Last week, members of the SWFL Chapter of FPRA settled into their new meeting location at The Crowne Plaza Hotel located at Bell Tower. The focus of the meeting centered around stories NOT to send to the media around the holidays and also offered some insights on how to pitch ideas, stories, and events during the season. Our panel included three local media pros: Lois Thome of WINK-TV, Tammy Ayer, editor of Grandeur Magazine, and Darrel Lieze-Adams of Waterman Broadcasting.
A few tips that all of our panelists seemed to agree on included avoiding clichés, doing research on reporters and developing relationships, and following deadlines. A few unique tips from each included Lois’s advice to pull out the stories that were thought to have fallen into the “black hole” and try to pitch them with a new and unique angle. Tammy also reminded us that print media is more than just print. Print is now multi-media and may include photo galleries and video, so don’t be afraid to send a story in various formats. Darrel also reminded us of proper etiquette when it comes to the relationships between PR pros and the media. He also gave our chapter some insight regarding new ways to keep the media in the loop about events by adding items to community calendars and submitting news tips.