It seemed this year that there was less interest by TV in holiday displays. Locally here in Milwaukee they had people sending in photos online, then they would do a 10-15 second little "highlight" slideshow at the end of the newscast. Past years you could send in a picture, then they would actually send a photo journalist to the house to shoot some good quality video. And right before Christmas you would actually see a few complete stories with reporters doing interviews about some of the "over the top" displays in the area. Yes, it could be the cutbacks because of the economy, but I don't even remember seeing the holiday "Miller Lites" commercial on TV either this season (not the Carson one, but the recent one from the brewhouse decorated right here in Brew City). It also seems like there have not been a lot of people posting links to video where they were on TV being interviewed. I know that there are a lot more of us today, and that may be adding to the "it's not newsworthy anymore". Has the WOW factor left the building?
I work in the media industry and can vouch for that. At the television station I work at we haven't done nearly the number of stories we had in the past on large displays whether animated or not. Heck, I couldn't even get them to cover my display, even with other people calling in.
Milwaukee is rough in gereral. At work ( a non-profit community centered company), we have a heck of a time getting them to cover anything good we do, yet any time it snows they toss 4-6 reporters on street corners doing silly interviews. And when something bad happens, like people are laid off, then you get an article.
btw, nice to see another local WI resident. Hows take down going? I got very little accomplished after 3 hours outside with a sledge hammer and a kitchen torch...
In St Louis there is the obligatory blurb on every occasion. Reminds me of the movie ground hogs day where the news caster has to pretend it is novel and appreciated.
My halloween decorations got me on tv this year. They broadcast live from my house on halloween. Also made it on two stations in 2006 due to my wonderful wife calling and telling them we would welcome a visit. I am not ready for a Christmas light broadcast yet, but in a few years.....
Haydenp wrote: Milwaukee is rough in gereral. At work ( a non-profit community centered company), we have a heck of a time getting them to cover anything good we do, yet any time it snows they toss 4-6 reporters on street corners doing silly interviews. And when something bad happens, like people are laid off, then you get an article.
btw, nice to see another local WI resident. Hows take down going? I got very little accomplished after 3 hours outside with a sledge hammer and a kitchen torch...
Yes, they don't seem to miss a snowstorm with "breaking news". Yes. it's snowing outside! Of couse they do the interviews asking pedestrians if it's slippery walking. Wow - I would have never known that living here 50 plus years..... Maybe I should have said my light display has been buried by the snow while it was still blinking!
As to the other take down thing, I got started on it right after show end Saturday night (planned) and got most of the easy stuff into the garage before the ice hit us. It was above freezing most of the day, so things came loose pretty easily. I was back at it Sunday morning and had all of it down before the cold front passed. It was nice being up on the roof without any fear of slipping on ice. I was really expecting it to be a nightmare this year with the 30 plus inches of snow, but that one day with the rain I went out and pulled up a lot of my cords so they were in snow and not on the grass. Out of 150 plus cords, I only lost 2.
Hey, I did see the Budweiser commercial with the Clydesdales. That never seems to change.
Haydenp wrote: Milwaukee is rough in gereral. At work ( a non-profit community centered company), we have a heck of a time getting them to cover anything good we do, yet any time it snows they toss 4-6 reporters on street corners doing silly interviews. And when something bad happens, like people are laid off, then you get an article.
btw, nice to see another local WI resident. Hows take down going? I got very little accomplished after 3 hours outside with a sledge hammer and a kitchen torch...
Here in SoCal we have "storm watch" anytime we may get a little bit of rain
I agree that the WOW factor must be gone already. This was our first year doing a synchronized display and ours was the first one anywhere in central Minnesota. We thought we did a pretty cool job with the display and even had a collection box with every dollar going to our local food shelf. (BTW - the food shelf collection was a big success and "Awesome" was the least complimentary thing anyone said about the display itself.)
Hoping we could parlay that into even greater success for our food shelf effort, my mate personally emailed (twice) and called the news tiplines of every TV station in the Minneapolis area - 40 miles away. (We had two or three other people who told us they'd done the same.) Heck, Sharon even sent the media links to our website video page. Bottom line: zippo. We heard nothing back from any of them - not even a polite thanks, but no thanks. I guess good news just doesn't sell at all, even at Christmas. We're thinking that maybe next season we'll stage an incident - perhaps someone holding our donation box hostage for some candy canes, or a neighbor holding a protest sign or something...
George
____________________ Dear, please stop referring to me as "the mad scientist"... How many times do I have to remind you I'm NOT a scientist! http://www.clearwaterlights.org
Here in Duluth we had one tv station call and asked if we were cutting back this year because of the economy? We told them we had increased our display and had computerized it. End of interview, they were looking for a negative responsen
When your display is ready and running do the following.
Send out a PRESS RELEASE.
Word has a template if you need to see one.
Describe your display, make sure you do the who, what, when and where. State who your non profit is and make sure it states at the top "For Immediate Release. Check your spelling (I do not here so much) and give several methods to contact you.
Some years everyone and their cousin will contact you and some years just the cousin. But be careful doing this. You must have a plan for traffic control and flow. If you live on a dead end street then you do not want to draw a lot of attention to yourself. Unless of course you want your neighbors plotting a murder behind your back.
Also, be prepared to be married to that display the entire time it is scheduled to run. Do not turn it on late or off early. People will be upset. If you go away for a weekend then do not seek the media out for your display. Because you can bet the farm the weekend you leave something will go wrong and then people will think you do a half a$$ed job.
With the attention comes the responsibility. But it is worth every second.
Good luck.
____________________ I am not the biggest or the best but I sure have a lot of fun.
Unless you live in "podunk" country with population of 10 and no satelitte to the real world, synchronized light displays are old news. Few stations care to cover this any more. Carson made it famous... the rest of us are just "me too" followers. ;-)
____________________ Richard - http://MagicLightShow.com
Some free sequences available to members on the forum.
