FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 29 



representatives in the convention town to turn loose through them everything 

 that will not suffer by the delay required to do this instead of releasing it in the 

 officials' home towns. Their interest in advertising their own city will make such 

 press representatives use stuff that others may neglect. Follow the same tactics 

 with chamber of commerce, commercial club, or any like mediums in the con- 

 vention city. 



In this connection, get the widest railway excursion rates to the meeting ; do 

 this early, and get the railroads as well as the mediums mentioned to help give 

 them publicity. Show up interesting features aside from the meeting and get 

 people to planning the trip. 



In one of the communications sent the list of desired delegates, suggest that 

 they get some local press mention of the meeting, based, perhaps, on th&ir pro- 

 posed attendance. 



Several months before the meeting arrange for clipping bureau service 

 informing you of all approaching meetings of people at all likely to be interested 

 in forestry or lumbering. There are also published lists of convention dates, 

 issued monthly, which are valuable in this connection. Send to each such 

 meeting, to be read by its secretary, a message of greeting with invitation to 

 your own and a forecast thereof. 



When the meeting approaches tell newspaper men you will see to it that the 

 real news is sifted out of everything for them. We often hear complaint of the 

 press reports of semi-technical conventions. The reason is usually that reporter.s 

 cannot recognize the news in topics foreign to them. Someone should be assigned 

 to this and keep it written up to the hour, in form that permits using as much or 

 little as is wanted without destroying its force. Resolutions, papers and syn- 

 opses should be mimeographed in ample numbers and photographs of speakers 

 obtained and provided. Desirable trade journals not represented should not be 

 neglected, but provided with sets of everything with a brief running account. 

 This thoughtfulness may win their interest after all. You can often stimulate 

 the publication of forestry material, particularly in Sunday papers, by giving out 

 good photographs illustrating the particular topic, along with information con- 

 cerning it. In selecting photographs, remember that those which show action 

 appeal particularly to newspaper men, as for example, men fighting fire, building 

 trails or telephone lines, lumbering, tree planting, and the like. 



The above outline does not include every device that will suggest itself to a 

 fertile meeting promoter, but indicates the systematic manner in which such affairs 

 must be handled to get the best results. Publicity is not automatic. It must be 

 fostered assiduously. 



Meetings Other Than Forestry. 



There are meetings on scores of subjects other than forestry which afford 

 unusually good opportunity, because the people who do not understand forest 

 problems are just the ones who should be reached. While we cannot lay down 

 a program for these, we should use every chance they afford. Conventions, 

 congresses, chautauquas, granges, association and club meetings, unless of the 



