Organize an Event – A Planning Guide
Promote Your Event – Contact the Media

If your organization has a marketing/public relations or community affairs department, ask it to handle publicity. If not, ask a local advertising/public relations firm to donate its services. If neither of these resources are available, don’t worry! You can still successfully promote your event.

Identify a single spokesperson who can serve as your main contact with the media, and be sure he or she is available to the media prior to and the day of the event. He or she should be knowledgeable about cancer-related issues and about the details of your local event.

See if local media directories are available or ask a public relations agency to help you compile media contact information. Be sure to keep the list updated from year to year with correct contact information.

Create colorful, organized media kits that include press releases, profiles of local cancer survivors, story ideas, sample public service announcements, cancer fact sheets, photos, and a convincing cover (pitch) letter (see Sample Letters). Be sure to highlight photo opportunities for newspaper editors and promote the visual aspects of the event for television station news directors. It is also a good idea to provide contact information for people who have agreed to be available for interviews (for example, survivors, cancer center directors, or local celebrities). Prepare these people for interviews by arming them with information packets that include cancer fact sheets and details about your event.

When contacting the media, make it clear that NCSD is more than a party; it is a time to call attention to the issues of survivorship. In addition to coverage of your event as part of National Cancer Survivors Day, suggest story ideas and angles such as the difficulty survivors face in accessing cancer specialists and promising new treatments, inadequate insurance, financial hardships, employment problems, and psychological struggles. Recent discoveries, announcements, and statistics have news value that will encourage the media to cover your event, so stay up-to-date on such developments. For recent statistics, request a Cancer Facts and Figures booklet from your local American Cancer Society office, or download the booklet from www.cancer.org/statistics.

Send media kits a few weeks before your event to the managing editor, city editor, feature editor, medical/health editor, and/or reporter of local newspapers, including weeklies and other neighboring community papers and newsletters. Send the kits to the public affairs director of local publications of civic, business, professional, religious, and health organizations, and request coverage in their newsletters and bulletins. Mail, fax, and/or e-mail your event information to the news director, assignment editor, and health reporter of local television news shows as well as to the producer, host, and community affairs director of local interview/talk shows. Don’t forget to contact local cable TV stations and public stations. Local magazines should be contacted early, since they have a longer lead time than newspapers.

Contact the news directors of local radio stations and secure on-air involvement of disc jockeys. Work with a radio station to plan a live “remote” from your local event. You can also call local radio and TV stations and ask if they have a forum such as talk shows where callers can discuss any subject with the host. If so, call during the program to tell the audience about your NCSD event and issues facing cancer survivors.

Submit a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to media public service directors and local civic, professional, religious, and health organizations (See Sample Letters). Include a start and stop date after which the PSA should not be published or aired.

Request to be included in community event calendars. Send media kits or e-mail information to producers of local Web sites, your city or county government, chamber of commerce, local tourism offices, or area treatment centers.

Ask your NCSD chairperson or a well-known local survivor to write a letter to the editors of local newspapers (see Sample Letters). Be sure to utilize your organization’s mailing lists, publications, Web sites, and listserves to help promote your event.

Organize an Event |
Promote Your Event | Generate Publicity | Contact the Media | Get Results

2010 Event Coverage and Photos

2009 Event Coverage and Photos

2008 Event Coverage and Photos

2007 Event Coverage and Photos