Spreading the word about NAOSH Week

To best communicate your plans for NAOSH Week, remember that providing relevant and timely information to the media will greatly enhance your marketing efforts.

A few key points to remember:

Give Them Lots of Time

• When your plans are set, set a schedule for media targets as soon as possible.
• Find out if there are production schedule deadlines (i.e., newspapers).
• For radio and TV stations, find out how they find out what’s new and interesting in the community.
• For each target, is there a specific individual with whom you should be liaising?
• How soon is a first draft or an “invitation” (to an event) required?
• For articles, etc., what format or length is required?
• Is there space for photographs or graphics? Who will supply these?

Look for Opportunities

• Are there special or themed issues or inserts in any local publications?
• Can an interview be arranged to profile key NAOSH Week volunteers or news-worthy people?
• Is there anything else happening in the community that looks like “a fit”?
• Is there a NAOSH Week event to which a reporter and/or a photographer should be invited?

Prepare a Media Kit

• Organize and compile the information, health and safety general articles of interest, promotional pieces, human interest stories … whatever can provide easy-to-access and easy-to-read material that can be adapted to a newspaper spread or help an interviewer to understand what NAOSH Week is all about.
• Keep things factual, concise and interesting.
• Have it “ready to go” before you contact the media.

Identify a Contact Person

• Be sure to include the pertinent information (telephone/fax/email) for the designated contact, including their title.
• Make sure the contact understands their responsibility and can be “available” if necessary.

Be Proactive!

• Don’t sit back and wait for the media to call. Get your volunteers involved! Make calls, talk to community leaders and keep the momentum going!