PR Information for Shows

Doing PR for a show can be a big and frustrating job—it’s not all making posters and fun…. However, the job is easily done with a little information. The following is an outline of what I think may be important and helpful in getting show information out to the public. If you have other ideas, feel free to use them as well. I hope this guide can make doing PR for shows a little bit easier.

Catherine Hofler

S’n’S Public Relations Director

2002-03 Board of Directors

Webmaster’s note: some of the included email addresses may have changed over time.

Types of Publicity

1. Posters

a. Posters can be 11x17 or 8½x11, but a bigger size is more visible and easier to read. It takes about 100 posters to adequately cover the campus.

b. Posters must have “Funded by your student activities fee” somewhere on them. They should also contain all the pertinent information for the show: dates, times, location, ticket prices, author/composer, director (optional) etc.

c. Printing and publications on campus will copy posters on colored paper relatively cheaply. Printing in color is way expensive and usually not necessary, but the placement of a few select color posters in key locations is often done.

d. The postering policy is very important and must be followed. This means that you can’t take down any posters or poster over events that have not yet taken place. You are only allowed to poster on specified bulletin boards. For the most part just put up posters on boards and in places where there are already a lot of posters for other things. Attached are the full postering policy and a list of approved boards.

e. To get posters to all of the RAs, give 130 copies to the Student Life Office in Morewood E-Tower. The RAs will then hang them up in their dorms. Make sure to include some kind of contact information on the posters or they won’t be distributed.

f. Big posters to go on Doherty Hall are awesome. You have to get them approved by going to the student activites office so someone can sign the poster. Posters can be printed at printing and publications by the same lady who does the color copies. Posters must be taken down at most 72 hours after an event.

2. Programs

a. Programs should contain the following information:

i. List of cast and crew members; director(s); other important people

ii. Author/composer of show

iii. A list of scenes and songs and those actors involved in each song/scene, and/or a short synopsis of the play

iv. Director’s notes

v. Any special thanks.

vi. A list of the Scotch’n’Soda board of directors

vii. Anything special requested by the director, etc.

b. Programs can also be printed in printing and publications on campus.

3. T-Shirts

a. Usually, Apple T-Shirts prints our shirts. Their phone number is: (412) 421-0200.

b. Another option is Sliverscreen Graphics: 1-800-822-6792. They will charge a rush fee, but if you talk to Doug, he will come to you to pick up the design and/or drop off the t-shirts.

c. Typically, the shirts have a design on the front and a quote from the show on the back, but this is not a mandatory design.

d. When picking a color for the shirts, try to choose a color that hasn’t been used in a while. Look at the shirts for the past few years of shows to get a good idea. The color of the shirt should also go along with your artistic design for the show’s pr in general. Different brands of shirts often have different shades of colors, so look at the different brands to find the color you want.

e. Brands of shirts all have different costs and different durability. Some of the best brands are Hanes, Jerzee, and Lee.

4. Other Advertising

a. ReadMe is more than happy to include S’n’S shows in their events listing on the back page. Contact aschimel@andrew.cmu.edu with the details about the show to be included. Sometimes they are also willing to print a short article on the show. If you write a little blurb about the show and include pictures, they may print it. Ask about this when you send in the information for the events listing.

b. The Tartan: contact advertising@thetartan.org to advertise in the Tartan.

c. CMU TV will occasionally do a short piece on a show if we ask them. It’s not guaranteed that many people will watch CMU TV, but it can’t hurt. Contact Josh Einstein at jeinstei@andrew.cmu.edu for more information.

d. Chalking is usually a good idea the week of a show if the weather cooperates. The best places to chalk are as follows: in front of Warner Hall, near Forbes Ave where people cross the street at Morewood, in front of Merson Courtyard in front of the UC, in front of Doherty Hall, the sidewalks leading from Doherty to the UC, Baker Hall, and Maggie Mo, and sidewalks near all parking lots on campus.

e. The Fence: If you feel up to it, taking and painting the fence is a great way to advertise. Try to talk to the people who are guarding the fence to see if you can make some kind of deal where you get the fence when they leave.

i. Always remember, you must have two people on the gravel near the fence at all times!!

ii. You can only paint between the hours of midnight and 6am, and can only use paintbrushes (no rollers).

iii. There are cans of paint and brushes in the dungeon. Contact someone with a dungeon key to let you in.

iv. Get a tent to sleep in overnight!

f. Guerrilla PR: Try to hand out flyers outside of Doherty Hall or get some actors to perform scenes from the show between classes. People always respond to free food, so if you give out food or something with the flyers it may be easier.

g. Try to use pictures as much as possible. You can try to take pictures at rehearsals and use them for different posters if you like.

h. Be creative and have fun! If you aren’t sure about any ideas you may have feel free to contact me at chofler@andrew.cmu.edu.

Bulletin Board Locations

The Campus Affairs Committee of Student Senate, in conjunction with the Office of Student Activities, will monitor the bulletin boards in the following locations. Each bullet constitutes one bulletin board location as described in the Poster Policy.

Doherty Hall & Baker Hall

· first floor main entrance

· next to 1209

· inside 121

· between 1320 and 1321

· bottom of the stairwell on the 1rst floor below 231

· next to 2100

· outside 2210

· across from 2313

· outside 2315

Margaret Morrison

· on the left and right stairwells of the main entrance

· outside of room 212A

· near room 307 by main stairwell

· entire 3rd floor on left side

Wean Hall

· to the right of the elevators on the 4th floor

· to the right of the elevators on the 5th floor

· in 5th floor lobby

· 5200 corridor

· in 62 corridor

· to the right of the elevators on the 7th floor

Baker Hall

· main entrance

· next to 140

· next to 143

· next to the Department of Statistics first floor

· next to the Department of Statistics second floor

Porter Hall

· both sides of the hall near 225C and 226C

· outside of Porter 10

· near bottom of main stairs on A level

CFA

· outside on the basement level entrance near Hunt

· Library

Hunt Library

· first floor stairwell

Hamburg Hall

· left of main entrance

Hamerschlag Hall

· main hallway on B level

All bulletin boards in residence halls are subject to policies set forth by Student Life and the University Housing Office.

All bulletin boards in the University Center are subject to the regulations set forth by the Director of the University Center.

All bulletin boards not mentioned above are to be considered private bulletin boards for the sole use of the department or organization which maintains them.

S97-19 Carnegie Mellon Student Organization
(Student Senate) Poster Policy

In order to more effectively communicate when events and programs are happening on campus, the following poster policy has been established. The intent of this policy is to curtail abuse and ensure that everyone has equal access to the bulletin board locations.

An active poster is defined as a poster that either lists an event which has not yet occurred, or with no effective event date.

A bulletin board location is defined as any bulletin board or set of adjacent bulletin boards.

The postering guidelines are as follows:

Notices posted on bulletin board locations shall not exceed I I x 17 inches in size.
The name of the sponsoring organization must be clearly indicated on the poster.
Only Carnegie Mellon University recognized groups, organizations, departments, and administration are permitted to post on CMU bulletin boards. Any outside groups, corporations or organizations of any kind will have their posters removed unless they are sponsored by a Student Government or Carnegie Mellon recognized group and comply with guideline 2 above. Outside organizations are responsible for finding a recognized sponsoring organization. on Campus Affairs committee of the Student Senate may assist in this process if so requested by the outside organization.
Only one active poster per event per bulletin board location is permitted.
Postering is allowed only on bulletin board locations. Posters hanging randomly on doors, walls and windows are not permitted.
Postering over other active posters is not permitted.
Active posters shall not be removed by anyone other than the sponsoring organization.
Banners may be hung outside of Doherty Hall with the prior permission of the Campus Affairs Committee and must be removed within 48 hours after the announced event.
Banners and other posters shall not be posted on the glass above the main entrances to Doherty and Baker Halls.
Those who want their poster to appear on the bulletin board location near the University Center Information Desk shall submit two posters per event to the Information Desk. This board is maintained by University Center Administration and only posters submitted to the Desk will be displayed; all others will be removed. All other bulletin boards in the University Center are subject to the regulations set forth by the Director of the University Center.

A weekly purge of the bulletin board locations will remove all posters which violate this policy, any posters whose dates have passed, any active posters with no effective event date, and any posters that advertise events more than one month in advance.

Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in a minimum $10.00 fine for each poster or banner improperly posted. In addition, if banners are not removed, organizations will be charged with removal costs. At the discretion of the Campus Affairs committee or Student Activities, fines my be waived or adjusted. If fines are not paid within 30 days, the student organization's account shall be frozen. Groups who fail to pay fines risk penalties including, but not limited to, loss of posting privileges, loss of funding, and loss of recognition. Any fines collected will be used to offset the costs of this program. Any exceptions to these guidelines must be made by the Campus Affairs or the Student Activities committee prior to the hanging of the banners or posters in question.

Should you have any questions about this policy, please contact the Campus Affairs Committee at campus-affairs@andrew.cmu.edu or call412-268-2115 or contact the Office of Student Activities at 412-268-8705.