PUBLICITY

Publicity Committee Report

6 October 2014

Publicity Committee members: Alicia Weimer, Jeff Saxton, Jim Gartner, Jim King, Joanne Cronin, John Lamb, Michael Mitsch, Nancy Kelner, Pam Robinson, Pat Brangs, Paul Fisher, Loretta Brooks, Susan Lembo, Jean Scully and Cathy Ballard

Webmaster Report – John Lamb

Another fairly slow month for the web team. In addition to the normal updates, we made the last few requested changes for Getaway. We added links that allow the public to sign up directly on or Constant Contact lists, rather than requiring one of us to do that for them. We updated a link to point to the volunteer calendar that is currently in use rather than the one that was used when the website was designed.

We have been experiencing a high volume of spam on the publicity@folkproject.org address. This is hard to avoid on email addresses that must, of necessity, be published far and wide. The best way we have found so far to combat this is to filter messages through gmail. Eac recipient creates a gmail account to which their email is forwarded. The gmail account filters out nearly all of the spam, puts it in a separate folder and does not forward it. Messages that wind up in the regular inbox are forwarded to the intended recipient.

As usual, thanks to Charles, Lori and Allan. Please direct any question, comments or suggestions to webmaster@harmonium.org.

Facebook Report – Pam Robinson

Some interesting FaceBook stats for the October meeting.

The 18-24 year olds represent 32% of all FB users; it represents 4% of FolkProject fans

The 25-35 year olds represent 27% of all FB users; it represents 7% of FolkProject fans.

The 35-44 year olds represent 13% of all FB users; it represents 10% of Folk Project fans.

The 45-54 year olds represent 7% of all FB users; it represents 26% of FolkProject fans.

The 55-64 year olds represent 4% of all FB users; it represents 39% of Folk Project fans.

The 65+ year olds represent 2% of all FB users; it represent 13% of Folk Project fans.

These stats unfortunately show what we know has been a problem for several years. We are not reaching the 18-34 year old demographic with what we are currently doing.

Even with people giving incorrect info in their personal stats, these numbers are too large not be true averages.

Twitter Report – Jean Scully

We have 339 followers, we're following 978 groups and individuals, and I've sent 588 tweets.

Currently focusing on the Acoustic Getaway, but I've tweeted for all FP activities as they come up.

If you want to start tweeting for your FP activity (AND YOU SHOULD) see me for info on how to do it. It's easy and fun. If you already have a Twitter account, don't forget to use the musician's Twitter address (@tobywalkerblues for example) so that the musician's followers all see your tweet! It's a free ride on their mailing list so use it.

We're getting more retweets and follows every day, and I'm finding it a very valuable resource to find out about new music resources, non profits and just general fun stuff.

By following the World Folk Music Association, I found out about a concert in Maryland that really wasn't advertised around here; Dave and I went and saw a dozen folk giants in one fantastic concert! (Tom Paxton, Anne Hills, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen, Modern Man, Bill Danoff, Schooner Faire, Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Stookey, Christine Lavin... and more! It was an unforgettable evening, and I owe it all to Twitter.) So join Twitter and expand your horizons!

Report From “The Chair” – Paul Fisher

The committee continues to function smoothly, getting out releases as needed when the chair provides them on time.

Susan Lembo has been working closely with the Getaway team on promotion, radio interviews and print interviews and has begun working on promotion of the artists coming to Minstrel and Special Concerts. She has made a great effort to get our name and our artists names out to the public.

We arranged for paid radio announcements (required for quid-pro-quo on interviews on listener supported stations) on WDVR and WNTI. Things have gone well with WDVR but less so with WNTI from the point of view of cooperation.

Interviews were arranged and completed for Toby Walker (WFUV and WDVR), Mark (WDVR for the Getaway) and Cosy Sheridan (WDVR). Dave Kleiner and Chris Bukata were interviewed for the Daily Record. Grover will be interviewed on WDVR on October 17.

A number of other interviews were arranged but did not take place due to DJ illnesses, technical issues, station fundraising periods and one performer missing the arranged call-in time. This has made us aware of things we need to watch out for in the future.

We are gearing up for the Halloween concert and the Special Concert with Jonathan Edwards and Lucy Kaplansky.

Nancy continues to be very helpful with ideas, suggestions and reminders and the committee continues to function well.

Gloria Fisher volunteered at Bottle Hill Day in Madison for the AAUW but also spoke with the organizer about The Folk Project. It was suggested that a table or booth would be a good addition to Bottle Hill Day for next September. We should consider this form of outreach and publicity, especially if the booth at the Eco Day last week went well.

Both Gloria Fisher and Nancy and Russ Kelner went the next day to Morristown for the Festival on the Green and both also spoke with people who suggested that the Folk Project should have a presence there.

I don't know if this should be Publicity or Community Outreach or both, but a lot of towns where we have members have an annual street celebration. Maybe we should compile a list/calendar and consider participation.

Other news:

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Online

· The Minstrel continues to be frequently listed among the Top Ten Monthly Events by the Morris County Tourism Bureau.

· Folk Project events listed on northjersey.com

· All of our events were posted to the northjersey.com calendar.

· It was noted that publicity@folkproject.org has been getting hit with a lot of spam emails lately. The web team provided suggestions on how to mitigate the annoyance using gmail, which filters it effectively. This continues to be a problem.

In Print

· Listings were seen in a number of local outlets.

· One of Jim King's big press releases was repeated almost in its entirety in one..

Working with Performers and Their Publicists

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On the Radio

· See above.

Other Items

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