Publicizing Events
Getting your event into the news
Are you holding a public workshop, conference, or speakers’ series? Do you need volunteers for a research study? The community calendar listings in newspapers and on radio and TV are one of the most effective ways to generate publicity about your event or study and get people to participate. Community calendar listings are published or broadcast on a regular basis (usually daily or weekly), to let the public know about events of general interest taking place in their region. The listings are normally free of charge but, because of this, there are no guarantees that your event will get picked up.
Promoting public attendance
If your conference, or select sessions and events, are open to the public, and your primary goal is to build awareness in order to generate public attendance, your most effective strategies should be to:
- Submit information about your event to Intercomm up to seven days in advance. Access Intercomm via the homepage www.twu.ca.
- Send notice of your event to free community calendar listings in local media outlets (a list of these can be found below) Note: send your notice at least three weeks before your event as most listings are compiled well before publication
- Send e-mail or mail invitations to lists of people who will have an interest
- If budget allows, place ads in appropriate local newspapers or on local radio stations. Contact a Communications Specialist for advice.
Tips on ensuring your announcement is listed
- Give it a catchy headline. A headline with a bit of a hook (“Senior art students tackle notions of memory and fear in Fort Langley exhibition ”) can get more attention than a straight headline (“Senior art show in Fort Langley”).
- Always date your announcement. Community calendar editors need to know how “hot” the information is.
- Keep it short. Your announcement should be no more than one page in length.
- Include the 5Ws. What is the event? Why is it being held? When is it taking place? Where is it being held? Who is organizing it?
- Include a contact name, telephone number and e-mail on your event announcement. If you have additional information related to your event or study on a Web site, include the Web address.
- Don’t leave your announcement until the last minute. Most community calendars have guidelines on how far in advance to send in listings. These can range from one to six weeks. As a general rule, you want to give the public at least one week’s notice for events such as lectures, forums, discussion panels, auctions, sales or performances.
- Make a follow-up calls to the community calendars to confirm your announcement was received. Check to ensure the announcement did not get lost in cyberspace or is stuck in fax limbo.
- Send a copy of your announcement to the Communications Specialist - Public Relations before distributing it. Knowing about your event or study will help us to answer calls we receive from the public.
Jennifer Watton
Communications Specialist - Public Relations
tel: 604-513-2121 (3341)
fax: 604-513-2061
e-mail: jennifer.watton@twu.ca
Contact University Communications if you think your event or study could potentially generate controversy. It is crucial that you contact us if you think your event or study could be controversial — communications staff members have extensive experience in print and broadcast media and deal with news organizations regularly. They can help you determine the right strategy for whether and when to go ahead with publicizing your event or study.
Community Calendar Listings
Below are local publication and media contacts for community calendar listings.
Black Press
Submit to one of these online calendars and Black Press will send it to the appropriate newspapers and community calendars online that they are affiliated with – by location of event
Vannet
A Channel News
Business in Vancouver Event Listings
tel: 604-608-5160
fax: 604-688-1963
e-mail: pmillar@biv.com
Canadian Christianity
City TV Community Watch
tel: 604.876.1344
fax: 604.876.3100
e-mail: promotions.van@citytv.com
CJJR-FM Radio
tel: 604.730.6567
fax: 604.731.0493
e-mail: jmorris@JRfm.com
CTV BC Vancouver Alive
fax: 604.609.5896
e-mail: alive@bcctv.ca
CTV Best of BC
e-mail: bestofbc@ctv.ca
CTV In Touch
e-mail: intouchbc@ctv.ca
CKNW 980
e-mail: programming@cknw.com
cc to: promo@cknw.com
CHEK News
e-mail: communityrelations@cheknews.ca
CBC BC
Fairchild Television Community Listing
tel: 604.708.1318
fax: 604.708.1300
Georgia Straight Time Out
tel: 604.730.7000
fax: 604.730.7010
e-mail: timeout@straight.com
Note: Deadline is 3 pm Thursday for inclusion the following Thursday; service is free of charge based on available space
Global BC
tel: 604.420.2288
fax: 604.422.6665
e-mail: etc@globaltv.ca
Note: Submissions accepted from non-profit organizations only; local listings published on first come first serve basis; be sure to include a phone number for viewers
Joy TV
Email: events@joytv10.ca
KVOS-TV Community Listing
tel: 604.681.1212
fax: 604.736.4510
e-mail: onscene@kvos.com
The Light Magazine
e-mail: events@lightmagazine.ca
note: monthly publication; 30 days+ advanced notice is advisable
Praise 106.5
The Province E! List
fax: 604.605.2407
e-mail: sderdeyn@pacpress.southam.ca
note: Deadline is 5 pm Thursday for inclusion the following Thursday.
SNAP Langley
tel: 604-230-0633
Tourism Langley
e-mail: christina@tourism-langley.ca
note: Send photos by email to post with event listing
Vancouver Courier Community Listing
tel: 604.738.1411
fax: 604.738.2154
Vancouver Sun Queue Listings
tel: 604.605.2128
fax: 604.605.2521
e-mail: queuelist@png.canwest.com
Note: Deadline is 3 pm on Thursday preceding publication. No Email attachments Please. Submit listings two weeks prior to publication. Listings are included as space permits and cannot be guaranteed. Listings cannot be accepted or confirmed by telephone. Include dates, times, addresses and prices.
Vancouver Sun West Coast News
Editor: Ken Bradshaw
e-mail: kbradshaw@png.canwest.com
note: Deadline is 3 pm for publication next day. Daily section that includes kudos, awards, and events in Vancouver and across B.C.
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Phone: 604.513.2027 x 3341
Fax: 604.513.2061
Email:
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