to include all of the pertinent information up front, even in a bulletedlist, and then flesh it out as you go down the page. The primary idea is to grab your audience and, once you have them, provide fine details. But don’t overwhelm your audience! If you can do it, one page is perfect; two is just fine, but any more than that and you’re going to lose your audience before you even get started. I have never met an event that needed that much explaining. Keep it simple, clean; let the journalist add the adjectives. A sample press release can be found here. In most cases, you’ll have one press release to send to all media—a general “this is my amazing event” piece. But if there ever is the opportunity to pitch a unique story angle about your event to a publication, make the extra effort and tailor a unique press release to that entity

As for how to deliver: E-mail! Paper PR almost doesn’t exist because that’s just not how journalists work these days. Everything is digital. Also, make sure to link to your PR on your Website (we’ll get to that in a moment). Concerning when to get information out, the answer is always as early as possible. Four months out is a good goal, especially if you’re hoping to get into print publications; they plan months in advance. Regardless, everyone in media is busy, so the sooner you get on their calendar, the better. Sending a Save the Date mini–press release or e-mail with key information before your big PR blast is also advisable. Again, the sooner this goes out, the better.

2. Website

Even if you just create a couple of basic static pages, it’s important to have a Website. And, yes, one reason for this is that everyone’s doing it; it makes your event look credible. Some social editors are actually leery of events without a Website. And, journalists like to be able to access information quickly and easily. If your event is an annual affair, this gives you a presence year-round as well as a place to plant details about next year’s happenings long in advance, keeping the excitement up. It also shows that your event is alive and well. Take note, however: keep information up-to-date. Having an outdated site is almost worse than having nothing at all; it gives the appearance that the event is perhaps not happening again or that it’s simply poorly organized.

In addition to linking to press releases and providing key information about your event—name, benefactor(s), date, time, venue, contact information (e-mails and phone numbers), names of all people involved in the organizing (chairs, committee members, honorary chairs, etcetera)—links to past media coverage, images of past annual events or pre-parties (an added bonus: provide links to high resolution images that the media can download and use in editorial), and information about how to get tickets or donate (if you can set up online and donating purchasing, so much the better) are musts. And information about your benefactor—always! Messaging is hugely important!

3. Social Media

The power of social media is wide and strong. It’s here to stay, and it relays that yourevent is with it. Use it. Clearly, Twitter and Facebook are the leaders in the field, and the best part is that, save your time, they’re completely free. For media outreach, this is a way to get tidbits to journalists, most of whom have their own Twitter and Facebook presence (so, of course, follow or friend/fan on all social media), as well as blogs. Tweeting about preparties (from said preparties, in real time), the great new entertainment you just landed, insight into who’s wearing what (or should I say, who’s wearing who), or any other juicy info all work to create buzz and excitement. And social writers are always looking for insider, to-the-minute info to Tweet, post on Facebook, and blog about. If you provide fun and repeat-worthy information, it spreads and keeps your event in the public, and media’s, eye. Susan Sherman, a former co-chair of Illumination 2009 to benefit Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, says, “Advance buzz is key. I would do more social networking in the future, maybe [if the] chairperson had a blog which she/he updates as the party moves forward in planning.”

4. Calendar Listings

It’s not as glamorous as a full story written by your favorite social writer, but calendar listings should not be overlooked. Many local and online publications (do a thorough search) allow you to submit directly to the calendar via a form. Right here on Vivanista, you can do just that; please submit your event listing here. For publications that don’t offer such a service, find out who the calendar editor is (it’s often a different person than the social writer) and submit.

5. Personal Touch

Even if you provide all of the right information in all of the right places all at the right time, it’s still critical to have a designated media liaison for your event. Journalists may have questions or will often want quotes—no writer wants to regurgitate the press release; having firsthand words from someone involved makes a story unique, exclusive to that publication. For journalists, someone they can connect with is always appreciated.

Great! Now all that’s left is to deliver. Create the event that’s as glorious as you have said it will be and the media will follow. It’s a straightforward formula: great times, great cause, great to write about!

[Feature photo by FaceMePLS, Flickr.com]