The Press ReleaseMake Your Chapter Stand Out

WHAT IS A “PRESS RELEASE?”

• A PRESS RELEASE IS A STORY SUBMITTED TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS

• PRESS RELEASES ARE INTENDED TO CREATE POSITIVE PUBLICITY FOR THE ORGANIZATION THAT THEY DESCRIBE

• MANY STORIES THAT YOU READ IN THE NEWSPAPER ARE PRESS RELEASES THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED. THIS GUIDE WILL SHOW YOUR CHAPTER HOW TO EARN A SPOT IN THE NEWSPAPER!

WHY CREATE PRESS RELEASES?

• RAISE AWARENESS OF YOUR CHAPTER’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• CREATE BRAND FAMILIARITY: WHEN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR A CLUB OR ORGANIZATION TO JOIN ON CAMPUS, THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO GO WITH AN ORGANIZATION THEY RECOGNIZE

• GENERATE SUPPORT FOR DECA AT YOUR SCHOOL. PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO SUPPORT SOMETHING THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT!

• TAKE CREDIT FOR THE HARD WORK OF YOUR CHAPTER THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

PLAN FOR A SUCCESSFUL YEAR OF PRESS RELEASES BY FOLLOWING THESE F IVE STEPS! STEP #1: DETERMINE WHAT IS “PUBLICITY WORTHY”

STEP #2: DETERMINE WHO TO CONTACT

STEP #3: WRITE THE PRESS RELEASE

STEP #4: DISTRIBUTE PRESS RELEASES

STEP #5: FOLLOW-UP

STEP #1 : DETERMINE WHAT IS “PUBL IC ITY-WORTHY”

• THIS STEP ADDRESSED THE QUEST ION OF , “WHAT SHOULD I

CREATE A PRESS RELEASE FOR?” IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THIS

QUESTION IS ADDRESSED. PUBLISHERS WILL ONLY PUBLISH STORIES

THAT THEY FIND INTERESTING OR IMPORTANT

• “PUBLICITY-WORTHY TOPICS” INCLUDE: DECA WEEK ACTIVITIES, CHAPTER

ACTIVITIES, FUNDRAISING PROJECTS, CHAPTER CAMPAIGNS, BUSINESS

PARTNERSHIPS, COMMUNITY SERVICE, DECA COMPETITIONS, ACADEMIC

HONORS (SCHOLARSHIPS, COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE, ETC.), GUEST

SPEAKERS, AND CHAPTER ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

• UNSURE IF SOMETHING IS “PUBLICITY-WORTHY?” ASK YOUR ADVISOR,

FELLOW MEMBERS, OR YOUR PARENTS!

Be the Best!Before the year s tar ts , make a l i s t o f “publ ic i ty-worthy” eventsthat your chapter wi l l be part ic ipat ingin th is year!

By p lann ing out what your chapter wi l l pub l ic ize in advance, your chapter wi l l have more t ime to p lan press re leases for these events .

STEP #2: DETERMINE WHO TO CONTACT

• SEND PRESS RELEASES TO THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR SCHOOL: SCHOOL PAPER, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, GUIDANCE COUNCILORS, AND SCHOOL BOARD

• SEND PRESS RELEASE TO THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR COMMUNITY: LOCAL PAPER, LOCAL NEWS, LOCAL RADIO, WEBSITES THAT PUBLISH LOCAL NEWS, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, BUSINESSES THAT HAVE PARTNERED WITH YOUR DECA CHAPTER, PROFESSIONAL DECA MEMBERS, AND YOUR STATE OFFICERS

• MANY OF THESE OUTLETS ARE NOT CAPABLE OF “PUBLISHING” A PRESS RELEASE, HOWEVER, THE GOAL OF PRESS RELEASES IS NOT ONLY TO BE PUBLISHED, BUT ALSO TO GENERATE AWARENESS BY SENDING PRESS RELEASES TO THESE OUTLETS

Be the Best!The people your chapter sendspress re leases to throughout theyear wi l l not change very much. I t i she lp fu l to assemble a contact l i s t o f these media out lets to make future press re leases eas ier.

Use the “Contact L is t for Press Re leases Template” to he lp make a contact l i s t !

STEP #3 : WR ITE THE PRESS RELEASE

VISIT THE CALIFORNIA DECA WEBSITE AND DOWNLOAD THE PRESS RELEASE

TEMPLATE THAT FITS YOUR TOPIC THE BEST!

CALIFORNIA DECA’S “PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE FOR CHAPTER

ACCOMPLISHMENTS” IS THE MOST BROAD TEMPLATE! USE THIS TEMPLATE FOR

TOPICS THAT DON’T FIT WITH ANY OF THE OTHER TEMPLATES.

TIP #1: ANSWER WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, AND HOW IN YOUR FIRST

PARAGRAPH

TIP #2: YOUR PRESS RELEASE SHOULD BE NO MORE THAN THREE

PARAGRAPHS. INCLUDE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN YOUR FIRST

PARAGRAPH BECAUSE SOMETIMES THAT IS THE ONLY THING YOUR RECIPIENT

WILL PUBLISH

TIP #3: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. YOUR AUDIENCE PROBABLY WON’T

UNDERSTAND WHAT A ROLE-PLAY IS.

STEP #4 : D ISTR IBUTE PRESS RELEASES

• REFER TO STEP ONE. DURING STEP ONE, WE D ISCUSSED WHO PRESS

RELEASES SHOULD BE SENT TO

• I T I S ESSENT IAL THAT PRESS RELEASES ARE D ISTR IBUTED WITH IN

TWO WEEK OF THE EVENT THAT THE PRESS RELEASE DESCRIBES .

W ITH IN ONE WEEK IS IDEAL.

• DEL IVER YOUR PRESS RELEASES ON A SCHOOL OR DECA

LETTERHEAD. YOU CAN USE THE CAL IFORNIA DECA LETTERHEAD

THAT IS AT THE TOP OF MOST CHAPTER RESOURCE DOCUMENTS.

• MOST MEDIA OUTLETS HAVE A PREFERRED FORM OF SUBMISS ION I .E .

EMAIL /FAX/MAIL . DETERMINE WHAT TH IS IS FOR EACH MEDIA OUTLET

AND MAKE NOTE OF IT SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO ASK MULT IPLE

T IMES

STEP #5: FOLLOW-UP

• IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR CHAPTER FOLLOWS UP WITH ANYONE WHO

THEY DISTRIBUTE A PRESS RELEASE TO, IF THE MEDIA OUTLET IS CAPABLE

OF PUBLISHING THE STORY (THAT MEANS IT IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO FOLLOW-

UP WITH ADMINISTRATORS, PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS, ETC.)

• FOLLOW-UP TWO TIMES.

• THE FIRST TIME FOLLOW-UP TO ENSURE THAT THE MEDIA OUTLET HAS

RECEIVED YOUR PRESS RELEASE AND INQUIRE IF THEY HAVE ANY

QUESTIONS. ALSO, ASK IF THEY PLAN ON PUBLISHING YOUR STORY. IF THEY

PLAN ON IT, ASK WHEN THEY PLAN ON PUBLISHING IT.

• FOLLOW-UP A SECOND TIME IF YOUR STORY IS NOT PUBLISHED BY THE TIME

YOU WERE TOLD IT WOULD BE

ADDIT IONAL NOTES

• SEND YOUR CHAPTERS PRESS RELEASES TO YOUR STATE OFFICERS IN

ORDER TO GET RECOGNITION ON THE STATE LEVEL!

• NOT SURE WHAT OFFICER SHOULD HANDLE PRESS RELEASES? THIS JOB

IS TYPICALLY HANDLED BY ANY OF THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS, WITH

THE POSITIONS LISTED FIRST THE MOST LIKELY: PUBLIC RELATIONS,

COMMUNICATIONS, HISTORIAN, VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT

• ESTABLISH A CORDIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DECA AND LOCAL PRESS

OUTLETS BECAUSE YOUR CHAPTER WILL HAVE TO WORK WITH THEM FOR

THE REST OF THIS YEAR AND HOPEFULLY MANY MORE YEARS TO COME!

• MAKE SURE THE MEDIA OUTLETS YOUR CHAPTER CHOOSES ARE

APPROPRIATE. A NEWSPAPER SUCH AS THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DOES

NOT BELONG ON YOUR LIST. IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THEY WILL AIR

YOUR STORY. LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, HOWEVER, ARE A GREAT CHOICE!