This chapter is intended to help you, the Club Fat Ass Event Host, promote your event. 

How many times have you learned after the fact of a great party or event you’d have loved to be at?  How many times have you gone to a party and wondered where everyone was?  Clearly, the more people know about your event, the better the chances they will attend.

In this chapter, we've listed several ways to get the word out about your event. 

Please note: 

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Targeting your guests

Who do you feel would want to participate? 

Think about who might be interested in participating in your event?  This is called your target market.  Your event may appeal to a narrowly defined group such as your 10 closest training buddies or a widely defined group such as all trail runners who can run 10 kilometers and who live within an hours drive of the start.

Marketing Collateral

Marketingt collateral includes cards, flyers, posters adn other promotional materials.  It's tough to come up with great marketing collateral *and* put on an event for free!  We do not recommend you spend money on marketing materials other than possibly on photocopy charges.  The Club does, however, provide some templated materials that may help you.

• CFA brochure.  Each year, we create a large number of high quality brochures to promote the Club and Club events.  To minimize shipping costs, we encourage you to print off color copies.
• CFA Event poster.  This template event poster is simple to update, print and distribute.  

Approaching your Guests

Create an "A" List

Start by calling and emailing the people you would most like to see come to your event. Tell them about your event and how it won't be a roaring success unless they attend.  If you have hosted an event in the past, send a special note to the people who have participated in the past.

Go Hunting at the Watering Hole

Put yourself in the shoes of your prospective guest.  If you were looking for an event like the one you are hosting, how would you find out about it?  Start by making sure your event is listed there!

Media release

Newspapers, radio stations, television broadcasters are all looking for news.  Media savvy event promoters make the news by providing the appropriate media outlets with a media release.  There is a formula to writing a good media release.  To learn more about how to do this, we recommend you ask a librarian or Google “media release”, “Press release” and “News Release.”  To find a list of media contacts, consult your local yellow pages for the appropriate telephone and fax numbers.

Online event calendars

There are literally hundreds of online event calendars that cover any kind of sport or activity.  Many of your prospective guests look to these calendars for help deciding which events they will participate in, so you want to be in as many calendars as possible.  Almost all listings are absolutely free.  Calendars come and go.  To determine which event calendars are right for your event, try searching Google for “online event calendar” and terms like “trail running”.  Don’t overlook online event calendars of your local newspapers, libraries, community centers and sports equipment stores.

To help you get started, we try to list your event in the popular outdoor sport event calendars.  You can find a list of online sports event calendars here. 

Local athletic clubs

Notify the athletic clubs in your community:  running, triathlon, mountain biking, cycling, hiking, adventure racing are often listed on the website of your regional athletic association.  Send an email to the president and encourage that person to forward to their membership.

Community centers, recreation centers

There is usually a peg board dedicated to events of interest to community members.  If required, be sure to get permission before posting a notice.

Sports stores

Specialty bike, running, triathlon and other sports stores usually have a section devoted to events.  Make sure your event is represented!

Build a Value Proposition

Value is a concept that strikes a balance between cost and what something is worth.  Athletic events such as the Ironman Hawaii triathlon cost $500.  A guided training run out of the local running store may cost $10.  Which is the better deal? What if the costs were reversed?  Clearly, value depends on the individual and where their expectations are.

One of the unique features of a Club Fat Ass event is that it is free to Club Fat Ass members.  Your event will be compared to other Club Fat Ass events as well as paid events that may cost $100 or more to enter.  People are strange.  While some who are used to paying $100 may love your event while some who paid nothing will whine.

In order to build your unique value proposition, we recommend you look at other Club Fat Ass events and at other events in your area.  Think about things you can do with little or no money to make your event fun and unique for your guests.  Some value-building thoughts include:

• A spectacular course
• Outstanding aid and volunteers
• A fantastic post event party
• Great media coverage
• Personal attention
• Fabulous draw prizes

Sharing your comments.  If you have any comments, criticisms or other thoughts on what is written here, please share them with your fellow Event Hosts.  To add a comment, go to the bottom of the page and click on "add new comment".