Needed: News media expertise

[TonyV]

Hey all, I'm about to begin the kickoff off our media blanketing effort.  To do so, though, I need people who have expertise in news media.  I'm not asking specifically for media contacts, though that would certainly help!  What I'm more interested in at this point is someone I can ask questions to, or relay questions to through you.  If you or someone you know is involved in the mainstream media (e.g. television stations, newspapers, magazines, reputable online publications), please send me an e-mail at tonyv@cohtitan.com.  I have questions regarding things like what the most effective way to get media attention is, how to make it as easy as possible for reporters and get the story, and so on--including a few specific questions that I don't want to post publicly.

I'm actually lucky in that I have a personal friend that used to be a producer for a local news television broadcast in a mid-sized city, and I'll be calling her tomorrow and asking her questions like that.  But different media has vastly different cultures, and even different markets have different processes and procedures.  I can use all the help I can get!

[Rae]

Mailed ya.

[Sleepykitty]

o,o you've been added to the list, thanks

[Lich-King]

Not sure if my skill set is what you are looking for Tony, but I dropped you  a PM as well...

[JustJane]

Me too!

[SkyStreak]

Ditto

[WanderingAries]

One of the things that probably hurt the number of post-CoV new players was the loss of media coverage, more specifically the lack of game promotion. Word of mouth simply wasn't enough to keep it going. Granted, anything like that is obviously expensive so I do see why it was cut from the budget.

[Xenos]

Sent an e-mail to Tony...

[emu265]

Emailed Tony last night (well, really early this morning if we're being technical).  Looking forward to helping out.

[Zombie Hustler]

Tony- I have several friends who have worked in or still work in the mainstream media, and would be happy to bounce some questions off them if that would help. I'd love to be able to help out in any way I can.

In fact, it occurs to me that a friend of mine and Black Pebble's from back in the day is working as a reporter out here in SoCal. I haven't talked to him in years, but he's a big comic geek, and may even play CoH, so I might try to hit him up in spite of the time gap.

[Zombie Hustler]

Something else that occurred to me, in terms of human interest, is that CoH is not just a game for the fans, but it is a game *by* the fans. Just reading some of the goodbyes from the Developers shows that many of them were players before they even began working on the title.

[Exaultedninja]

That could be a good angle to go from.

[QuantumHero]

I think the sort of media experiance and info I have will be more use after we save the game...think marketing and sponsorships.  I hae a few avenues but they aren't really gaming related...still if you need contact info I may be able to get that much.

[Blitzwing]

Don't know if it'll help much, but I've just emailed someone I recently met who is involved with this show...:  http://www.bitrhythm88.com/

They do weekly video-game and chip-tune music, so I figured surely they can help get the word out....   

[emu265]

While Tony may be looking for more professional media expertise, none of us should forget the beast that is YouTube.  If you know anyone, at all, who regularly posts to YouTube, get them behind this.

[Blitzwing]

While Tony may be looking for more professional media expertise, none of us should forget the beast that is YouTube.  If you know anyone, at all, who regularly posts to YouTube, get them behind this.

Emu's got a point...a single Youtube vid could literally end this whole debacle before it could ever begin...but it'd have to be something BIG...who out there who regularly posts and is either aware of or plays CoH, AND has a big audience, do we know....

Samuraiko has been making CoH fanvids for years now that're always of top quality...and I'm sure she's already hard at work on something!

Gonna see how I can get in touch with on my Youtube list....

[Aurora Girl]

Hey all.

I've got five+ years of journalism experience from college and the Navy, as I was an E5 Mass Communication Specialist. I've got plenty of press releases up my sleeve, and would love to help in any way I can.

[Terwyn]

Recent graduate of a Marketing program at Sheridan. I would certainly be more than willing to apply my skills to this task, especially if it involves proofreading and editorial work.

[emu265]

Emu's got a point...a single Youtube vid could literally end this whole debacle before it could ever begin...but it'd have to be something BIG...who out there who regularly posts and is either aware of or plays CoH, AND has a big audience, do we know....

Samuraiko has been making CoH fanvids for years now that're always of top quality...and I'm sure she's already hard at work on something!

Gonna see how I can get in touch with on my Youtube list....

Awesome!  I'm still waiting for a response from Tony, but I've got a good friend with 5000+ subscribers and she's sympathetic.  As soon as she gets back to me, I'm going to see about putting a few things together.  Unfortunately she's a busy person, haha.  But she's a loyal friend.

[Zombie Hustler]

One thing that we could do, starting now, is to send letters- real and/or emails- to newspapers, local, national, whatever. It doesn't necessarily have to be a press release; just contact their story submissions   or the appropriate editor or writer and let them know what's going on; they may or may not decide its newsworthy, but I bet if they get a lot of emails about it, they might at least assign someone to look into it, maybe even give us a blurb.

I've already contacted a couple of papers myself, just to put some feelers out.