PROC Event Guide: Publicty Tips

3rd Oct 2008

FREE PUBLICITY AT YOUR FINGER TIPS
Getting the most out the PROC Event Guide

There are a few simple things that bands, venue managers and promoters can do when submitting events to PROC that will help them reach a wider audience. PROC has 5,000 users online everyday while the Evening Echo gets 40,000 readers every Thursday - a sizeable audience for you to promote your event to. As of November 2009 the best of the day's events are also printed on page 30 of every edition.

When describing your event on the submission form, imagine that you are reading about it in a newspaper or magazine (because that's where you should hope it will end up!) and not a text message or a paragraph on bebo directed at your friends or people who already know about the gig.

Assume the person reading about your event knows little about your style of music or the venue but is looking for something to do on the night of your gig. Your competition is other venues/promoters/bands so try to make your event sound as appealing as possible.
To submit you events please click here

Here are our top tips for getting the most out of the PROC Event Guide:

WE'RE INFO HUNGRY!
The general rule is: if you cannot write anything of interest about your event then it is probably not worth going to. Why not spend an extra 30 seconds selling your event to PROC and Echo readers by submitting 50-200 words? Events with information about them get approximately eight times as many clicks on PROC as gigs without.

A listing like this without any info about the act:
The Flying Pigs, Example Bar, Wed 9 June, 9pm, adm €5

fails to promote the gig to those who haven't heard about the band (or may need reminding) which may be an overwhelming majority of the Cork gig going public.

If you went to a foreign city and picked up the local gig guide there would nothing in a bland listing like this to inspire you to go to it. It could be two old lads fermenting in the corner of the bar playing banjos, an explosive punk rock cover band or an original 8 piece Scandinavian jazz group. Just tell us - it's free!

SPELLING
Stick your spiel into Word for a spell check before you submit it but above all things make sure you've spelt the artist name(s) correctly.

REPETITION
Don't repeat any gig details in the information box that have already been entered (event name, time, venue name, website). These have to be deleted which takes time especially if there are multiple entries. If there is not sufficient time to edit the event it may be left out of the Echo listings.

CAPITALS & UPPER CASE SHOUTING
Please only use capital letters where they are necessary - for names or places.
E.G. "Leeside Events presents the Most Exciting band of the 21st Century…."
Letters in bold should not be in capitals.

Avoid writing in CAPITALS LIKE THIS. On the internet this is known as 'shouting' and considered a form of spam.

TEXT SPEAK
Avoid it! E.G. "Chk out crzy DJ MK D playin' fnk sl n gr8 tuneage".

MISSING LETTERS
Avoid sticking commas on words ending with -ing.
E.G. DJ Mickey Sull will be playin' grovin' soul tunes to keep you dancin' all night

BAND IN-JOKES
With the exception of comedy and theatre submissions try to avoid band in-jokes that readers may not find funny thereby making you sound more amateur than your competition.

E.G. "The band formed after the infamous shaving foam incident of 2003 but the less said about that the better! Our bass player Johnny Sullivan's underpants, (which often makes an appearance at gigs) was specially made from his mother's golden threads…"

Just give the reader the information he/she wants: what type of music is on offer, who do the band sound like, what have they achieved, support slots, radio play, releases, festivals played, collaborations etc.

RASTA SPEAK
Reggae promoters, please don't write in rasta speak like you're 'testifying' to your target audience. Just describe in plain (preferably grammatically correct) English what an unsuspecting punter can expect at your event.

E.G.: Jah rastafari promoshuns present to dem world deejay dreadlock playin' for alla da peoples da reggae + dancehall vibes.

Something simple like this is more desirable:
"DJ Dreadlock plays a groovy selection of reggae and dancehall classics until the early hours".

AMPERSAND
It's a small one but please use ampersand (&) or the word "and" instead of the plus sign (+).
E.G. "The ABC Band + support" use "The ABC Band & support" instead.

PROMOTION COMPANIES
We know you want to get your name out there but leave it out of the event name itself.
E.G.: "Leeside Events presents Soulmix with DJ Johnny Sullivan [ABC records]"

Just submit "Soulmix" or "Johnny Sullivan" in the Event name box and include the rest of the information in the biog/info box. Same goes for listing the artist's record labels.

IMAGES
Events with images get almost ten times more clicks than events without pictures so if you have a band photo or similar upload it on the form to garner more interest than your competition. The smaller the file size of the image the quicker it will upload. You don't need to give us a high resolution version. Anything in the 50-300KB range is perfect.

To submit your events please click here
Your comments, feedback and suggestions are always welcome - click here to contact us about any matter.
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