I was reading an interesting book called "Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work--And Why Your Company Needs Them" by Peter Shankman and it gave me an idea to help promote Toastmasters ...In the book, Peter talks about "adding value" and "being a resource" for a reporter before you ask them to write an article about you or your client.
One of the ways that he suggests to do that is to offer your expertise.
He has a great letter in the book where he states all the different things that he or his clients have done to show the scope of connections that he has and how it might be of value to a reporter.
Here is the idea for Toastmasters.... What if the VP-PR for a Toastmasters club invited a specific reporter (or other media contacts) to a "Media Mixer" event (i.e. a Toastmasters meeting) where the theme of the meeting is designed to showcase the experience and interests of all the Toastmasters members?
Obviously the reporter would see a Toastmasters meeting in action but they would also be introduced to a wide range of very interesting people who could give them material for many, many articles in the future.
The side benefit... Toastmasters would likely be mentioned in any of the stories that were printed or aired.
It probably would not hurt to have some good food and other incentives (like a REAL nice invitation with a personal follow up telephone call) to get the reporter(s) to the meeting, but it could plant some good publicity seeds... plus it would create personal connections between the Toastmasters club and someone in the media.
What do you think?
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