First Unitarian Church of Worcester - Event Publicity Information & Ideas

(PRESS RELEASE EXAMPLES: SEE LINKS BELOW WITHIN PARAGRAPHS)

You have a great idea and plan to hold your event in a few months. You've reserved the church space (with the church office), know how to open/close the building, clean up, and have all the logistics in order.   How is best to let people know about your event, and what are the resources available for advertising it?

TIP
Think about how you receive information yourself and
what gets you attracted away from your busy schedule to attend something

The information below is divided into several categories: Resources for advertising [church events; public-invited events], and Content of your advertising.

Events primarily for Church Members/Friends

• Newsletter, calendars
  • Weekly mailed newsletter (& online) - Send complete information as you want it printed the church office (Barbara Foley, editor; bfoley@firstunitarian.com) by the Friday prior to newlsetter printing (usually Monday of each week). Our staff is limited and unfortunately we cannot create or edit your information, so please have it complete and clear.
  • Church calendar - published in the weekly newsletter and in the weekly order of service.
• Announcements prior to Sunday services - Request a 1-minute period to announce your event with the moderator prior to the service either in person, or planning ahead via email (moderator@firstunitarian.com)
• Bulletin Boards - The church has several bulletin board areas - use them. Please be considerate and remove your announcements after your event.
• Word of mouth, networking (committee waterfall) - Get your committee and friends to spread the word and enthusiasm about your event. There's nothing better than a personal invitation and encouragement (and reminder) from someone you know/trust. So get the information waterfall trickling throughout the (church) community.
• Fliers - With the increased availability of word processing computer applications such as Microsoft WORD, it's becoming easier and easier to create quality fliers and posters. And with judicious usage of Type styles and size, paper color, and blank space, your flier can be very eye catching and appealing. Consider a handy "bookmark" size announcement also.
• Memento, handout, knickknacks - Have something related, perhaps even far-out,as a tangible giveaway to remind people about your event. These can be distributed at coffee hour (perhaps in costume or with fanfare), in baskets at entrances, and, with ministerial permission, even by the ushers as programs are handed out as people enter services. For instance, if a dance or concert is being promoted, hand out musical candy or cut out notes, if it's a garden or earth-day event, hand out a sprig of herbs, a packet of seeds, or a press-dried leaf-- anything to draw attention and to be different.
• Church web site - We have a wonderful web site that is available (with enough planning ahead) to present details, forms, images, video clips, etc.   If you expect search engine cataloguing for keyword searches, please allow approx. 2 months prior to the time that the search engines would find and catalog your keywords.
• Email - A carefully worded and timed email distribution is always effective, but you want to be very careful not to aggravate people and result in a negative effect by sapling them.

Events open to the community/public

(above list, plus...)
Note: Make it clear in your announcements that the public is invited (and if it's free)

• Newspaper ads (paid) - If you have a committee budget or a volunteer donor, it's sometimes effective to run a small newspaper ad- but be sure to carefully design it for maximum impact. Community events calendars are free, and likely more effective because people are accustomed to looking for things to do in those places. It may be possible to get your event listed in the weekly T&G religious summary listing.
• Press release/calendar entry - (Note media calendars have deadlines and windows of time when they like to receive materials - not too early, not too late, typically about 2-3 weeks ahead. Exception: Monthly calendar deadlines are usually the 1st or 10th of the PREVIOUS month!)
  Press releases, although still hardcopy-mailed in this day and age of everything-internet, is an ideal communication vehicle for announcements. See sample Press Releases [homeless-concert: WORD PDF; gospel-mass: WORD PDF], and edit to fit your needs. We have found that the simpler and more ready-to-go it is for the publications to choose from a menu and then copy it, the more likely it is that they will use your submission and lessen the chance of incorrect information.
• Free PR Distribution - PRweb.com
• Web-based press release sample - it's becoming more common to post your information on the web and send a card or email out to the media to alert them of your event, and they can then easily download (cut and paste) text for their calendar listing or article/review, as well as download ready-to-go scanned and retouched images. See sample for 2002 Brahms' Requiem.
• Posters/Flier - (see above section on Fliers also). Stacks of fliers as handouts (at other churches, concert venues like Mechanics Hall, supermarket tabloid distribution areas), and well placed posters (at public places, office areas, recreation areas) can get good attention. It's easy and inexpensive to make attractive 8.5x11" or even 11x17" Xerox copies using colored papers. To look different, try cutting the paper to be a nonstandard proportion.
• Internet: Newsgroups, web calendars(see espec. socialweb), community listings, birds-of-a-feather categories. This category can be endless, and some routes may be of questionable effectiveness, so choose where you spend your energies. Perhaps the two best morsels of advice here are to: (1) think about where you yourself go for information; and (2) consult the advice of someone familiar with the various avenues on the internet.
• "Sandwich Board" (marquis) - The church has two white 4'x4' (per side) A-frame announcement boards that can be placed in the front or side lawn or parking lot areas. Note: even duct tape has trouble sticking to these; inkjet-printed posters will "run" in the rain; tape them well due to wind.

Content

Think: excitement, enticement, appeal, create the "want" to participate/experience

• Date, time, location, cost (if none, emphasize free)
• Why should someone attend - what's in it for them - what are they missing out on?
• What can they expect; what are the goals; what's unique
• If informational event: what learned; If fundraiser, what does it benefit/why/impact
• If part of church programs, what's the context, how does it fit into the church community
• Use clip art judiciously- too much or the wrong style could trivialize your event (think about what a restaurant's signage and menu style/presentation says about the quality/style of the food they offer).