Will the media cover any event no matter how much publicity you give to it? No, it doesn't go without saying that. They won't cover it if there's another PR person out there who's smarter than you are and who's planning a special event the same weekend you happen to be. If they have captured the media's attention, and they have recruited a particular reporter to cover it, and it's the same reporter who would cover your event, and the reporter has to figure out which of the two are the most important and you lose, you lose. Also, I think that too many PR people think it's the media's job to promote their special event, and that is wrong, wrong, wrong.

It's your job to promote the event and it's the media's job to give their readers or viewers the really compelling stories that enlighten, inform and entertain. Both of those things can be accomplished and you can dovetail them to create some really good publicity for your special event. So contact them! A media database is a file of individual media contacts who you're going to need to call on to cover your event. Each contact includes valuable information on exactly what that particular contact covers and what they need to do a top-notch job. For every contact it's going to be different. You can create a media database if you have a contact manager program like ACT! or Goldmine. You can create a separate group called "media database." Or you can even keep a database in a three-ring notebook. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just devote a separate page to each contact.

For more great information and tips on how to create media buzz for your event, read "How to Create Media Buzz When Promoting Your Special Event."