Vol. 5 No. 1, January 2008
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Meet the Press
On the road and at home, we’re always plugging Atlantic City
Living and working in Atlantic City, it’s easy to see all the exciting developments here. It’s up to the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority to make sure the whole country knows.
Our media relations team gets the word out by inviting writers and journalists to visit, enjoy the city’s attractions, and (hopefully) write positive articles about Atlantic City.
As a result of a visit by Sherman’s Travel Online, Atlantic City was featured as one of the “Top 10 Gambling Getaways” along with Aruba, Goa, Las Vegas, Macau, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Monte Carlo, Nassau and Paradise Island, Niagara Falls and Sun City.
Media relations recently hosted writers from AAA magazine, Richmond Magazine, the Daily Candy website and Charlotte Magazine. Separate itineraries were organized for each writer, including accommodations and entertainment based on the focus of their stories.
But individual visits aren’t the only way we bring in writers. We also host familiarization tours, or FAMs as we call them, usually centering on a big concert or event at Boardwalk Hall. FAMs are not possible without the full cooperation of the casinos and other marketing partners who help us provide hotel rooms, food and beverages, and an exciting itinerary for our visitors.
For example, when The Police brought their reunion tour to Boardwalk Hall, the Authority organized a FAM around the concert. Members of the media included Rolling Stone, Men's Health, Men’s Journal, Billboard.com, ShermansTravel.com, Metro Philadelphia, a morning show host from Big 100.3 in the Washington D.C. area, the New York Daily News, New York Magazine Online, and the Washington Times.
Many of the media mentioned above are contacted through Lou Hammond and Associates (LHA), our public relations agency in New York City. LHA works hand-in-hand with the media relations team to attract members of the media and then host them while they’re in town.
Of course, all media can’t make it into Atlantic City, so we take Atlantic City to them. I just took a Canadian media tour that was meticulously arranged through LHA. We visited Montreal and Toronto for what we call “deskside” appointments, where I actually go to the media outlet’s headquarters and sit down with a writer or editor.
In Montreal, I had appointments with 24 Heures, enRoute and the Montreal Gazette. Toronto deskside appointments included the Toronto Sun and National Post. In Toronto we also hosted a luncheon to meet with the Canadian Travel Press, Travel Courier, Canadian Traveller, TravelHotNews.com, Globe and Mail, Hello!, Maximum Fitness, The Travel Society, WeddingBells, Weddings and Honeymoons and Groom Magazine.
The writers and editors we met were impressed by the recent additions and developments in Atlantic City. Many have already published articles on Atlantic City or are in the process of doing so, like the Canadian Travel Press and the Travel Courier. Many made it a point to mention a recent Associated Press article that focused on the proposed new casino projects.
Another way we take Atlantic City on the road is through an annual media luncheon in New York City. Last year’s event took place at Buddakan restaurant and included representatives from Newsweek, Time, Town & Country, the New York Daily News, Forbestraveler.com, Elle, Newsday, People, the New York Post, Cigar Aficionado, OK! Magazine and others. Many of these outlets followed up with trips to Atlantic City and later, articles. In fact, Erik Hastings, host of WABC-AM’s The Travel Show with Erik Hastings, came to Atlantic City for a FAM centered on the A-10 Men’s Basketball Championships. He broadcast his radio show live from Tropicana.
The above is just a fraction of what our media relations team does to promote Atlantic City. The team also helps promote trade shows and conventions at the Atlantic City Convention Center, along with activities and events throughout the area.
Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. The publicity for the 2006 Atlantic City Airshow won a Platinum Award from the International MarCom Creative Awards. We also won a prestigious Silver Adrian Award for the placement of a feature about Atlantic City in Out Magazine.
The “Atlantic City: Always Turned On” promotional video has racked up an impressive amount of trophies from MarCom, the Jersey Shore Public Relations & Advertising Association, the League of American Communications Professionals and the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. In the international Ava Awards 2007 competition, we won for both the video and the music in that promotion.
Our marketing partners go out of their way to host media professionals with accommodations, meals and entertainment. We know they understand the value of providing positive experiences for the media, who will take their impressions of Atlantic City into the wider world. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them.
