At today’s meeting, we learned about becoming the go-to expert, how you can be the one person Peter Mansbridge always calls for the background; I’ll get to that later.
We hit a couple of high points this morning. We inducted Rod Collard into membership. He was introduced by Bryce Leggatt and joins him and Roy Cooper in our growing cadre of ex-school principals. Rod is an exemplar of community upstandingness. To catch just some of Bryce’s introduction, he is man: of integrity, with a sense of humour (he’ll need that), great intellect, clear purpose in life and a nurturer. Rod grew up in Puslinch but has lived in Burlington since he was 14-ish. He attended Burlington Central High School, has a BA and a M.Ed., has been married for 44 years (closing in on half a century) and is an artist, a gardener and both father and grandfather. Welcome Rod.
One of our other exemplars, Ron Lambert, stood to tell us about our next fund-raiser. We are teaming up with Nelson Youth Centre to run a fashion show. It’ll be on April 30 at the golf club. It will be a $100 ticket evening and have all the glitter and glamour of anything Fashion TV and Jeanie Becker (if she’s still around) could showcase. Budd’s of Oakville will be a sponsor with a 2015 Mini on offer as a lottery prize. More to come on this.
Our speaker was Jane Allison who is Manager of Community Partnerships with Hamilton Spectator. Jane figures she has one of the best jobs in the world building enduring links between the public events and the social needs of the Hamilton Burlington area and the Spec’.
In ten minutes flat, Jane told us about managing media relations – all you need to know about getting the right press coverage. If you feel you should know more than this ten-minute’s worth, the Spec holds a two-day Media Relations Summer Camp.
Here are a few points to remember:
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Ribbon cuttings, sod-turnings and cheque presentations don’t make compelling news stories.
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Telling about issues and why people should care goes much further.
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Every cause needs a poster child, it helps to identify someone to root for.
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If you’ve got something to add to a breaking news story try newsjacking. You can be that Peter-Mansbridge-goes-to-person.You see, journalists need resources, when a story emerges it’s always good to have an expert to explain the background; that’s why you’ll often see a university prof’ being interviewed.If you would like to be known publicly as an expert on a subject (a caution here, remember that x is always the unknown quantity and a spurt is a drip under pressure.) let the newspaper know.Contact the editor and tell her (Jill Davis at Burlington Post for a local example) about yourself and your area of expertise.An expert who is quick to respond and returns call is a valuable and quotable resource.
And while we’re on the subject of quotes, Jane shared this from Ralph Waldo Emerson.: Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.
P Scribe.
