NZ Herald motorbike story - on ya bike bigmouth!

[Clivoris]

Thanks for the offers of help peeps and thanks for starting the thread Pooboy.

[McJim]

The New Zealand Herald is the Auckland Daily newspaper - it's written in English which means its relevance is diminishing.

Auckland has no motorsport tracks. (Pukekohe is dangerously close to the Bombay Hills and is therefore at risk of failing to exist)

Q.E.D.

the Southland Times always has loads of stuff about bikes when there's an event on at Teretonga and has actively supported and publicised the Burt Munro Challenge and Wyndham Street Races.

Waikato Times came out in strong support of the Hamihole V8 races too.

Maybe it's just APN Newspapers (you kiwis know that the A in APN stands for Australia don't you?)

[KS34]

I have just emailed "The Rock" I listen in alot and not heard one thing about the series. Asked them to stick some info on the website about the last round at Puke, they are listed as a sponser of the Nats, and suggested they get someone like Andrew Stroud in or just thinking about it maybe CHOPPA or GIXSER onto the Rumble closer to the time. Gixser or Choppa you should contact them also, would be great exposure for the LG team.

[gav]

The radio station covering the racing would've been Radio Sport, think they normally do the odd live feed from on site.
When the Nationals were down here in Chch, The Press ran a good two page spread with decent photos etc in the Friday Sports section. However if you tried to find anything in the public notices advertising the event with details like start times, gate fees etc, there was nothing!
So while the motorcycle enthuisiast knew about the racing, I guess a fair section of the population would've been none the wiser, sadly.

[KS34]

The more I think about this the more bloody frustrated I become, just been watching Fujitsu motorsport on sky, and they are covering the nz v8's from all the tracks the superbikes are at, and I know which one I'd rather watch! Even for non-bike people, the bikes are faster, louder, look more dangerous and why don't we have the sponsers they do: Placemakers, Radio Sport, Koken Tools to name a few, we as a group have to pull our finger out! We need mass media, does anyone listen to Radio Sport sounds a bit flagon and rollies to me. Please feel free to put me straight.

[Brian d marge]

I read that this morning , think what her was saying is that if there is an event (any event ) coming up , he would receive wads of information about it , whereas bike sport is a poster pinned up in the local bike shop ,,,( and he cant be arsed ,...)

Its true and all , where do you go to find events ,,, Kiwibiker , mag /website and silver bullet or what ever its called ...

If you were sitting on a bus in cashel st , what are the chances of seeing a poster for bike racing at Ruapuna ??.........................slim and none

mind you sitting in a wind swept field with something resembling food ( The report wasnt conclusive ) ,,,watching 20 pre 1990 s bikes line up ..... all for 20 bucks ,,,plus what I paid the dod to eat the ,,,,UFO resembling food item .......

I ll go to the bowling or the movies instead....

Stephen

[Nicksta]

I don't mind helping with / doing the write up stuff and pic's etc for press releases if you are serious? I am usually at every meeting......

awesome stuff Chrissie!

havin had some experience in advertising/media (actually quite a bit)..
im sorry to say that just writing a story and sending it in wont (usually) get it printed. in advertising, its who you know.. and what you can do for them in most instances,
i refer back to my comment few weeks ago where i thought whomever was in charge of mnz's advertising was ..well..... a monkey !! they have actually managed in the last few years destroyed what was once a crowd pleaser and televised. i could go on but wont bother.
We/i took it upon ourselves to get our own camera crew to Paeroa as well as tv3, and you know what ... it was as simple as a phone call. not saying they will screen any of it, but they were unaware it was even on,, (i refer back to the monkey) (probably Eric)
if we want this sport to be noticed.... get on the phone...rattle some cages again writing a story will mostly see it get filed in one place...the bin!! not saying dont write the story , but go and deliver it yourself..
the story could be fantastic, but the editors or people in charge will just simply be unaware of the sport and its content....

my two cents....

good shit Ed!
hope you touch up your highlights! but seriously, you've done an awesome job getting LG on side and promoting the sport with Sloan.... if we can help let us know how

[gammaguy]

i was on the committee of the VMCC back in the 80's,and was a member of that fine club for many years,some would say the "golden years"when our club ran meetings that were the envy of all,such as the shell two wheeler and lyall bay street races.

i have read this thread with interest,and lots of the points raised are good and relevant.

take heart though,we had exactly the same issues back then.its good to see some things never change.

[Okey Dokey]

I think what McJim said is relevant, the mindset of your local paper does matter.

As secretary of the local dog trial club, I took a few photos and always did a "write-up" after the event. Tried to have a theme to make the article interesting-oldest & youngest competitor, rural tradition lives on, best run etc etc. I emailed my story to the paper along with a list of results/scores and it was published every year.

I had no contacts and we bought no advertising. It is well worth the effort. I am not a professional writer.

[Badjelly]

The more I think about this the more bloody frustrated I become, just been watching Fujitsu motorsport on sky, and they are covering the nz v8's from all the tracks the superbikes are at, and I know which one I'd rather watch! Even for non-bike people, the bikes are faster, louder, look more dangerous and why don't we have the sponsers they do: Placemakers, Radio Sport, Koken Tools to name a few...

Not to mention Fujitsu, who fund the series and the TV show.

I think the main problem is that motorcycle racing is followed, for the most part, by people who ride motorcycles, whereas car racing is followed by people who drive cars. (I realise there is a lot of overlap between these groups.) There are more car drivers, hence a larger potential audience for car racing.

Still, I'm sure more could be done to publicise the sport effectively.

I'm in danger of volunteering to do something here, so I'd better .

[BM-GS]

Looks like a raw nerve here, but things are in progress - good!

Thanks to cowpoos for the sportsbike link, but as a gumby (never had a sportsbike, have even owned a BMW) the Upcoming Events box says "No events scheduled in the next 30 days." which would make me sigh & go away. I'll register & nose around for my own edification. The big advert top centre says Paeroa BOTS 09, so fair dos, but that's this weekend and so competing with 3 kids' birthday parties and the Tidying Of The House for my mother's arrival next week.

Silverbullet is my usual source of the impending, and that's pretty voluntary and very wide-ranging.

I hope that the Hampton Downs folks will be a bit more publicity-savvy. Gotta be better than Pukekohe, both for racers & (wannabe) spectators. Hope they keep the pits-party atmos tho.

[cowpoos]

the Upcoming Events box says "No events scheduled in the next 30 days." .

http://sportsbike.co.nz/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=32 <--- login and cheak that section out.

[Mystic13]

It seems Eric Thompson is saying FAIRLY CLEARLY.... to contact him. He wants to put stuff in. If he's that willing he'll also tell you what he wants the press releases to look like etc. He's worth a call for those wanting to write.

He sounds like he can't believe we as a community don't send stuff in and as a community we can't believe there isn't more there. Seems simple really.

[roogazza]

i was on the committee of the VMCC back in the 80's,and was a member of that fine club for many years,some would say the "golden years"when our club ran meetings that were the envy of all,such as the shell two wheeler and lyall bay street race
take heart though,we had exactly the same issues back then.its good to see some things never change.

You may remember a couple of mates of mine that had a radio station (2ZM) behind them here in Wgton ? At the time they received great coverage on both the radio and in the then Evening Post. The trend started at the time of using a letter instead of a number, G for Hansford and M , Murray Sayle. Anyway it was a great idea and the fact they were winning all the time made them very well known. The 2ZM number boards really stood out. Gaz.

[Shaun P]

Looks like a raw nerve here, but things are in progress - good!

Thanks to cowpoos for the sportsbike link, but as a gumby (never had a sportsbike, have even owned a BMW) the Upcoming Events box says "No events scheduled in the next 30 days." which would make me sigh & go away. I'll register & nose around for my own edification. The big advert top centre says Paeroa BOTS 09, so fair dos, but that's this weekend and so competing with 3 kids' birthday parties and the Tidying Of The House for my mother's arrival next week.

Silverbullet is my usual source of the impending, and that's pretty voluntary and very wide-ranging.

I hope that the Hampton Downs folks will be a bit more publicity-savvy. Gotta be better than Pukekohe, both for racers & (wannabe) spectators. Hope they keep the pits-party atmos tho.

I think everyone knows family events come after motorcycle racing