The following is one of the press releases we faxed out to local media in the Kitchener Waterloo region. We held a media launch on April, 19, 1999 at Kitchener City Hall that was televised live by CTV and included speeches from local politicians and the University of Waterloo administration. The KW Record, Kool FM, CKGL/CHYM FM, the Waterloo Chronicle, and the Cambridge Reporter all carried stories on the project as well.
The University of Waterloo's wire services were also kind enough to send the information to their contacts, which lead to a follow-up being taken up by CBC radio.
Research on dealing with the media offer the following tips: easy and well-packaged information is easier to report on, and therefore more likely to be picked up; bright colour and noise are attention-getters on television, so televised events should try to play to that; and being legitimate, sincere, and articulate mean more sympathetic coverage (with more offers of follow ups).
University of Waterloo Students Biking Across Canada for Education
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Kickoff Trek at Kitchener City Hall
What started as a cycling trip by UW graduating students to see Canada
and celebrate their academic achievements has become a quest to ensure
others will have the same educational opportunities.
Seven students from math, engineering and science plan to push off
from Vancouver on May 1 and pedal their way back to UW in time for
convocation in June, raising money to provide scholarships for students
in Nicaragua and Gautemala along the way. They've dubbed the project
Cycling for Opportunity.
With pledges for the trip and a series of fundraising events, they hope
to reach the goal of $14,500 worth of donations to be split between
the Fair Opportunites Group, a development organization
founded by UW alumni, and Escuela de Espanol Pop Wuj, an educational
organization in Guatemala.
The idea for the project originated from graduate Sarah
Kamal's experiences working in Nicaragua and Guatemala, where
underprivileged students in poverty-stricken neighbourhoods have few
educational opportunities. Phil Meyer, a classmate, described to
her the fun he had on a bike trip to Vancouver, the two ideas seemed
like the perfect match, and the tour was born.
The cyclists, who are paying their own way for the full length of the
trip, have issued a challenge to other universities and future
graduating classes of the University of Waterloo to dig out their
cycling shorts and join them in giving a continuing gift of
education from Canadian students to their underprivileged
counterparts in the third world.
"Not only does this trip give us a chance to grow and challenge
ourselves in a fun, exciting, and meaningful way, but the money we
raise will mean a lot," comments Kamal. "Tuition in Nicaragua for a
full year ranges from US$40-120, so what seems little to us can go a
very long way."
The project website is available at
http://www.undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca/~blaw/c4o.html and
cheques payable to Cycling for Opportunity can be sent to
Cycling for Opportunity
c/o Veronica Chau
Federation of Students
Student Life Centre
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 3G1
For more information, contact the cyclists via email at
cycling_for_opportunity@yahoo.com.
Student papers on campus are also very good venues through which information can be broadcast to the immediate community. The following are some of the C4O '99 articles available online:
The University of Waterloo's department of Information and Public Affairs (which publishes the Gazette and Daily Bulletin) were very supportive of the project and tracked the progress of the cyclists through their journey. Two of their online articles follow:
In general, the media are happy to report positive community projects, and getting the word out through them is fairly easy, once you know where to go. I must admit, though, that I have a new respect for people who are good at being interviewed live. It's really hard coming up with something to say in 10 seconds that can convey what you want the public to know about your project. Be warned!