Local-Motive 2023: How To Define, Refine, and Distribute Your Story
Here are two core Strong Towns beliefs: Your story matters, and if more people knew about it, that could help change your community for the better. And because local, bottom-up change is so vital, we’re dedicated to helping you hone and share your message.
As part of our 2023 Local-Motive Tour, Strong Towns will be hosting the session “How to Define, Refine and Distribute Your Story” on October 19 at noon CT.
You’ll hear from Strong Towns member Grant Hamilton, a marketing and communications expert who has used these skills not only professionally, but also after his own experience being hit by a car. Through social media, contact with the press, and other forms of messaging, Hamilton turned that tragedy into a moment of activism to push for safer streets (check out our recent Crash Analysis Studio session to learn more).
Strong Towns staff writer Ben Abramson, who previously worked as an editor for The Washington Post and USA TODAY, will offer insights on how to make your story stand out to the editors and moderators who can help amplify it. You’ll learn how to position your story, the importance of 100% accuracy, and what materials to include to make it more likely your message gets covered.
Lauren Ronnander, Strong Towns’ director of communications, whose work you've no doubt appreciated on our social channels and email communications, will offer valuable guidance on the various outlets you should target and how best to reach them. You’ll hear how to interact with mainstream media and traditional communications channels, but also how the Facebook feed of your local coffee shop may reach your most important audience.
Sign up for this Local-Motive session now, and let us guide you in the important work of building a Strong Town.
Ben Abramson is a Staff Writer at Strong Towns. In his career as a travel journalist with The Washington Post and USA TODAY, Ben has visited many destinations that show how Americans were once world-class at building appealing, prosperous places at a human scale. He has also seen the worst of the suburban development pattern, and joined Strong Towns because of its unique way of framing the problems we can all see and intuit, and focusing on local, achievable solutions. A native of Washington, DC, Ben lives in Venice, Florida; summers in Atlantic Canada; and loves hiking, biking, kayaking, and beachcombing.