When he moved to New Canaan from Darien 20 years ago, the now-editor of the local paper found himself bombarded with solicitations, he recalled Monday.
Greg Reilly, editor of the New Canaan Advertiser, told 25 nonprofit executives that it was “a little bit of a turn off at first.”
“But I was wise enough to realize that the flip side of the solicitations is that a lot of people are giving money to support nonprofits and there’s a lot of good being done in this town,” Reilly said during a panel discussion hosted and moderated by the New Canaan Community Foundation.
Some attendees of the May 16 panel discussion with local media outlets, hosted by the New Canaan Community Foundation. Credit: Michael Dinan
Held at the New Canaan Historical Society, the event was designed to help the leaders of nonprofit organizations access local media outlets to share their work with the community. Moderated by Cynthia Gorey, president and CEO of the New Canaan Community Foundation, those in attendance included representatives from Grace Farms, New Canaan Mounted Troop, Voices of September 11th and Staying Put in New Canaan. Gorey called the gathering an opportunity for “mission-driven businesses to discuss the various ways that nonprofits can share their news and tell people about their important work.”
Panelists included Reilly, as well as Jeanne Craig of New Canaan-Darien-Rowayton magazine and Michael Dinan of NewCanaanite.com. Rachel Lampen of local online news source HamletHub also was in attendance.
The nonprofit leaders asked about the schedule of the media outlets, so that they could effectively time their submissions for upcoming publications. Also, Tucker Murphy, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, told the nonprofit leaders that window space in front of the New Canaan Playhouse can be rented out for Elm Street visibility.
Craig said her product is different in that it publishes six times per year as opposed to daily or weekly, and is focused on high-quality visuals.
“We work pretty far in advance, so please keep that in mind if you want to submit to our publication,” she said.
Craig said that nonprofit organizations seeking high-quality photos of events and services can use a professional photography program called Big Picture.
Because the magazine covers events in all three towns, Craig suggested that those who wish to submit to the magazine consider how their story impacts all three towns.
“If you have an event that touches other towns and brings people in from other towns, please tell us about that,” Craig said. “Because the more you can play across the title the higher the chances are that we can get you into our magazine.”
For Reilly, admiration for the work that nonprofits do motivates him to cover as much of their work as possible.
“There is a lot of people doing a lot of good in this town, and that is what we aim to cover,” Reilly said.
Reilly also described the relationship between the community and the New Canaan Advertiser as, “a two-way street”, meaning that publication relies on coverage submissions as much as the viewers rely on consistent media coverage from the publication.
“Everyone should consider themselves a source,” Reilly said.
Dinan highlighted that his publication is strictly about New Canaan and the small town stories that are unique to this community.