Publicity

Cindy's strategy for promotion

Ladies,
Sorry for the delay in my response. Connie, I received the invite to your blog, thanks and I've checked out the RHYC and US Sailing/JO websites.

The first, and most important publicity piece should be a press release issued by US Sailing announcing their selection of Rock Hall Yacht Club as the host of the 2010 Junior Olympics. The release should announce the site selection and should include a quote from a high ranking official as to why the organization chose Rock Hall. The release should also talk about the Junior Olympics program/classes, and might include a quote from the Commodore of the Rock Hall Yacht Club about how excited we are to have this major national event at the Club. Does US Sailing plan to issue such as release? It will have much more credibility, and will be picked up by national media outlets if it comes from US Sailing. When you get a copy of their release, we can send it to our local media (radio, print, online, etc) as well. The release should be posted on their website as well as on the RHYC site.

What local and regional events at the Club and in the community will take place leading up to this event? Any regional class championships leading up to the JO should include a reference to the JO in Rock Hall and the date of the event. We might consider getting the sailing coaches at Washington College and Gunston Day School aware and involved in this event to build local awareness and interest. (Gunston just hired a sailing coach from Stanford U. and they have a strong sailing program. WC, as you probably know, ranked in the top 10 college teams in the US in sailing last year.)

Have you talked with the folks at US Sailing and asked how RHYC can work with them to publicize the event and get their recommendations? This is important, so we don't overstep their publicity plans.

I'll also talk with Bernadette VanPelt, Kent County Tourism Director to get her recommendations on publicity as well./

That's it for now...

Cindy Genther