PUBLICIT

PUBLIC RELATIONS/PUBLICITY

Public relations is an essential and vital aspect of the music program. It is not a job to be relegated to someone else, or performed only in the teacher's spare time. If a student is chosen to assist you, it is important that they can handle the job, and you can handle them.

Proper timing is important in the presenting of publicity. A public relations calendar set up at the beginning of the year will enable the teacher to have several items before the public at regular intervals throughout the year.

Press Releases / Bulletin Announcements

Releases pertaining to the music groups should pass through the hands of the director who will in most instances need to edit and sometimes rewrite the material.

Written copy should be easily understood and to the point. It should

be done on standard size paper, with double or triple spacing and

wide margins and in a clean font, as in this paragraph. The first page

of the release should begin about one third of the way down the page

so that there is room at the top for editors or broadcasters to make

notations as to headlines, size of type, timings, etc. Print publications

might also appreciate copy being submitted on a disc, along with

hard copy.

If pictures are submitted they should be preferably vertical and be sharp and glossy, with maximum contrast. They should be fully identified, with notations on an accompanying sheet or on an attached post-it. At no time should pictures and/or releases of more than one page be attached with staples or paper clips. Each separate release with accompanying pictures should be submitted to the appropriate news agency in a separate envelope.

Concert Publicity

Public relations will mostly revolve around the giving of programs. The successful teacher realizes that excellent programs do not just happen but are planned to the smallest detail. Factors such as type of audience, length of program, encores, solos, printed programs, and others are important.

Intensive publicity for the concert should start early:

Five weeks before the concert, an announcement or article should be sent to the journal of the union conference of Seventh-day Adventists in which the school is located with a request that it be released in the issue nearest the concert. Also about one month before the concert, an article should be submitted to the school paper giving interesting information relating to the program.

Three weeks before the concert a form letter should be sent to the pastors in the area. In the letter are three short announcements, one for each of the two weeks preceding the concert and one for the weekend of the concert. They should each be different and to the point .

One and a half weeks before the concert, posters should be placed throughout the area. A printed poster is best and, if designed correctly, can be produced in large enough quantity to keep the expense to a minimum.

Posters should be to the point and have eye-catching graphics and copy that can be seen easily from a distance. Avoid putting much more on the poster other than what, where, and when. The most eye-catching combination of colors is bright yellow paper (ultra lemon) with vibrant blue lettering. Although standard sized paper (8 1/2 X 11) can be effective, ledger size paper (twice as large) is better and can be run through a copier.

Placement of posters is critical. They should be at eye level and as near entrances as possible. Placement of posters on glass doors is usually not allowed.

On the Monday preceding the concert, personalized letters of invitation should be sent to friends of the ensemble. The letter can be photocopied but should be signed individually by the director and president of the group.

On the Thursday prior to the concert the actual printed program and or miniature versions of the poster can be placed in staff members’ mailboxes. At this point the publicity phase of the program is complete, with the exception of one final matter: the collection of the posters on the Monday following the program..

All of the detail discussed is vital, but the most significant detail is the performance. All the publicity, all the efforts expended in-stage settings, and all the planning made for a smooth program progression will not substitute for a polished performance.

An outstanding program is

the best publicity you can generate!