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Natasha Knows. . . AP Planner
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Natasha knows that planning ahead is essential to gaining the edge over
your competition. Now, you can plan your public relations initiatives with advance knowledge about the events that will shape your industry, your clients, and your competitors.
Introducing! AP Planner from The Associated Press, brought to you exclusively by eNR Services. A unique 12-month forward planning research tool, AP Planner lets you see over the news horizon with event categories ranging from aerospace to video games, and dozens in-between.
If you aren't using AP Planner, you're missing out! Get in the know on the events that will impact the success of your business! Here are some of the top awareness events for the month of August--pulled straight from AP Planner. Plan now to build a media campaign for your company or your client around one or more of these upcoming events--and watch your local and national media exposure grow.
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Events to Watch in August:
National Back-to-School Month
Help children in the local area that are in need of school supplies by hosting an event where community members can donate backpacks, pens, paper, etc. for the upcoming school year. Make a toast to your community's teachers by hosting a social event where local educators can relax before the school year begins; invite local businesses to donate funds to the school system. Show your support for organizations that support education by donating funds or volunteering time to their initiatives.
August 10: National S'mores Day
Host a campfire for the community at a local park or recreation center. Partner with the local Girl Scouts chapters, since the first recorded version of the s'mores recipe is found in the Girl Scout handbook of 1927, to sponsor a s'mores social.
August 17: '11th Hour' Environmental Documentary released
In awareness of the movie, show your support for "going green" by finding out what your company can do to contribute to the environment. To help educate the next generation, organize an event with the local high schools to show teenagers how they can be involved with community activism or environmentally friendly practices. Host a fundraiser and use the funds raised to purchase trees from the Arbor Day Foundation; then engage your community by planting the trees throughout the area.
August 18: National Homeless Animals Day
Help find a home for our furry friends: work with the local animal shelter or pet store to host an adoption day. Reach out to your area's homeless animal shelter or rescue organization to find out what's on their wish list; organize a community event to raise funds or supplies.
August 21: Senior Citizens Day
Promote older American's contributions and their special needs by arranging a trip to your area's retirement community or nursing home. Offer discounts on products or free services for the day to those senior citizens in your local community. Organize a luncheon for the senior citizens in your community and offer them information on resources in the area aimed at residents 60 years and older (i.e., senior centers, activities, medical and nutritional resources, etc.)
August 21: 20th Anniversary of the movie Dirty Dancing opening in the U.S.:
Host a dance at the local community center where music from the movie and the '60s will be played; proceeds from event can be used as a scholarship for a dance major in the area. Sponsor a play with the local theatre where aspiring actors and actresses in the area can perform a rendition of the movie. Calling all Dirty Dancing fanatics! Organize a trivia contest where the individual who knows the most about the movie wins.
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Natasha Speaks:
National Honey Week Isn't Just for the Bees:
Use AP Planner's Awareness Days to Create a Buzz
on Your Brand
As most of you know, AP Planner provides a 12-month look at future events in more than 125 categories; one of them being Awareness Days. These events can range from National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to Men Make Dinner Day – which I even heard mentioned on a radio station last year. Awareness days may seem quirky to some, but they actually have a solid purpose in the public relations industry. These events allow businesses in all verticals to create a buzz around their brand, their event or their product. In addition, hearing these types of awareness days resonates with consumers.
In last month's Natasha Knows newsletter, among the handful of events pulled from AP Planner was National Ice Cream Month. Something as simple as ice cream garnered clips from publications across the nation recognizing businesses celebrating this awareness event – and most weren't ice cream shops.
Here are several examples of how businesses across the country and in various industries used National Ice Cream Month in their PR campaign:
- Kimpton Hotels in Chicago recognized this event by having an annual Ice Cream Scoop Event where 100 percent of the proceeds went to charity.
- Millville Library in New Jersey celebrated National Ice Cream Month by inviting children in the local area to make ice cream.
- The Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Center kicked off a Sundaes on Sundays series.
- Holli's Sweet Tooth, an ice cream shop in Oxford, Mississippi, held a ice cream social and offered various specials.
The key to a successful PR initiative using an awareness day as your news hook is to plan ahead: with AP Planner you can search for the events that align best with your PR goals.
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Inform Your Marketing Decisions With AP Planner From The Associated Press
Attention AP Planner Users!
Take AP Planner to the next level with AP Daybooks and Industry News Feeds. Available for an additional fee, these features will make your AP Planner subscription more valuable than ever. Use Industry Alerts to set up delivery of targeted, industry-specific news and information directly to your desktop before it reaches the media — and use Daybooks to plan for, and build your schedule around upcoming local events.
Additionally, as political campaigns continue to heat up leading into 2008, remember that AP Planner is the best way to track the activity of candidates in the Presidential, Gubernatorial and Congressional races. Know who will be speaking, where and about what. The foresight you'll gain with AP Planner allows you to anticipate, plan and develop informed business and marketing plans.
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Natasha Cepura is Manager of Professional Services for eNR Services, Inc. She specializes in developing newsworthy content for local and national media. Natasha relies on AP Planner as her primary source of ideas to help clients increase media exposure by leveraging upcoming events.
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