Promotional Ideas
Lynn Blackmore coordinated a town hall meeting in Anacortes and...
250 people attended!
Here is what she and her committee did:
Advertised the event on EVERY reader board and banner in town
Held a radio interview about the event
Wrote personal letters of invitation to:
- all of the city, county, and state dignitaries
- all the youth leaders in town asking them to attend
- every church in Anacortes asking the pastors to promote the event within their congregations
Posted the Start Talking Now posters along with fliers advertising the event in EVERY business, Dr's office, dentist office, prenatal clinic, grocery stores, restaurants, gyms, etc.
Asked physicians to recommend the event to patients and other doctors
Asked fire and police departments to attend
Asked every school within Anacortes to post it on their school website, and asked the District to post the event on the District website
Sent letters and registration forms home with all 5th, 6th and 7th grade students in the district
Encouraged 8th grade and all high school teachers to offer extra credit to students if they attended, and double credit if they brought their parent
Sent announcement letters to all staff within the district
Sent announcement letters via email to all the people who attended the 2006 THM
Reached out to neighboring community leaders asking them to support the event
Succeeded in getting the Mayor's office to post the event on the Mayor's website and city council website.
Other KEY components:
- Free dinner and childcare to attendees (utilized AmeriCorps volunteers and SADD students for daycare and served a spaghetti dinner)
- Door prizes to all those who pre-registered (great door prizes given by local merchants)
Lynn says, "It took months of planning and a solid committee of folks to do it. Having someone in charge of the press releases and a connection with the local newspapers sure helps. OH yes, we carefully looked at the school districts calendar (and the city calendar of events) and chose a date that would not conflict with any major event. (Naturally some sports events were still held, but we chose dates that didn't include sporting events that brought out large numbers of attendees)"
