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#NPS15 USING MEDIA RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA Slide 2 ACTE Staff Sean Lynch Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Saleah Loomis Digital Media Coordinator Slide 3 Session Goals Build understanding of components of media relations Identify tools and resources to build your strategys efficacy Work with other stakeholders to increase your influence Slide 4 Why now? Economy has positioned CTE and workforce discussions in spotlight continued success hinges on sustained, effective workforce CTE is a hot topic CTE image needs to be modernized VoTech stigma is lingering Policymakers taking notice provides great hook! Lets use it while we can. Slide 5 Getting your ducks in a row First things first: Who are we? Who are we trying to communicate with? What do we need to tell them? Why are we telling them this? These questions should have clear, reasonable answers before moving forward. Slide 6 Identify yourself as the expert Have a concise explanation of who you are, and why a reporter should listen to you Include Who your association is as a whole What your background is What your mission or purpose is Slide 7 Who are we trying communicate with, and how can we tailor our message? Local community/parents/students To encourage participation in CTE programs To develop partnerships with local business and leaders The media To raise awareness in the general public and encourage positive coverage of CTE Policymakers To influence their decision making Slide 8 What are we telling the public? Media relations is a great way to amplify the messages that youll be sharing on Capitol Hill CTE is for every student, and prepares them for success in both college and careers Business and industry leaders are calling for a stronger emphasis on CTE to bridge the skills gap Federal policymakers must support these programs to ensure they can serve our students! Slide 9 Speaking of communications... Lets walk through the full press outreach cycle to examine each piece. We have a message we want to share with local reporters, such as an upcoming CTE Month school visit Four things to do: Create a plan for an event. Tell people our plan for our event. Tell people what happened at our event afterwards. Tell people to check out what others said about our event. Slide 10 A plan If were trying to maximize coverage of an event, its important to consider what we know will create challenges for getting reporters there Nobody likes Mondays, including reporters. Halfway out the door for the weekend on Friday? So are they. Same goes for holidays. Big community events check local calendar, can also check with local police department (non- emergency number!) Slide 11 Getting reporters there Lets tell people about it! This is called a Media Advisory. Media Advisories are for one thing to get a reporter (or their editor) interested in a story and onto their calendar. Short, sweet, to the point Answer the 5 ws who, what, where, when and why Include instructions on attending if theyre interested and cant figure that out, its a wash! If you have a particular reporter youd love to have at the event, call a couple of days prior to the event to ensure they received the release Slide 12 Formatting the header, fitting in and closing the deal Anatomy of a header: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date Contact person Contact info Follow Associated Press style guidelines reporters do, you should too! Close the message with your boilerplate and ### Slide 13 Where do I send it? You want to send your advisory to local papers about a week prior to the event and the day prior Typically news editor, doesnt hurt to include reporters on education or local news beat Not sure? Call the paper! Need help? ACTE Action Center! Slide 14 OK now we have reporters coming to our event. Provide support to the reporter on-site at your event Have any necessary registration forms taken care of, best to waive registration fees, etc. Have a name badge if they will need it for entry Offer to get them names and titles for any photos, connect with stakeholders and spokespeople for quotes Bear in mind students often need a photo waiver! Slide 15 After our successful event We should tell people who couldnt come about it! Now we send a press release. Please take out your press release. Press releases: Include all the pieces a reporter might want date, time and specifics of the event, a quote from a spokesperson, sometimes even pictures Show the way you might write the article, in paragraph form Are used to inspire media coverage if someone couldnt attend, or as a refresher for someone who did Slide 16 Working with Reporters When a reporter wants to interview you: Reporters will probably e-mail first to schedule time to talk with you about your topic this goes for both events and general inquiries Respond promptly with suggested times try to be early in the day if possible, and work within their guidelines Ask for clarification on what topics theyd like to cover if they dont specify initially Check if theyve written on CTE topics before to feel out their angle Write down notes about the topic make sure you have 2- 3 main points in mind before the interview, and have reviewed info on them Slide 17 Frequently Asked Questions Whats CTE? How does it differ from vocational education? Should students interested in going to college pursue CTE? How does that fit in with their education path? What are some of the big issues in CTE right now? Slide 18 When you work with a reporter: There is no such thing as off the record be professional and keep in mind that anything you say may be quoted That said, be relaxed and calm. Theyre just people, and theyve come to you because of your expertise! If you do not know the answer to a question, say so. Do not make things up. Refer them to another expert if you know one this builds your credibility instead of risking it Use published data, cite your sources and offer to share materials with the reporter so they can use them in the article Slide 19 After the Article Wait a few days after working with the reporter for the article to be published Monitor coverage in all publications youve shared your materials with Google alerts are a great, free tool for this. Track coverage for several weeks out longitudinal data is a better indicator of success than one article Thank them for the article, and offer to be a source in the future once it goes to print. Share with your members and colleagues! Slide 20 Get a little help from your friends Media work can take more than one person to have a significant impact so work with other stakeholders to divide the work! Think about other education groups active in your area CTSOs, state and local education agencies, other schools Invite them to partner on events, press releases and public statements Slide 21 Anything else I can do? Of course! Join ACTEs Ambassadors Network. Network of experts ACTE relies on for information we dont necessarily have on-hand or examples from the field Be active during CTE Month! Great hook for a brief feature story, can familiarize you with reporters Op-Eds/Letters to the Editor Short and sweet written pieces that get your point of view in print and raise your profile to media outlets and readers Get involved on social media! Slide 22 How to use: Twitter Facebook Slide 23 Twitter? Twitter as a microblogging platform. Short messages called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters or less. Twitter as a social networking tool. Followers: Twitter users who subscribe to your page. Following: Twitter users whose page you follow. Mentions: Tweets from other users that include your Twitter username. Favorites: Tweets that have been saved by other users. Slide 24 Tweet A tweet is any individual message on Twitter. Each tweet must be 140 characters or less. Each tweet displays your user name. Usernames always begin with the @ symbol. For example, ACTEs username is @actecareertech. Slide 25 Retweet 1)A tweet that you choose to forward and display on our profile. 2)A tweet you produced that another user decides to use on their profile. You can Retweet someone by pressing the Retweet button or by copying their Tweet and adding the letters RT to the start of the message. Slide 26 Slide 27 Mentions Mentions are any Tweets from other users that include your Twitter username. Mentions can be found under the NOTIFICATIONS tab. Slide 28 What is a hashtag? Hashtags are used to follow conversations and to read up on trending (popular) topics on Twitter. Its generally considered poor form to use more than two hashtags per tweet. Also used on Facebook! Slide 29 Slide 30 Other Important #hashtags #NPS15 (Official National Policy Seminar hashtag) #VISION15 #PerkinsCTE #BestInCTE #CTESupportFund #CTELeads #CTEMonth #MembershipMondays #Techniques Slide 31 Facebook Facebook Personal Profile Open to any user 13 or over with a verified e-mail address. Must use real name. But can put nicknames into username Facebook Page Likes: Content that your followers click to indicate they agreed or enjoyed it. Shares: Content that your followers clicked to share with their own friends or followers. Impressions: The number of times any page, post, or other piece of content is displayed, whether clicked or not. Reach: The number of unique users who see your content. Slide 32 Slide 33 Likes and Shares Slide 34 Your lawmakers are on social media, too! Many policymakers maintain social media accounts to interact with their constituents and build support for their work Slide 35 Tweeting Tips Put a period before mentioning someone else so your followers can see it Tag your legislator if you mention them in a blog post, article or event Use hashtags for all major events itll increase your exposure! Slide 36 Reporters are extremely active on social media as well Reporters use Twitter and Facebook to look for scoops and gauge public opinion on issues Can provide live updates on issues, and are looking for potential interview subjects in real time