HOW TO INCREASE REFORM MEDIA COVERAGE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #303 - Saturday, 12 March 2005 Over the past five weeks, dozens of drug policy reform leaders and activists have spent time in the new DrugSense/MAP Virtual Conference Room. The easy to download and install FREE Paltalk Messenger software program brings like-minded people together Talking and Listening over the internet. As part of our Media Activism Project, DrugSense is renting a place on the web which allows up to 25 people to gather and discuss drug policy reform -- our DrugSense/MAP Virtual Conference Room. This premium, web-based room allows visitors to not only type messages but also talk to each other using microphones! The premium rooms are of the type used by businesses for teleconferencing. Yes, your computer, if made in the last two decades, should support teleconferencing. The Virtual Conference Room is private and monitored. If you don't have the password for a session you don't get in. During our initial kickoff of meetings activists from 17 different states and five different countries have joined for roundtable discussions on how to better harmonize our many mutual efforts at reforming failed and flawed public drug policies. Additionally, MAP's Media Activism project has conducted 13 personalized training sessions teaching activists how to increase their drug policy reform related media coverage. The curriculum has included the following: How to Write Letters to the Editor That Get Printed How to Newshawk Drug News Clippings for the MAP Archive How to Write and Send Press Releases That Work Upcoming sessions will continue to deliver these topics as well as new topics: How to Increase Drug Policy Reform Related News Stories and Opinion Items in Your Local Media How to Hold Press Conferences How to Obtain Guest Spots on Talk Radio How to Prepare for Radio and TV Appearances Tools for Contacting the Media We are open to suggestions for new MAP Virtual Conference Room session topics. The room has been and will be used by organizations and state groups of activists who want an easy way for their members to all meet at the same time in one place with both voice and text communication. Already there are some organizations are considering obtaining their own Paltalk Messenger premium teleconferencing rooms. IF YOU or your organization would like to join us in this cutting edge method of communication, please see the links below. We look forward to meeting you and working together to bring activists from different states, countries and organizations together -- working to improve our presence in the media in order to influence public opinion. Finally, we know there is a wide range of teleconferencing software and options available from many other sources. The webmastering team and other key leaders at DrugSense -- spread out over two countries -- have been testing and using various teleconferencing options for years -- including having teleconferencing options demonstrated for us that cost more per hour than our conference room costs in a month. We are not endorsing this commercial product -- rather we are using what has worked best for us. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do The DrugSense/MAP Virtual Conference Room - How To Participate: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm Schedule of Online Conferences and Activist Training Sessions: http://www.mapinc.org/onair Requests for Personal or Organizational Training or Private Meetings: The MAP Media Activism Page: http://www.mapinc.org/resource Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP's Media Activism Facilitator =

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