Finding a great story is not that difficult. If you know how to listen and ask the right questions, everyone has a story that is newsworthy. Finding the story and then finding the ways to effectively tell it is not always the easiest task.A great example of all the pieces falling into place…a great story, a unique athlete branding opportunity, knowing and pitching the right media and then delivering compelling content…occurred last week in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Miami, with a woman named Jennifer Figge, who is beginning a swim of the Atlantic Ocean.her team was able to land compelling video, posted on YouTube, as well as Associated Press stills and a print piece, which gave the story tremendous legs (no pun intended) on hundreds of sites worldwide. Even by today's standards where websites are king, the landing of an AP feature remains the elusive grail, and by landing that coverage and the video to match, the story was able to resonate globally with both the traditional and the YouTube generation. Great placement of a niche story, and great potential for followup as the crossing continues.
Some other good reads…the MMA phenominon, even with the failure of most non-UFC organizations, continues in the grassroots, as evidenced by today's New York Times feature on high school participation…interesting spin by Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez about their matchup with Ohio State this week, wondering where the priorities of the U of M faithful lie…cstv.com has a good feature on Providence head coach Keno Davis…and the LA Times has a good feature on Olympic decathlon champ Bryan Clay.
