What are some media outlets to get publicity for your event? What about talk radio shows? Can you get some interesting people who are involved in your event to be guests on local talk radio shows? I'll give you a couple of ideas as we go through this teleseminar. Can you take an interesting poll or a survey several months before your event-something that ties into the topic of your event, and then announce those results a week or two before the event to generate more publicity? For example, let's say you're a hospital and you're sponsoring a bike-a-thon to support breast cancer research. Survey women on how many of them do self-breast examinations, or how many of them over the age of 40 get annual mammograms, and then release those results right before the event.

There are all kinds of fun contests that you can sponsor that lead up to the event. There's a public television station here in Milwaukee. They have those TV auctions every spring, and last year, they did something that I thought was brilliant. They sponsored a contest asking local artists to take a plain old wooden chair and paint it and come up with a fun theme. They chose the most creative chair and they gave the artist a big award. I saw these chairs in the local magazines and on television and even in the local newspapers months leading up to the event, and months leading up to the auction. And then they auctioned off the chairs. It was a really nice way to work in a fun contest to create buzz about the on-air auction.

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."