Hello, and Happy 10th Birthday GMT!

Welcome to GMT's monthly e-newsletter for May 2010. We send this e-newsletter on the first Monday of every month to share feature announcements, membership tips, links to recent articles from environmental reporters, new members, and other helpful resources.

Word Count: 2,640
Read Time: 8 minutes

In this issue you will find:
1. Member Connections
2. Be in the Know – How GMT Tools Can Help Your Group
3. Buzz from the Beat
4. Link(s) of the Month
5. Community Coverage- Newsroom Notes
6. GMT Welcomes 2 New Members
7. Support: Database Do’s and Don’ts

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. What’s Happening @theGMT: GMT hits the decade mark, Live Coverage from the Nonprofit Technology Conference, Learn how to Pitch Talk Radio, and a Big Farewell to Michelle!

GMT Hits the Decade Mark: That’s right, this month GMT celebrates 10 years of working with an amazing group of members and clients. We thank you for your ongoing support as it is our members who help us succeed. We look forward to continued work together in the years to come!

Live Coverage from the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference: Nina Schwartz from GMT’s staff attended the Nonprofit Technology Network's (NTEN) Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in Atlanta, GA in early April. She brought back live advice from experts in the fields of communications, marketing, and mobile technology. Her videos are the Links of the Month in Section #4 of this newsletter.

Online Pitch Talk Radio Training from Mainstream Media Project: Jimmy Durchslag, Executive Director, Mainstream Media Project (MMP), gave an online presentation to GMT members on April 28th on the skills, process and techniques necessary to get interviews on broadcast media, primarily talk radio. The training was based on MMP’s 15 years of experience in placing over 25,000 broadcast interviews.

We have a recording of the training for all members to view and a discussion open to ask more questions at Got additional questions for Mr. Durchslag? Post them in the training discussion at http://members.greenmediatoolshed.org/community/discussion.

On Friday May 7th, GMT will bid a warm farewell to Michelle Kohn, who is moving on from GMT after a year and a half on our staff. If there is anything you need from her before Friday, please reach her at (202) 659 – 7710 x13 or michelle@greenmediatoolshed.org. Here is her message to you:

Hi GMT Members,

I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you that I will be leaving GMT shortly. My last day in the office will be Friday, May 7th. It has been a pleasure working with you over the last two years. I have enjoyed learning about your organizations and helping you with specific projects.

In the short term please contact Nina at nina@greenmediatoolshed.org if you have support questions of any kind. And until GMT announces my replacement, please contact Bobbi bobbi@greenmediatoolshed.org if you have questions regarding invoices.

Good luck with your future media outreach.

Sincerely,
Michelle Kohn

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Be in the Know - How GMT Tools Can Help Your Group: Let’s hear it from our members this time.

You heard it above but we’re so excited we’ll tell you again… May 2010 marks GMT’s 10th year of serving the nonprofit environmental community. We extend a sincere thank you to each of our 184 members for their continued membership. To celebrate our 10th year, we’ve asked to hear from members this time about how GMT tools have helped their group. Here are just a few of the many remarks we have received.

“It has been absolutely great working with you. You have been incredibly helpful. GMT is an amazing service to the community – has made our media outreach infinitely more effective and efficient. Thanks so much. Hope our paths cross again.”
~ 1000 Friends of Maryland

“Thank you--yes we want to renew! Many thanks again for this wonderful service. It has been critical in getting this issue forward. We now have a briefing in Congress in 2 weeks and media coverage has been really picking up. Thanks for all you do!”
~ Electromagnetichealth.org

“The Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP), a coalition made up of more than 80 nonprofit conservation and environmental organizations, is dedicated to the protection and restoration of Minnesota’s Great Outdoors. MEP has been a member of the Green Media Toolshed since 2001 and we’ve found it to be a useful tool to distribute news releases and maintain media contacts lists. The media contacts database has been especially helpful as MEP works to strengthen relationships with media contacts from outside of the Twin Cities metro area, where our main office is located. We’ve also found the webinars and other online training tools provided by Green Media Toolshed to be very helpful as we navigate the constantly-evolving social media landscape. Many of our member groups are quite small and don’t have communications people on staff, so MEP helps fill the gaps by offering communications services, including media contacts research. Being a member of Green Media Toolshed allows MEP to offer such services to our member groups.”
~ Minnesota Environmental Partnership

"I just wanted to check in and thank you for your great work and great service. Green Media Toolshed is an invaluable part of our day-to-day communications and public relations efforts here at the Oregon Environmental Council. We couldn’t do what we do without you!"
~ Oregon Environmental Council

“Each year I gladly renew our membership in Green Media Toolshed, because the benefits far outweigh the modest cost of membership. I've found the online tools to be tremendously useful -- especially for someone who became involved with the issue of sustainability from the vantage point of environmental justice. GMT has introduced me to an array of resources that have given me a broader understanding of the movement. And by providing these resources in one place, GMT saves me countless hours that I'd otherwise spend trying to track them down.

And where else do you find a staff of people who reach out to you to make sure they are providing what you need, making personal calls regularly to check. I have referred a number of colleague organizations to GMT and will continue to do so.”
~Third Sector New England

“Green Media Toolshed has allowed us to fundamentally change the way we approach media. The ability to add and train users quickly has allowed us to give broad access to Responsible Endowments Coalition members to launch their own national media campaigns. This is essential for a small organization like ours, where media and communications work falls on multiple parties. Nina, the GMT Membership Coordinator, has been highly responsive and helpful at every stage, making the whole process of getting up and running simple and effective. I routinely recommend GMT to allies.”
~Responsible Endowments Institute

"The Rainforest Alliance has worked with Green Media Toolshed since 2004 and has consistently relied upon it for media distribution. The folks at GMT have always been flexible and accommodating with our organization as we have grown, and we have benefited from their free training sessions and helpful tips."
~The Rainforest Alliance

"GMT has facilitated our press releases and data storage for several years at a cost that is more than affordable even for a struggling nonprofit. With GMT, press releases can be easily targeted with a few key strokes to specific areas within our river basin or sent to all of the media in our 10,000 square mile basin. GMT makes dissemination of information incredibly easy and they train new personnel as needed. As I retire from the Savannah Riverkeeper, I know that I leave our communication with the media in good hands. Thank you GMT."
~Savannah Riverkeeper

“Just wanted to let you know we got a great big article in the Sacramento Bee yesterday. This was the first media work I’ve done really using the Green Media Toolshed, and it was SUCH a valuable resource – both for your resource library and being able to quickly pull names and contact info, and build targeted lists. Tomorrow we should be getting coverage on a morning news show!”
~ TransForm

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Buzz from the Beat: Resource for members who work on climate change advocacy

The Society of Environmental Journalists’ website (SEJ.org) features a new guide to the “information and disinformation” of climate change. The guide shares information to help reporters accurately cover climate issues, as well as a list of reporters who have done "outstanding" coverage of the regional impacts of climate change, the disinformation campaign, and general climate coverage. This online listing gives reference to over 40 reporters and their publications. It could serve as a nice reference for members who are researching past climate change coverage and who are on the lookout for hot reporters on that topic.

The list of reporters can be found at http://www.sej.org/initiatives/outstanding-media-coverage/outstanding-coverage

Note: SEJ’s journal is a quarterly publication that gives information on new resources and issues for environmental journalists. It includes great articles and information for you to learn about that beat. Towards the end of the magazine, they always include new books and resources written by great environmental beat writers. Some feature stories of past issues are available online on the SEJ website at http://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal/overview

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Newsroom Notes: You have the skills to do so… now Pitch Talk Radio!

You've heard a lot from us about skills training for pitching talk radio. We'd now like to introduce you to a few talk radio hosts profiled in Vocus’ In Their Own Words blog and the details of how you can pitch them.

Sanford Weinberg, executive producer / host
“Tech Talk Radio”
(323) 937-1165
sanford(at)techtalk.net
www.techtalk.net

Sanford Weinberg is the executive producer and co-host of “Tech Talk Radio,” a weekly discussion/interview program that focuses on how technology can help your business. The show features two hosts, several feature reporters and invited guests in a sequence of segments.

Pitch:
• e-mail preferred.
• follow up calls discouraged.

Releases:
• must be about technology and business.
• most information should be displayed in 3 or 4 seconds.

Wally Desjarlais, producer / host
CFWE-FM / "Native Perspective Morning Show"
(780) 447-2393 x508
wally(at)cfweradio.ca
www.ammsa.com/cfwe

"Native Perspective Morning Show" airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. on CFWE-FM, and is produced / hosted by Wally Desjarlais. He covers aboriginal issues, particularly in Alberta, Canada. “We do put a lot of emphasis and focus on the rural areas,” he says, “but we also do cover some of the stuff that’s happening nationally and internationally as well.”

Pitch:
• e-mail.
• two weeks in advance.
• follow up calls welcome.

This information and profiles of many other reporters can be found in Vocus’ In Their Own Words blog at http://www.vocus.com/invocus/podcastarchives_invocus_com.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Links of the month: Wondering what you can do best with video? Or how you can go mobile? Listen to live advice from the experts at the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference.

As promised, here is the live advice from technology experts that Nina brought back from the Nonprofit Technology Network's (NTEN) Nonprofit Technology.

What do nonprofits do best with video? Live with Stacy Laiderman of See3 Communications.

What is the greatest guarantee for media relations success? Live with marketing expert Nancy Schwartz of GetAttention.org. 

Can you name the 4 essential goals for any website?...live with Demetrio of Community Media Workshop.

What is the most common mistake that nonprofits make on their website?
....live advice from Network for Good.

Go Mobile! Why it's important for GMT members to incorporate mobile (cell phone) technology into their campaigns. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. We welcome 2 new members to our GMT community

Indian Law Resource Center (ILRC) is a nonprofit law and advocacy organization established and directed by American Indians. We provide legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations who are working to protect their lands, resources, human rights, environment and cultural heritage. Our principal goal is the preservation and well-being of Indian and other Native nations and tribes.

Environmental Research Foundation (ERF) was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1980 to support grass-roots activists working on toxics and social justice issues locally, regionally and nationally. In 1986 we began publishing Rachel’s News which was published thru February 26, 2009.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Media Database Q & A: Help! I need better results....

You often hear from the GMT Support staff that we suggest you refine your search results to avoid casting too broad a net when sending your press releases. If you send your news to reporters who don’t cover your issue, you run the risk of damaging your organization’s reputation as a credible source for information.

However, we also hear about the opposite scenario, where users run searches that yield just a handful or even zero results. We’d like to share some advice to help should you find yourself in either of these situations.

Scenario 1: I’m getting zero results!

1. If your search yields no results, make sure you didn't select one or more criteria fields that could conflict. For example, if you select to see bloggers and print trade magazines, the database may not be able to generate any results that match both criteria.

2. The second and more technical reason would be caused by typing a word in a dropdown menu field. For example, if you type in the word "environment" rather than selecting from the subject dropdown menu, your criteria may be not recognized. Vocus' criteria fields are very specific, and typed words sometimes do not register in dropdown menus or other selection-based fields.

Scenario 2: I’m getting too few results!

Every new user understands the situation where they are searching a type of reporter who they feel should be numerous in the database, but they can only seem to find one or two of them.

The main reason for this situation is if you are not using the best type of search criteria for a given geographic or other selection of reporter. For example, if you are searching environmental reporters in Haiti and selected “Haiti” and “environment,” possibly there are no reporters in Haiti who are labeled as environmental beat writers. The reporters in Haiti who cover environmental issues may be on the National News subjects, or politics or geography, to just name a few. A good plan here would be to explore some other beat codes and keywords, and to also view a general list of Haiti reporters and see how reporters in that country tend to be labeled.

So, the best advice for the “too few” predicament is to:
1. Broaden your search. For the example above you would do more news research to find some current Haiti environmental reporters and then see how they are labeled in the database. Use your findings to find relative Haiti reporters.
2. Take advantage of all of the criteria fields and the advanced search symbols for inclusion and exclusion. Our Support Center provides ample information on the search symbols and creative uses of the advanced search criteria.

Need some more help? The GMT Support Team is ready to assist you at (202) 659-7710.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
View past e-newsletters in our monthly e-newsletter archive section of the GMT Training Center.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------