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EVENT PUBLICITY this far…
By John | August 1, 2009
For the benefit of everyone following the event – and before dealing with the subject above, details of the last two days have been recorded and updated further down the page – so just keep scrolling down to see what happened and the pix we took of the journey from Burlington, Ontario to Hampshire, Illinois.
Now then, let’s review the results of the TTACD Publicity Machine …
(1) We’re really beginning to get noticed by the media, and
(2) Will all clubs downstream from Illinois to California, please re-evaluate whatever arrangements they’ve made this far with the media in their area.
Why?
When we reached London, Ontario – The London Free Press newspaper had sent out a photographer who photographed the whole group by “uncle jack.” No doubt there’s an article in that newspaper but the search facility on the paper’s website isn’t too user-friendly. If you can uncover it, please email me with the details so we can insert a link from this site.
The important thing is the paper received the Press Release and clearly acted on it. Additionally, The Sarnia Observer sent a reporter with video camera to interview John. The article and video are available here:
http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1681952
Additionally, the Press Release got picked up by a radio station. We thought it may have been a Canadian National station – though later research indicates it was probably local – but no matter.
What does matter, is the station broadcast the story no more than 24 hours before “uncle jack” reached London. What’s more, a woman who heard the report, remembered it – and was delighted beyond measure to see the Bluewater welcoming group at the Tim Horton coffee shop. She very quickly connected their presence to the radio announcement and wanted to know where and how she could donate to the Canadian charity. She also stated that she too had PTSD and was looking for the specialist help she needs.
As many of you will already be aware, public awareness of PTSD and it’s impact on civilian lives is just as important as the money we raise from the event. I therefore implore you to do everything you can at your local (or national) media level to “bang the TTACD drum” and continue to build on the media interaction this event has already created.
We’re getting noticed, our Drive objective is more than getting noticed and now people are asking questions of a ‘are you really driving North America?‘ and ‘where or how do I donate?’ nature.
Point them to this website, tell them the names of the charities and that they can donate on-line – or you’ll look after their donation for them.
But above all, please do your very best to get the media to attend whatever event you have planned for the coming weeks. And if this means John and “uncle jack” have to go to a local radio station or TV studio (and then have to do a bit of night driving to ‘catch up’ on the schedule) we’ll do just that!
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