Marketing to Local Media

• Press-Release Style:*

Unless submitting to an online event calendar web form (or by some other means that would ask you many of the important details like "when" and "where"), try to format the announcement like a press release, and be sure to keep it brief!

• Tips:*

• Remember to include:
  • who
  • what
  • where
  • when
  • why
  • how
• Specifically, try to include:
  • Title of event (Picn*x##)
  • Brief description of event
  • Date and time (Day-of-Week, August Day-of-Month, YYYY, 11am-4pm)
  • Admission costs (Free)
  • Venue name (Sunnyvale Baylands Park)
  • Street address (999 Caribbean Drive)
  • City (Sunnyvale, Calif 94086)
  • Website that readers/listeners can contact for more information (www.linuxpicnic.org); telephone and/or e-mail address as well, if possible
  • Telephone number for media
• Don't say "we" or "our" (e.g., "To learn more about our picnic"), as that would imply the station, not our group.

Bill Kendrick's Stab at it:

 "Picn*x14" to celebrate Linux's birthday in August

 July 1, 2005 (Sunnyvale, CA) -- This August marks the 14th anniversary of
 the first official release of Linux, the popular open source operating system
 that started out as one college student's hobby and has since become a
 multi-billion dollar per year international phenomenon.  To celebrate the
 project's birthday, local enthusiasts are holding the 5th annual Linux picnic
 in Sunnyvale.

 The Linux anniversary picnic ("Picn*x") draws between 400 and 700 Linux
 and open source enthusiasts and their families each year.  Attendees play
 sports, talk tech, and even help get Linux running on the occasional laptop.

 This year's event, "Picn*x14" will be held on Sunday, August 14th from
 11am to 4pm at Sunnyvale Baylands Park, 999 East Caribbean Drive in Sunnyvale,
 California -- just off Highway 237 at the end of Lawrence Expressway.

 Admission is free, and food and drinks will be provided for free to all those
 who RSVP in advance.  Visitors will have a chance to win free t-shirts, mugs
 and other give aways.  Palo Alto based Linux-Consulting.com will be giving
 away one rack-mountable Linux server to the winner of a short essay contest.

 This year's event is organize by the Bay Area Large Installation
 Systems Administrators group, the Consortium of All Bay Area Linux,
 the Linux User Group of Davis, the Peninsula Linux User Group,
 the Silicon Valley Linux User Group and the South Bay/Silicon Valley
 Community Network (sbay.org).  It is sponsored by BayLISA, Bitpusher,
 Coco Ranch, Google, Linux-Consulting.com, Open Country, Oracle Technology
 Network, Penguin Computing, Polywell Computers, Sonic.net and Vattar Group.
 (See: http://www.linuxpicnic.org/sponsors/)

 For more information on this event, and to RSVP, visit
 http://www.linuxpicnic.org/

 Briefly:

   What:  "Picn*x14," the Linux anniversary picnic
   When:  Sunday, August 14th, 2005, 11am-4pm
   Where: Sunnyvale Baylands Park, Sunnyvale, CA
   Why:   To celebrate the open source Linux OS's birthday,
          socialize, eat barbecue, and have fun in the park
   Who:   BayLISA, CABAL, LUGOD, PenLUG, SVLUG, sbay.org
   Price: Free.  Just visit www.LinuxPicnic.org to RSVP