team, Emerica Skate

Posted: May 8, 2008

Alert The Press About Your Own Wild in the Streets

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Make your Wild in the Streets event media-friendly in just a few easy steps.

These are simple suggestions: feel free to use as few or many of these ideas as you feel comfortable with.

Getting Started

"Wild In the Streets is the best skateboarding event I've ever been to. It's real."
- Andrew Reynolds
Newspapers and local news stations like stories that they think their readers and viewers will be interested in. If you're in a smaller town, the fact that local kids got organized enough to create a skateboarding march through town may cause a lot of local interest. In a bigger city, that may not be enough. You may need to have a worthwhile cause involved, or create more of a human-interest story.

Discuss logistical elements with others planning the event. Think like a reporter and a photographer to try to ensure good photo opportunities. What would your parents want to see if they were reading a newspaper article about local kids?

Be Knowledgeable

Select and invite key people in your skate community to be spokespersons who can talk to the media about your event. This should be someone with relevance in your group. They should be familiar with your work, and understand and be conversant with all of the details of Wild in the Streets.

Collect any relevant community information regarding skateboarding or action sports that will help give you a tie-in to local news. For example, in Philadelphia where the 2005 main Wild in the Streets event was hosted, there was controversy surrounding a legendary skate area called LOVE Park, which many local news outlets have covered. This information will be included in our media background material that we provide. Basically, ask yourself, "How can I use this local information to make my Wild in the Streets event more newsworthy?"

Have a Hook

A PR hook is the angle that makes a news story worthwhile to the editor. If you're raising money for a skatepark, an injured friend or a worthwhile charity, editors are far more likely to pay attention to your story.

Contact the Media

"I love Wild in the Streets! It's fun to skate with all the kids, and we don't feel like it's a demo or something like that. I'd way rather skate with kids than skate in front of them."
- Aaron Suski

You can look online or in the phone book to find contact information for local TV and radio stations and newspapers. Call or email the editors, or walk into the office, and tell them what you're doing, and why. If you're shy, try to have someone who can speak well to call for you, so that the message will be communicated clearly. Do not underestimate the power that a well—spoken young person has on adults. If your parents are supportive of you and your skateboarding, have them get involved. Your community may have cable stations who do news or public affairs programming—include them, as well. Think ahead when planning your media contact—news editors are more likely to give you attention if they see that you are thinking responsibly.

Confirm fax and e-mail addresses of media you have targeted for alerts/advisories/releases. Determine the most preferred distribution method for each media outlet. Don't hesitate to send the alert to more than one person in each news department.

Remember that newspapers, radio stations, and TV news broadcasts can do stories before your event to get the word out, too, and then cover the event afterward. If you want to get every skateboarder for 50 miles to come skate your spots, this is a great tool to spread the word.

Tools and Media Information

Media Alerts are sent out three weeks before your event to all newsrooms. By submitting your own event, you will automatically create a custom Media Alert.
Media Advisories are sent out the week before and the week of your event to all newsrooms.
News Releases are sent out the afternoon after your event, with photos.
Take digital photos of the event. Select 1-2 great pictures to e-mail with your news release.

At the end of the day, fax and e-mail your press release to all media personnel on your list, whether they attended or not. E-mail the photo to those who would be interested. This will ensure maximum exposure afterward.