Competing for Media Coverage

Last Friday, AirTran Airways launched new service to Orlando, Florida, from McGhee Tyson Airport. You might ask, "How is that a changing communication demand?

For us, it was a case study in competing for media coverage. At the exact time we were hosting our press event, the SmartFix 40 project (construction on Interstate 40 that closed direct access to downtown Knoxville for 14 months) officially opened; Dolly Parton debuted her new children's book; and television stations went ditigal. Talk about stiff competition!

To get our piece of the media that day, we communicated our message via Facebook, Twitter as well as held discussions with local assignment editors on how to best garner coverage. In the end, three things helped us to increase our media coverage.

1. Have a strong, positive relationship with the media that cover your organization. They are excellent sounding boards for setting realitic expectations for coverage.

2. Know what events will be conflicting with your event. If you don't know what you are competing with, you WILL NOT be prepared.

3. Be creative in your event approach (i.e. in theme development; visual/photographic opportunties; etc.)