How can you make sure you have an effective media kit? Ask if there's a specific reporter who's going to be covering your event and if that reporter has already been assigned. A lot of times, that reporter might not be assigned until a couple of days before you're going to have your event. Just work with the editor and be sure they know who you are, how to contact you, and you have a good rapport going back and forth, so that by the time the event comes, they know who you are. At this meeting, take a media kit with you. The media kit should include news releases about your event. It should include some interesting photos, a map of how to get to your event, a schedule breaking down what people are going to see once they get there, a good one-page summary of the event that they can just pull out in an instant and get a really good bird's-eye view of what it's all about.

Also make sure that this information is posted at your website. The media are relying more and more on electronic media kits. When you meet with these media people, ask them about deadlines. You want to know when every deadline is that you're going to have to meet, particularly for calendar listings. You want to get onto every single calendar that you can possibly think of. In the major publications, you want to get onto the calendars. At local cable television stations, you want to get onto calendar listings and onto calendars in all those tiny, little niche publications. Then ask them what else they need from you, and they will tell you. That's how you get those full-page spreads. 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."