Poppy the Therapy Dog!

For one of my classes, PRLN 1210 – Media Relations, one of our final group projects was to create a media kit for a local organization or company and then to actually pitch to journalists in hopes of getting coverage for our organization.

My team, comprised of Brittany Brown, Kelli Rivett and Mary Pappajohn, were having a bit of a hard time finding an organization to do a media kit for. We had a few ideas, but the one that won us over was Pacific Assistance Dogs Society located in Burnaby. They’re the guys who raise, train and place assistance dogs for people who are disabled and/or hard of hearing. Most of their dogs are golden labs or retrievers, and they’re super adorable!

We had our work cut out for us. Here was a social services organization that did pretty incredible things and had been doing it for the last 20+ years without government funding. They rely heavily on volunteers, individual donations and a couple corporate sponsorships, but other than that, they don’t get a dime from the government. I could gush about how great their organization is, but what struck my team the most was the story of Poppy.

A bit about Poppy: She’s a two and a half year old golden retriever that was raised and trained by PADS, and the first ever canine to take an official team position at Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. It was this story that we decided to run with because of its unusualness, newsworthyness and its human interest angle.

After meeting with the good folks at PADS and Canuck Place, we got down to work. The first thing we had to produce was a press release. Among the other things we put in this media kit were an opinion editorial written by Kelli, a corporate profile, a short bio on Poppy and the press release (of course). The press release was written by committee, and it took a few emails back and forth to approve all the quotes and facts. But once we were done, we started pitching to local media.

We built a media list using MediaNetCentral, a very generous provision made by Kwantlen instructors, and I also reached out to my Twitter network and received a few suggestions there. We started calling local newspapers such as The Vancouver Sun, The Burnaby Now, etc., but our teacher suggested we reach out to City TV’s Breakfast Television.

Once we pitched to Breakfast Television, and they said “Sure, send along the press release,” the ball started rolling. Vancouver Sun columnist Pete McMartin contacted me by phone about the story, and within minutes, we set up a time for him to meet with PADS and Canuck Place. Little did we know that Poppy’s story would end up on the front page of the Vancouver Sun!!

As though that weren’t exciting enough, we received emails and calls from both City TV and Global TV, both wanting to cover Poppy’s story. After a flurry of emails, our appointments were set and the filming began.

My creative teammates came up with a wonderful design for a media kit – check it out!

Click here to watch Poppy on City TV
Click here to watch Poppy Global National as an Everyday Hero
News Release – Golden Retriever Takes Team Position at Children’s Hospice

I’d embed these videos, but I’m not allowed to! Please be sure to share these links!