Thursday, July 7, 2016

Do you want media to write about your Club?

The biggest challenge before the Club President is to have the news of their Club published in the media... especially the newspaper.

Many of us perhaps look at it as the opportunity to have their own photographs appearing on the front page.  May be a personal link could get you covered on the front page; but not everytime.

Media requires a story...a story that they can share with their readers.  A story that tells a human story and the impact of the work which Rotary is doing.

Installation is one such occasion when the Clubs vie for space in the newspapers.  It is more challenging when there are more than three clubs in the city.

In order to get share of your voice in the newspapers, it is essential that the story is irresistible. It is worth writing about.  Either there is a celebrity presence at your function, or you have a project bigger than life.

I remember an Indian tv commercial for bulbs, when the person goes to a shop to buy the bulb; but in order to make an impact in his home, he demands many.  Shopkeepers quizzed looks meet with his prompt quip, "Saare ghat ke badal daloonga" (Would change in the entire home).


Think big...for any project. How can you multiply the impact and reach out to a larger audience. Or something that would touch the life of certain section of the society more effectively.

Rotary Club Chandigarh's #Heartline project was inspired by the helplessness of Rotarians when the patient for whom the money was being collected, died, because the fund-raising took time.

The Rotarians took a pledge that no child should die for want of money. And today, more than 600 free heart surgeries on children have been done since 1999.

As a Club president do you have a major project that would have big outcome?  Can you enlarge the scope of your project idea?

That would make news.  And if you launch that project during installation, that also gives every member in your Club to rally together to work for it.

Wait for my next blog post.  I would share some tips on successfully working with the media. How to think like a journalist, and frame a story like one.  

It would help you also in your business too !

And I do hope you have your 'MyRotary' Account opened.  Lots of Rewards await you. To know more, send me an email now.


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