Titan Network

Again, please use the structure of this, rather than the actual words I've used. ..particularly since it's one that arrived in my in box this morning and is about a building company :D

If it's not treading on anyone's toes, I'll post up ideas on how to write follow-up articles next week? Please someone yell at me if I'm overstepping a line here.

PLEASE can people post somewhere, so we have a record of where press releases are being sent to, so we don't end up bombarding certain news places. We want them to like us, not be annoyed beyond all reason at us :)

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Contact details on top:

Anytown Construction Ltd
20 Grove Road, Anytown TZ10 5ZT

Tel 01234 567890
email pr@anytown.co.uk
Fax 01234 098765

Date goes here.

Headline goes here:

Anytown firm builds business on email

I'd suggest: Superheroes battle to save City../Villains bid to take over city/My best friend was Natalie Portman and I didn't even know it!/Local teen publishes song on Youtube to save game he loves...   you get the idea.

Anytown Construction is using a new email and telephone system to tackle the problem of contacting your builder whilst a job is in progress.

The first line of your press release should sum up the whole story in one or two sentences. That way if the person you're sending it to knows exactly what you're writing to them about, and can make a snap decision if they're interested or not. They don't want to waste their time reading a whole email and only find out what it's about 800 words later.

Anytown Construction is handing out a special email address to all new and prospective customers. They can use it to query progress and the date and time of work, and send in comments, suggestions and requests for changes in the work being carried out.

Expand on your first sentence. You should include: What's happening (When their world threatened with closure, a group of online superheroes swung into action.. when did it happen? Where did it happen? How is is happening?.

"Customers have a right to know exactly what's going on. They need a quick answer and they need to get it from the boss," said Anytown Construction managing director Andy Peters.

Back your story up with a quote that sums up the whole thing: Namegoeshere, a spokesperson for the campaign to save City of Heroes said: "Our community were devastated by this announcement, but we're not going to give up. We will do everything we can do save our game."

And the benefits of technology to the building trade don't stop with email. Peters is now working on an Anytown Construction website which will have everything from pictures of completed projects to advice on planning your loft conversion or new offices.

Call to arms goes here: Links so people can sign the petition, visit the Titan forums, write to the CEO.

Quote from player goes in here. Don't make it too long:

Vandellia, a level 50 scrapper who has spent seven years patrolling saving the virtual world of Paragon City said: "We knew we weren't the newest game on the market, but City of Heroes is definitely one of the best loved. We have one of the strongest communities in the MMO world and to think of that being wiped out is just heartbreaking."

Editors notes goes here:

Your contact details: Andy Peters at [tel number, land and mobile - email address].

Notes to Editors:

• Screenshot of an ingame protest attached.
  
  Screenshot of the rallying call that bought the players together to try and save their game.
  
  City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft.
  The game was launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe (by NCsoft Europe) on February 4, 2005.
  Twenty-three free major updates for City of Heroes have been released since its launch.
  On August 31, 2012, NCsoft terminated its Paragon Studios development team, ending all production on CoH with a planned end of services on November 30, 2012.

I've got something going out shortly using this template.  I'll post it after I send it and people can use it for ideas and such.

Just over 400 words in main body.  An example with some personal info removed.  I sent a plain-text version along with a version that has embedded links.  Gave editor of site 4 pictures with 1st,  2nd, 3rd, 4th choices.

Saturday, September 8th, 2012

Superheroes battle to save City of Heroes once again!
by Me


On August 31, NCsoft announced the abrupt closure of their City Of Heroes MMO.  NCsoft immediately terminated its entire Paragon Studios staff, ending all development and plans ending services on November 30.  The game launched over eight years ago and allows players to create their own customizable hero/villain and battle to save the world/and struggle for unlimited power.  It was still profitable and one of the first non-fantasy MMOs on the market. 

The announcement left the game's community in shock, but within hours, a rallying cry had gone forth.  The players behind a group of virtual heroes began battling to save their Paragon City in the real world.  Artists, programmers, financiers, legal professionals, and journalist volunteers began long-term planning.  #SaveCoH appeared on Twitter.  The Save our City of Heroes Facebook group was created.  The community published multiple electronic banners, profile pictures, and forum signatures to spread their message.  A write-in campaign quickly materialized.  A petition organized by Meggan Russell has had more than 15,000 signatures in the first week. 

Michael T. Eastham, subscribing for more than eight years, writes to Taek Jin Kim, CEO of NCsoft Corporation, "In the time since I first received an invitation to join the game, I have moved four times, held six different professions, had two friends and two beloved relatives pass away, and restarted and completed college.  During hardships, I knew I could turn to those people I had made friends with within City of Heroes, and to the game itself as an escape from the pain and fatigue.  I created countless characters, each unique with life of their own, whose problems I could create, and solve, giving me power to tackle my own hardships.  City of Heroes has been there for me for a quarter of my natural existence now, and much of my life has been touched by its influence.  When I went to college, I chose to go into game design because I held the dream of one day helping to craft the characters and stories I had become attached to within Paragon City."

"Everyone is experiencing the prospect of something we are passionate about being relegated forever to only existing as memories", says Tony Vazquez, administrator of the fan-run Titan Network.  "We are Titans, all of us.  We've shed blood, we've cried tears, we've never stopped and we're not about to quit now.  We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years.  It's time to do it one more time."

Links:
Save Our City!  FAQ:  http://bit.ly/SaveCoHFAQ
Titan Network:  http://www.cohtitan.com/
Petition:  http://bit.ly/savecoh
Write-In:  http://bit.ly/write2ncsoft
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurCityOfHeroes
Twtter:  http://www.twitter.com/#Savecoh

Notes to Editor:
City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the super hero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios, and published by NCsoft. 
The game launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe (by NCsoft Europe) on February 4, 2005.
Twenty-three free major updates for City of Heroes were released since its launch.
On August 31, 2012, NCsoft terminated its entire studio (Paragon Studios), ending all development on CoH with a planned end of services on November 30, 2012.

Contact:  Your name me@here.edu

Hi guys,

I love that you're looking to help. TonyV and I have been working on press releases and getting them out to the public. Of course we need all the help we can get! If you want to help let Tony know and he will get you all sorted out.

Quote from: rae on September 06, 2012, 10:06:54 AM

PLEASE can people post somewhere, so we have a record of where press releases are being sent to, so we don't end up bombarding certain news places. We want them to like us, not be annoyed beyond all reason at us :)

I second this.  There may in fact be private threads where media contact info is listed and another one that lists who was sent which press release/on what day/and the response.  If these don't exist, I think they should. 

There is little need to publish media contact info especially as it is a good idea to try to keep press releases "official" and from the same source consistently.  However, letting the community at large know where press releases have been sent is a nice show of reciprocity and communion.  After all, we are a community and you can see all the newbie posters after we had been asked to move talks to the Titan board. *points to self*

As for helping out, I have experience doing PR/marketing and mostly recently for a game studio.  I definitely have some ideas, including press releases, a press kit and getting more CoHers involved and coordinated.  I'll email Tony.

And please note, like everyone else here, I'm not trying to step on any toes.  Just trying to help out.

Finally, while you can find lots of templates online and Rae posted a great example, I've got a template that I think is a little easier to follow.  Unfortunately, I can't find the original site to give credit. (Google press release format, tons of good stuff like webwire.com/FormatGuidelines.asp (http://webwire.com/FormatGuidelines.asp)) 

One other thing first - some unsolicited advice for those who want to write press releases. (Oh joy!)  Keep it factual.  Write in the 3rd person.  Don't let your emotions or assumptions come into play at all.  Don't write it like an article.  If someone picks it up to run it as a story, it's their job to make a story out the facts and/or to contact you if they want more information.  Don't harass the contact you sent it to; don't ask them about it (are you going to run it?) more than twice.  It's also best to send it to a name rather than just a news@website.com address.  Finally, personalize them.  Never mass email.  Use their name, reference any prior articles they may have done on the subject, etc.


Press Release Format


There is a fairly standard format for creating press releases. It will help your credibility and chances of being published if you present your material this way. Each press release should include the following:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: These words should appear at the top left of the page, in upper case. If you don't want the story to be made public yet, write "HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL ...." instead. (Really try not to do the hold thing.)

Headline  Just like a headline in an newspaper. Make sure this describes the content of the story.

City, State/Country - Month Day, Year These details precede the story and orient the reader.

Body  This is where the actual story goes. There should be more than one paragraph, each paragraph no more than a few sentences. if there is more than one page, write "-more-" at the bottom of the page.

Company/organisation info  Include any background information about the company or organisation featuring in this press release.

Contact Information     Include contact person, company name, phone/fax, email, physical/postal address.

ENDS or ### This indicates the end of the press release.

(xxx words) If you like you could include the total number of words contained in the press release.



Example

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Competition is Healthy Says Lemonade Stand Queen

Hamilton, New Zealand - November 12, 2004 - Increased competition in the local lemonade stand market should be welcomed, according to the operator of popular lemonade stand "Shelly's Pure Lemonade".

12-year-old Shelly Smith has been selling her home-made brand of lemonade from the footpath in front of her parents' North Street home for 18 months and has seen the highs and lows of the trade.

"Stands come and go," says Ms Smith, "but when there are more stands around the vendors are more serious. They try harder and make a better product. That gives our customers confidence and sales go up."

In recent months the number of lemonade stands in North Street has risen from three to five. Experts believe this trend will continue, with the possibility of two or even three new stands before the end of summer.

Ms Smith feels that a stable supply of lemonade will also benefit the streets' economy.

"People know that if they are thirsty, North Street is the place to come. With plenty of lemonade stands on this street it doesn't matter if some of the vendors take a day off. The customer is never disappointed so they always come back."

Shelly Smith is a sole trader of lemonade and occasional cookies. Her stand at 223 North Street is usually open weekdays after school and weekends, except when she is playing with her friends or watching a movie.

Contact:
Shelly Smith
my@email.co.nz
233 North Street,
Hamilton,
New Zealand
Ph: +64-877-9233

###

Nice job, Windy :)

Hey all, I hate to ask this, but could you please hold off on this?  I've actually worked with someone who has a lot of experience with press releases and who is very familiar with the game.  I've been sending out press releases on our efforts to a lot of news sites and blogs, and they've been very successful so far in getting some really positive coverage on gaming, comic, and other news sites.  I'll try to post them somewhere later so that everyone can see what we're sending out, but I just mainly want to make sure we're not barraging press contacts with this info, that they're getting it at a steady feed as news develops.

Quote from: TonyV on September 10, 2012, 09:23:07 AM
Hey all, I hate to ask this, but could you please hold off on this?  I've actually worked with someone who has a lot of experience with press releases and who is very familiar with the game.  I've been sending out press releases on our efforts to a lot of news sites and blogs, and they've been very successful so far in getting some really positive coverage on gaming, comic, and other news sites.  I'll try to post them somewhere later so that everyone can see what we're sending out, but I just mainly want to make sure we're not barraging press contacts with this info, that they're getting it at a steady feed as news develops.

Makes sense :)