Public relations (PR) is an integral part of running a successful brand and business. It is the art of communication and storytelling. It’s about appealing to communities and stakeholders, forging relationships with media and playing the marketing long game. Yet, as my guest today - PR pro, Meg Treat, of Treat Public Relations - rushes to acknowledge, it often gets a bit of a bad rap.  Well, hopefully we’re going to be challenging those perceptions for you today, with a really insightful take on public relations, earned media and the power of storytelling, that definitely opened my eyes to the vast opportunities events can unlock through a thoughtful and carefully implemented PR strategy. In this episode: Public relations: what it is about and how it relates to your work as an event owner/directorPaid vs shared vs owned vs earned mediaThe importance of securing media exposure for free (=earned media)How every race is intrinsically newsworthy and can have a story to tellUnderstanding newsworthiness and unlocking/developing your race's unique storyLeveraging newsworthy topics: human interest stories, event milestones, brand partnerships.Distributing your story/content through online and offline media outletsDeciding when to send out (and when not to send out) a press releaseWriting engaging press releases: quotes, the inverse pyramid approach, calls-to-action that workThe four ways of mining media contact information!Crafting effective cover emails to journalists for increased media outreach successUnderstanding journalist lead times and planning your PR content accordinglyInviting media to your race using media alertsPost-race press releasesBeing your race's spokesperson: making yourself available for interviews and how to conduct them successfullyResources: Meg's media alert template/example  & press release template/example for race directors: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jzw8jv0qr21xfmd/AACdD1sj72NhEf3RMJk-jjaAa?dl=0 (make sure to listen to Meg's audio intro in the folder)Thanks to GiveSignup|RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 22,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use GiveSignup|RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about GiveSignup|RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com. You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com. You can also share your questions about public relations, earned media or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.