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BBS-PR2.TXT
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1995-02-10
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make the listener/viewer understand the story. If you have
the media confused you will be ignored.
Avoid the use of computer, modem or telecommunications
jargon. Jargon that is used should be explained in simple
terms. For instance: "GIFs are pictures that can be viewed
on a computer screen." That may be oversimplified, but it
works.
One page is usually sufficient for a News Release. Two
pages are acceptable, but more than that is pushing the
patience of the person you sent it to. However, if you have
material to support your News Release, such as a graph or a
table, include that also. If they want more information they
will call you.
Even if your News Release does not become recycling
fodder, it may not be used immediately. It may be put into a
file for future use.
The file PR-SAMP.TXT includes sample news releases along
with explanations of how and why they were written.
Public Service Announcements
Radio and TV stations devote some programming time to
Public Service Announcements, or P.S.A.s. Newspapers may not
call them that, but they run them as well. These are a bit
trickier to write than a News Release mainly because there
are fairly strict rules concerning what is or is not a PSA.
The litmus tests for a PSA are:
1. Is the group mentioned a profit organization?
2. Is the topic of the PSA controversial?
3. Is the group mentioned controversial?
4. Will the reader/listener/viewer feel they are hearing an
ad as opposed to a PSA?
If the answer to any of those is "yes" that doesn't
necessarily mean it is not a PSA. Chances are, though, it
won't qualify.
PSAs have much in common with News Releases in that they
will include Who, What, When, and Where, but might not have a
Why. If there is a cost involved, that needs to be included
BBS-PR pg 12
as well.
PSAs will normally be sent to the PSA Director at Radio
and TV stations. PSAs sent to Newspapers can usually be sent
to the Editor, who will know which department to send it to.
Many PSAs can be sent on a postcard. The file PR-
SAMP.TXT has a sample PSA.
News Conferences
My first thought on holding a News Conference is not to
hold one. Unless you have something of extreme importance or
of a compelling nature, a News Conference probably won't be
necessary.
There are only two reasons I can think of for a BBS to
hold a News Conference. One is when a BBS is launched, but
even that is of marginal news value. The other is Crisis
Management.
Whichever the case may be, you need to be fully
prepared. Have copies of your statement and support
materials available to distribute to members of the media
that attend.
If I am hesitant to recommend a News Conference, I am
adamantly against a Sysop holding a question and answer
session only. If you have a News Conference, you had better
have something specific to say or you are going to alienate
those attending.
Although it is acceptable to read directly from your
printed statement during your News Conference, you need to
practice it several times beforehand so you are completely
familiar with it. You might even want to practice the entire
News Conference. This can be accomplished by having some
friends or business associates listen to your statement and
grill you afterword. Chances are many of the same questions
a reporter will ask will be asked by this "practice group."
Why do you need to answer questions following your
statement? There may be something in your statement that was
unclear, or maybe needed to be expanded. Sometimes you might
even be asked to repeat certain sections. But when things
appear to be slowing down, don't be afraid to call an end to
the News Conference. Make yourself available for individual
interviews following the News Conference. TV or radio
stations might want a more intimate sounding discussion of
BBS-PR pg 13
what the News Conference was about instead of the formal
statement. A reporter might have a question he/she didn't
want to ask in a group setting.
Your News Conference will be competing with all the
other news events going on throughout the day. Don't waste
time and don't expect everyone invited to attend. I've found
early afternoon or mid morning to be the best times to hold
News Conferences.
News Conferences can be a very productive method of
getting your message across. But they are also quite
misused. Hold a News Conference only if you feel the need is
absolutely imperative.
┌──────────────────┐
│Handling the Media│
└──────────────────┘
Timeliness is a very important factor when sending
material to the media.
Most News Releases that are not dated can be mailed at
any time. If they are going to be for release on a specific
date, they should be mailed one to two weeks before the date.
Public Service Announcements and Event Schedules should be
sent two to four weeks before the event.
This gives the media plenty of time to schedule
reporters and other resources.
I do not recommend calling an Editor or reporter asking
when your News Release or PSA will be published or aired.
They might consider this badgering. However, you might call
and ask if they received it and had any questions. That
doesn't guarantee that it will be used, but it might increase
its chances, and you might even find out when it would be
used.
The Media is not the enemy. When you are talking with a
reporter or a group of reporters there is no need to be
nervous. Be friendly but professional. Treat them as you
would your co-workers.
Generally, be calm but assertive. You have the
information they want. Because computer communications is
still a burgeoning field, reporters may ask what you think
BBS-PR pg 14
are dumb or inconsequential questions. Just answer them
patiently. Offer information you think is pertinent to the
issue. The more facts they have the more accurate the story
will be.
If you read, see or hear a news story that you feel was
unfair in its coverage of the BBS Community, don't be afraid
to call or write the Editor or News Director and complain
about it. Don't be angry, but point out what you feel was
unfair. The worst thing you can do is get into an argument
with a member of the media. Any headway you've made
previously can be destroyed. You are more likely to be
listened to by being candid but keeping your head on your
shoulders. They might make a retraction to the offending
story or offer you the opportunity to set the record
straight. If nothing else, you got it off your chest.
Video cameras are so ubiquitous these days that you
shouldn't give them a second thought. You should be aware of
their presence though. A dark sport jacket with a light
colored shirt works best on camera. Flashy or very colorful
clothes can be very distracting. The viewer might pay more
attention to what you are wearing than what you are saying.
Never, ever, at any time knowingly tell a falsehood.
You'll be caught and you'll be hung out to dry. If you say
something that later turns out to be incorrect, then you can
honestly admit your mistake. In addition, if there is
something you don't know, admit that also. It's always
better to admit a lack of knowledge than it is to dance
around a question with a pseudo-answer. You can always look
up the correct answer and call the reporter later.
Drawing on that same theme, if you have gotten into a
situation in which you feel you have gotten in over your
head, defer the issue to someone you feel comfortable has the
proper skills and knowledge. In most cases, a reporter will
accept your suggested replacement. The only time it might
not work is when the reporter is asking about something that
directly impacts you or your BBS.
This may seem obvious, but you should return calls
promptly. Reporters are always under some sort of deadline
pressure. The sooner you can return their calls, the more
they will appreciate you.
BBS-PR pg 15
┌───────────────┐
│Market Research│
└───────────────┘
Who needs to do Market Research? You do. The days of
opening up a BBS with a few file areas and some message bases
are numbered. Successful BBSs will be those that plan
carefully with an eye toward what users really want-- not the
desires of the noisy few.
While online questionnaires are quite useful, they often
don't go far enough or have a large enough base for you to
make long term decisions. The biggest problems are low
response rates and questions that answer themselves. Very few
online surveys that I've seen provide enough qualitative
information for anything other than short term planning.
If you are planning on pulling in some new message
bases, but want to know which ones will actually be read by
users, then online questionnaires are quite sufficient for the
job. But if you plan on opening a new BBS, a major change in
image or thrust, or becoming a larger player in the BBS
community you probably need to do more than question your
active users.
But there are still times in which you must simply go
with your visceral instincts. If you have just done the most
extensive survey in the history of the industry, you may just
have to do what your gut tells you to do, even if it is in
total disagreement with what the research says you should do.
The easiest, least expensive, and probably the most
effective research for BBSs to do is call-out research. Pick
up the phone and start dialing. But you must have a method.
Creating a Survey
Depending on what you want to find out, you'll want to
angle your research in different directions. A person
setting up a new BBS is going to need information different
from that an established Sysop would need to consider whether
to expand or add services.
For our purposes, let's assume you want to do some basic
research on the group of people that use modems. To make
things as easy as possible, we'll assume you will be
conducting 100 surveys. This does NOT include people who
hang up on you or you terminate because they do not fit the
demographic profile you are looking for.
BBS-PR pg 16
The first thing you'll need to determine is the
demographic breakdown in your community as a whole. What is
the percentage of men and women and their age groups? This
information can easily be found at your local library. Use
the most recent census data available. Take those
percentages in each age/sex demo and conduct the same number
of surveys (23% women aged 25 to 32 in your community, then
23 surveys with women in that age group).
The first thing you need in the survey is a set of
Terminal questions. These questions help you determine the
age and sex groups you need, whether they own computers,
whether they own modems and how often they use modems. If
they don't answer any of the questions in the appropriate
manner, you break off the interview. These people are NOT
included as part of your 100 completed surveys.
If you want an overview of the BBS community compared to
the community as a whole, you will need to keep track of the
people that are terminated.
Since we are developing a profile on the modem using
public in your community, we need a set of questions to
determine how often they use them and in what manner. We
then need some questions to find out what services they use,
what activities they participate in, and what they might see
as any shortcomings.
Finally, some questions on their hardware and software.
All these numbers can be inserted into a spreadsheet
program. From there you can make pie charts or bar graphs to
represent just about anything and help you make planning
decisions.
There is a sample survey in the BBS-SAMP.TXT file.
Here are some terms that are in the sample survey that
you might want to know:
PROMPT-- Ask about listed items. Subject may offer one
or more.
QUERY-- Ask for more, do NOT specify. Ask "Anything
else?" and write down responses
(see XX)-- Depending on response to a question, then go
to the question with that number (eg: see 5B)
SPECIFY-- Subject may offer an answer. If not, ask.
TERMINATE-- Bring to an end.
BBS-PR pg 17
Making the Call
You don't need to buy a list in order to make call out
research. All it takes is a phone book or city directory.
City directories are helpful in that they will have phone
numbers and addresses that may not be in the phone book.
City directories are also expensive, especially when compared
to that phone book you received when you ordered a phone
line.
Starting with the first residential listing, keep
dialing down the column until you are able to get a completed
survey. Skip the rest of that column, next column and start
at the top of the following.
For example, if you have a three column phone book (most
are), you get a completed survey on the tenth call in the
second column. Skip the remainder of the second column, skip
the third column, and then start again at the top of the
first column on the second page. This will give you a fairly
random sample.
Also make sure you do not purposely call business
numbers. Businesses get irritated when people make
unsolicited calls. Many individuals do as well. Expect a
lot of people to hang up on you.
ALWAYS thank the person at the end of the interview,
even if you terminate them after the first question.
┌─────────────────┐
│Crisis Management│
└─────────────────┘
The first thing to remember about Crisis Management is
to avoid creating one. That isn't always possible. In that
case, the second thing to remember is "Don't Panic." You
simply don't have time. Always keep your head.
It's quite unlikely BBSs will be responsible for
volcanic eruptions or toxic waste dumps. Most crisis a BBS
would be involved in are legal in nature. If that's the
case, you'll need to contact your attorney at once.
In fact, you might even want to consider keeping one on
retainer or having a pre-paid legal plan. Your attorney
should be familiar with communications law and First
Amendment Issues. Your local Bar Association should be able
BBS-PR pg 18
to help you find one.
The media has easier access to prosecutors than to
defendants. That is why in most criminal cases it appears a
suspect has already been convicted and hauled off even though
the case has not yet been brought to trial. The good news is
that more defense attorneys are becoming media savvy and are
willing to make statements to reporters.
Most of the time, the best thing to do is to let your
attorney do your talking for you. Among other things, that's
what you are paying him for. He will know what can and
cannot be said in public and is in a better position to deal
with legal intricacies that may come up.
For now, the online community tends to rally around BBS
operators who have been accused of improprieties. Unless
your counselor objects, you can begin drumming up support
from within the industry. Among other things, you can make
legal documents available in computer readable form. Contact
industry magazines such as BOARDWATCH, BBS CALLERS DIGEST and
CONNECT and let them know what is happening. But you should
always advise or consult your attorney before doing any of
this.
Friendly Faces
I've made this point before and I'll make it again.
Reporters assigned to cover a story involving BBSs or other
online services may not fully understand the industry. Some
of them may even be technophobes.
With that in mind, there is another position you can
work yourself into. That is the position of the Local
Expert. For sake of example, another Sysop has run into
trouble with the law. You could make yourself available to
help explain what some of those complicated technological
terms are all about, making sure you stay clear of the legal
issues involved. You may not get your face on TV or your
name printed in the paper, but you will be providing a
valuable service to your local media.
The First Amendment
at Risk
The online community is under attack. There are many
in government who apparently believe First Amendment freedoms
should not be extended to BBSs and other online services,
BBS-PR pg 19
even if they don't explicitly state this. The Clipper chip
is just one example.
The battle lines are being drawn in the courts and in
the mainstream media. Solid wins in the justice system will
help ensure a place for the First Amendment in the future.
Diligent and deft manipulation of the media will help ensure
public support for the online community.
┌──────────────┐
│Out of the Box│
└──────────────┘
Many Sysops set up a BBS in a cloistered room, hunch
over a brightly lit screen late at night tweaking here and
tweaking there. "Heh!" they think, "this new door game will
bring me a few more callers!"
Wrong.
You can be assured that new game is A) already on
another BBS in town, B) the potential new callers won't know
for sometime that you have it or C) potential new callers
won't care that you have it.
The game can wait 'til tomorrow. Do something that is
more likely to bring in potential callers to your BBS in
particular and into the BBS community generally. Get out of
the house.
Chances are your BBS or the local BBS or Sysops'
Association sponsors a picnic or some such at least once a
year. Although this is a good idea, it usually is a
gathering a modem users. You need to become more involved
with the community as a whole.
There are many, many opportunities to create a good
public relations image within the community. Even though the
mainstream media should be a part of your public relations
efforts, you do not have to rely on them to tell your
message.
Your local Chamber of Commerce probably has some sort of
monthly or annual list of events going on in the community.
There should be several that you can attend or co-sponsor on
behalf of the BBS. You can also make yourself available to
talk to Service Clubs and Youth Groups.
BBS-PR pg 20
Have you thought of conducting a seminar? Let's face
it, BBSs are not among the easiest computer applications to
use. You could teach users and potential users about
telecommunications and BBSing. With more and more BBSs
connecting to the Internet, a seminar on how to use the
Internet could be quite valuable. As an aside, you might
even be able to bring in a few bucks by conducting seminars.
Schools are another place to make your mark. Donate
your time to teach a class or be a guest in a class. You
might even consider donating your old equipment to an
elementary school when you upgrade to newer equipment. That
might even bring you some good press coverage.
If you have a laptop or an older computer you wouldn't
mind toting around, take it with you with a scaled down
version of your BBS to show people what it looks like. Very
few things work better than a good visual aid.
If you produce a newsletter for your BBS that is mailed
to users on a regular basis, add the local media outlets to
your mailing list. Just as with News Releases, most
newsletters will be thrown out. But sometimes someone will
grab an idea from one and produce a story from it. By golly,
you'll probably be the first person they call.
Everyday thousands of cars go past yours or you pass
them. Bumper stickers are moving billboards. Make them
available anytime you are out meeting the public. Because
you must make a quick impression, just have the name of your
BBS and the data phone number printed on them.
Coffee mugs and t-shirts are good promotional items that
can also bring in some money. Sale items such as those are
really best for larger commercial systems, though.
┌──────────────┐
│Final Comments│
└──────────────┘
I am quite conscience of the fact that I did not discuss
paid advertising in this manual. Among the reasons:
1. This was intended to be only a brief discussion of
Public Relations.
2. Paid advertising can be quite expensive, and most
BBS do not have the money to do it.
If there is demand for information about advertising for
BBSs, it will be included in future editions.
BBS-PR pg 21
Thanks to Fred Ayers of Paradox of Arkansas BBS, Steve
Prado of Jackalope Junction BBS, and Mary McGuire of KMAG-KWHN
Radio, all of Fort Smith, AR. Their comments, suggestions
and complaints are greatly appreciated.
The current edition of BBS-PR (BBS-PRxx.ZIP) will always
be available on Jackalope Junction, (Sysop, Steve Prado). I
will answer E-Mail, snail mail and even discuss some problems
on the phone.
I am also available for private consultation. See the
file PR-RATES.TXT to see what services are available and at
what cost. Even though News Analysis is one service
available, I encourage you to send copies of News Releases,
newspaper articles, and audio and video (vhs) tapes of
broadcast stories with no obligation to engage my services as
a consultant.
About the Author
Robert Parson is a Broadcast Journalist with over 15
years experience to his credit. He is a former Contributing
Editor for "International Online Magazine," a magazine door
available from Arkansas River Valley BBS, Russellville, AR
(501 968 1931). Robert is an active participant in his local
BBS Community.
This Guide is dedicated to the First Amendment. Freedom
of Speech is our single most important Constitutional
Guarantee.
Robert Parson
2501 Phoenix
Fort Smith, AR 72901
501 646 9332 (voice)
Jackalope Junction BBS 501 785 5381 (Steve Prado, Sysop)
R.Parson (GEnie)
R.Parson@genie.geis.com (Internet)
Fido 1:3822/1 or 1:3822/8
BBS-PR pg 22