MEDIA CRAZINESS
They don't call him the PR wizard for nothing. Neil Bousquet from Synergy Marketing has been working magic getting me press coverage for the 24 hour record attempt this Saturday. I've been bombarded with Television, newspaper and radio interviews all week.
The major reason I decided to go for a new 24 hour human powered boat record is because I thought the event would be a great opportunity to generate some good publicity for the Atlantic crossing expedition. The plan was to complete our sponsorship package and coincide a push to find sponsors with the press that we generate from the 24 hour event.
Landing sponsors requires a very pro-active, sales approach. You can't do your PR, sit back and wait for sponsors to knock on your door. It doesn't work like that unfortunately. You have to pick up the phone, make contacts negotiate and develop relationships. We had someone on the team who was going to do that, but due to some very unfortunate circumstances, that job is now open.
And so we decided to proceed with the 24, issue the press releases, and finish the official PedalTheOcean.com web site anyhow, then wait until things calm down a bit and fill the open sponsor marketing position, then make our push later this summer or early next fall.
The press that Neil has generated for Pedal The Ocean has been spectacular! The high-light was a 10 minute appearance by yours truly on the Breakfast Television show on CityTV. The YouTube video of the show is above.
Here is a list of this weeks interviews:
- Almost a full page in the Calgary Sun
- Front page of Metro News
- Two pieces in the Calgary Herald
- 660 News Calgary
- 5 minute Shaw TV segment
- 15 minute CityTV talk show
- Discovery Channel (taped last week, to be aired in September)
Plenty of fun. It's also been a great opportunity for me to talk a bit on the childhood obesity issue. In fact, we got another KidPower school presentation from a teacher who saw me on TV.
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