Jodee Taylor: Events, deadlines matter

Jodee Taylor

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Jodee Taylor

September 19, 2011

By JODEE TAYLOR jtaylor@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Mon Mar 12, 2012, 02:16 PM EDT

The email rolled in on a Friday afternoon, just as I was getting ready to shut down my computer.

"We're having a bake sale (art opening, fundraiser) Sunday! Please help us get the word out!"

As much as I'd like to, I can't.

The deadlines are such at the Record-Eagle that we need information two weeks ahead of an event. I know that sounds like a long time. Heck, I'm writing this column on a Tuesday night and it's not even going to run until Monday. I curse deadlines along with you.

But nothing is quite as frustrating as getting information when it's too late to do anything with it. Almost as bad is seeing posters or fliers for events we knew nothing about. If you have time to design a poster, believe me, you have time to email us.

It's really easy. We have one email address that goes to several different people and the information can end up in several different places -- news briefs, calendars, the website, sometimes even Hot Entertainment Picks or in a story. Simply email information to features@record-eagle.com.

If you're not sure who should get the information (business, sports, news, features), you can still email it to features@record-eagle.com and we'll get it to the right person. (Make sure that hyphen is in between "record" and "eagle.")

To help us publicize your event, we need to know what the event is, when it is (time and date), where it is (physical address), what's happening at it, how much it costs, how to get tickets, who can come and contact information. If the number for print is different than the one Record-Eagle staff members should call, let us know.

Double-check it carefully, too. If you send us transposed numbers, we'll print them. If you say an event is Sunday, Sept. 24, we'll call you in the middle of the night to ask whether you mean Saturday, Sept. 24, or Sunday, Sept. 25. Spell the proper nouns correctly, too. We're not going to judge you on grammar or formatting, but we really, really want to get names right.

Then email that information to features@record-eagle.com. (I feel like an infomercial because I keep repeating the email address.) Your email doesn't have to be fancy; sometimes our printer lacks the memory to print fancy fliers or we don't have the right application to open an attachment. You can simply put the information in the body of the email.

The features department handles community news, arts and entertainment, faith, health, food and the Northern Living pages, which include books, travel and more. We have specific people within the department who handle specific subjects, but usually you won't have to worry about that.

We don't typically publicize events at for-profit businesses, like a sale at a store. But we're more than happy to direct you to our ad department.

We get great responses from people whose events have been published in the Record-Eagle; attendance is up, ticket sales are up, crowds flock. Let us help. That's what community newspapers are for.

Jodee Taylor can be reached at, yes, features@record-eagle.com, but also at jtaylor@record-eagle.com.