One of the key points that everyone made was that I needed to emphasize social media. I made sure to create a Facebook event page. I updated it often and at different times. I encouraged people to invite their friends to the page, and the page ended up with a couple thousand people invited to it. Thousands of people knew about my event, and I didn’t have to spend a dime. Other than social media, I used radio spots on WGCA as a promotional tool. I was a guest on WGCA’s morning show twice and KHQA’s news at 5 once. I mailed fliers and information packets to local churches, put up posters around the area, and sent press releases to the local media. Yeah, I paid a couple dollars in postage, but other than that all of my advertising was free, and that’s why I love PR! I started out without a dime. I had no budget. I was beyond blessed with donations from corporate sponsors and in-kind donations. I ended up raising over $5,000 in in-kind donations alone! Okay, so let’s talk about PR problems. One of the most surreal things about this project was that I was in charge. I didn’t have anyone above me that I could go to when a volunteer had a question or a band member had a concern. It was all on me. I lead the staff meetings. I sent the e-mails. I signed the contract. I was in charge. I learned a lot of lessons while being the boss lady, but the biggest one that I learned is “there is no crying in PR!”
When you are in PR you can’t freak out, no, you are the person who people go to in a crisis when they are freaking out, therefore you cannot freak out! The day before the concert the lead singer called me and informed me that the band’s tour bus had broken down seven hours away in Nashville. After he had strongly insinuated that we should reschedule the show, all I wanted to do was cry. I wanted to crawl into a fetal position, hide in a corner, and cry like a small child. That’s not what big girls do, and that’s certainly not what a leader does. I had to hold back my tears, suck it up, and put on my PR pants. I called back the lead singer and told him that I would be willing to drive down to Nashville and pick them up. He was completely shocked, but most of all, and to my surprise, he was thankful. The band was more than willing to allow me to help them out and showed me the utmost gratitude for my willingness to help them out. I sent my dad and grandpa down to Nashville to pick up the band. I put my poor father in more awkward situations in 24 hours than he would like to admit. When I say that I have the best dad ever, I very seriously mean it!