CAT003: Glorified Press Releases

Gloriﬁed PRESS Releases Make your stor y stand out.➠ globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

ENERGY, SINCERITY, CLARITY OF VISION, CREATIVITY... Dan Eldon (1970-1993) Creative Activist

in partnership with globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

Tip: For all the links to work, you must view this full screen or download the file. Click “Get File” button to download PDF. On Slideshare.net On other sites Click on “full” button to view full screen. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases At some point, every What you want is for social change project the world (or at least needs to get the word your town) to know out – in a pretty BIG way. what you’re doing. Not just to Facebook friends, classmates and In other words, you relatives. want the media spotlight. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases The most common way to get the media’s attention is to write a press release and send it to media outlets. You can still do that. But there’s one major problem... globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases There are thousands of press releases sent out every day, competing not just with one another but with news events that don’t need press releases: bank robberies, murders, hurricanes, etc. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases So, how do you stand out? Let’s consider alternate ways of communicating your story - using what I call “glorified press releases.” globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Case Study 1: Invisible Children globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases In 2006, the youth-led organization, Invisible Children, planned a nationwide event to raise awareness of the civil war in northern Uganda, and the innocent children caught in the conflict. com Invisible Children. They asked American youth to walk to their nearest city centers and sleep there – the same way Ugandan children have to seek shelter every night in order to avoid being kidnapped by rebel soldiers. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Invisible Children wanted media outlets everywhere to cover this event. So they created this video: CLICK TO PLAY globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases This is, essentially, a video press release. Like all good press releases, it answered all the key questions: who, what, where, when, why and how. But what the video did that no words can do was give TV outlets a preview of the ACTION they can film. More than anything else, that’s what TV crews want: to see action unfold. The video press release helped Invisible Children show the action they can deliver. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Case Study 2: Ashoka’s Youth Venture globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases In 2009, Ashoka’s Youth Venture ran a global campaign - Invent Your World - to recognize and support youth who are inventing for social change. (This is a campaign I helped manage.) When the time came to let the world know about the top five winners, I knew I wanted to offer something that others could easily forward or copy and paste. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Since we couldn’t produce a video – the winners were all far away from us – we produced two other types of content instead... globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases a) Presentations Using photos and brief text, we created a brief presentation showcasing the winners and another one showcasing the grand prize winner’s project. We then uploaded them to Slideshare.net. Click on images below to view them. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases b) Interview We also conducted a text interview with the top prize winner, 15-year-old Javier Fernandez-Han, and posted the interview, along with the presentations, on Change.org. Click image to read interview. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases By creating these pieces of content, we wanted to achieve the following: produce actual content, not just press releases show people who the winners are (using pictures) give reporters a taste of what an interview with the top prize winner would sound like (through quotes and our own interview) most importantly, offer content that others can easily copy/paste and forward globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases As you can see on Slideshare.net, more than seven thousand have viewed the two presentations and at least 25 websites have embedded the presentations. Also, media outlets including PBS and BBC have contacted us about the winners. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Conclusion In this day and age, YOU are the media. Don’t just issue press releases, CREATE CONTENT. You can tell your story better than anyone. Just look at how Invisible Children documented their Global Night Commute. CLICK TO PLAY globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Share your “glorified press releases” with us. Good luck! Click image to visit our community. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Good luck! Share your pitch with us! Click image to visit our community. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases Check out other chapters... globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

gloriﬁed press releases if you use this toolkit... tell us! post your “press releases” at globalyouth.ning.com. ask for feedback. let us know if this chapter helped you or how it can be improved. download and forward... share this with someone you know. you can download this chapter from slideshare.net subscribe... enter your email address at globalyouth.ning.com to get alerts when more toolkits are posted. globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

about the author Charles Tsai is the founder and Executive Director of Global Youth Fund and also works for Ashoka’s Youth Venture as Director of Virtual Program. Previously, he worked at CNN as a reporter and producer. www.charlestsai.com creative activist toolkit thanks The Creative Activist Toolkit is a series of PDF The Creative Visions Foundation booklets designed to help today’s youth The Vancouver Foundation impact the world through creativity and social The Steve Nash Foundation entrepreneurship. Produced by the Global Youth Fund and the Creative Visions Jon and Amy Eldon Turteltaub, Joanne Marien Foundation, the toolkit chapters are offered Elaine Munro, Debbie Riopel, Jaspal Lisa Rai free to download. Email us if you would like Bruce Johnson, Brooke Kuhn, Serge Martin to contribute a chapter. Copyright ©2009 Global Youth Fund credits Feel free to pass this booklet on but you may Amy Eldon Turteltaub Executive Producer not alter the content or charge for it. You may Charles Tsai Managing Director quote brief sections if you credit Global Youth Fund and provide a link to Photos from Invisible Children, globalyouth.ning.com Ashoka’s Youth Venture globalyouthfund Creative Activist Toolkit 003

Global Youth Fund 550 Paciﬁc Street, Suite 502 Vancouver, BC V6Z 3G2 CANADA Tel: +1 (604) 628-1807 www.globalyouthfund.org

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CAT003: Glorified Press Releases

by Charles Tsai on Aug 11, 2009

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