Media frenzy

Economic development executives in Reno had misgivings when a reporter from The Economist came to town late last summer, looking to do a story about effects of the downturn in the gaming industry.

They were pleasantly surprised a few weeks later when the well-respected magazine published an article that focused as much on the diversification of the economy of Greater Reno-Tahoe as it did on the challenges of the gaming industry.

The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada and its Denver-based public relations consultant look to repeat that success story multiple times in coming months as they continue to gear up a media campaign.

EDAWN plans to spend about $100,000 plus some costs such as travel in this fiscal year on the PR campaign that targets big-name national publications, says Chuck Alvey, the president and chief executive officer of the economic development agency.

Along with telling the world about the new look of the region's economy, the effort targets two specific sectors clean energy and software in which residents say they want growth.

The first leg of the campaign, launched about six months ago, sought to generate press coverage of the clean-energy industry in northern Nevada.

Among the biggest success of that campaign was a lengthy article in Investors Business Daily in early December, detailing the geothermal industry through the eyes of Reno-based Ormat Technologies.

All of the recent coverage, which would be valued at $200,000 if EDAWN purchased the media space, is particularly noteworthy as the PR effort just came out of the gate in mid-2007, says Julie Curtin, vice president and partner in Development Counsellors International, EDAWN's PR advisor.

Often, she says, six months are required to begin getting reporters' attention about potential stories in a region.

Shortly after signing on to pitch Greater Reno-Tahoe to the national media, representatives of Development Counsellors International traveled to the region for three days of meetings with people who can tell the story of northern Nevada.

"We love coming into a place where there are some great stories to be told, but the world doesn't know them yet," says Curtin.

The firm, which contracts exclusively with government and economic-development agencies, began working its media contacts nationwide.

A gaggle of reporters were brought to town for the Clean Energy Summit hosted by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid in August. And Julie Ardito, director of public relations for EDAWN, led a delegation that met with reporters and editor of eight publications in the San Francisco Bay area.

The PR effort, Alvey says, is designed to build awareness of the region among executives of companies that might be looking to relocate. That awareness, he said, eases the efforts of EDAWN's sales staff.

At the same time, Alvey said, EDAWN executives hope the campaign will build interest in the region among the skilled workers that companies need to recruit to support their growth here.

Among the tools EDAWN will use to gauge the program's success is a wish list of five major national publications in which the agency hopes to see articles about the region's economy.

So far, Ardito says, articles have appeared in two of the five.

The effort, Alvey said, is intended to be a long-term campaign, assuming that EDAWN's budget will support it.