Workin' in the Media Biz

I had the distinct pleasure of receiving an email and call from a producer with NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. How exciting for this Fort Myers, Florida-based girl!

The call was about my client, The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA). Nightly News is looking to do a story about the pros and cons of shoreline protection. They did the story many years ago, and are looking to revisit it again.

Shoreline protection is a highly debated topic in the coastal world. The engineers and scientists involved with ASBPA are very proactive concerning protecting America's shorelines, but there are scientists who are against it. I won't go into all of the details here, but you can visit the ASBPA website if you want to learn more.

When I received the email, I immediately began lining up the right people for NBC to talk to -- they were all gathered in Washington, D.C., for a Coastal Summit, so it was easy! While I was working on that, the producer follwed up his email with a call, and I had the pleasure of speaking to him and getting a better idea of what the story was going to be about. After our talk, I finished arranging the people and places for the interviews and emailed him the details.

Although I wasn't in Washington to meet the reporter and oversee the interviews, my cleint, Kate Gooderham, APR, CPRC, was. She and her husband, Ken, are co-executive directors of the ASBPA. Kate and Ken said the interviews went great!

Afterward, I was surprised to recieve thanks from the producer and reporter for helping them get the interviews they needed for the story. It was as if they were truly grateful. It just surprised me, because these are big-time producers and reporters -- they are used to dealing with big-time PR people. I'm just an independent consultant.

Throughout this process, I just thought I was doing my job. How exciting to receive that gratitude! Kate said the reporter even complimented us on the ASBPA website, which is very exciting! We've worked hard to make it a great source of information about the coast!

The other exciting thing about this turn of events is that the ASBPA has had a formal media relations program in place for about a year and a half now. Our program does not target the big news outlets. We target weekly coastal newspapers with the hopes that the bigger outlets will pick up on it -- and it has been working!

It feels so fantastic to see hard work pay off! It just makes you want to keep on going! Well, it sounds like the story will air next Thursday. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.