Press releases are an incredible low-cost tool for getting your message out to the media. New-stories have more credibility than ads, and usually cost less. Non-profits can secure free radio space, and even for-profits can appear on radio and TV shows for free.

Below are examples of press releases I've written for non-profits, artists, schools and small businesses. All found media placement, some nationally. If you see anything that inspires you, give me a call.

Weekend of free classes at Prescott College has something for everyone, offering courses in psychology, biology, education and spirituality.

College colloquium offers community a chance for a liberal arts experience in a communal setting.

October 26, 2005 ( Prescott , AZ ) -- Prescott College presents its fall colloquium of over 80 workshops Friday November, 4 though Sunday, November 6. It’s an opportunity to learn what’s happening on the cutting edge of academia in an intimate setting without paying a dime of tuition.

According to Prescott College MAP Faculty Coordinator Joan Clingan, Prescott College ’s colloquia offer a high concentration of learning. They take place four times per year and afford grad students the opportunity to present in their academic disciplines.

“They’re amazing; they’re the best thing that goes on at the college. It’s like being able to go to a professional conference in many different disciplines all at the same time,” she said.

On Saturday, women’s studies pioneer Paula Rothenberg will give the keynote address, Classless, Colorblind and Gender Neutral at 5:30 p.m. in the Crossroads Center community meeting room. Rothenberg is the author of a textbook Race, Class and Gender in the United States and currently teaches at Thex William Paterson University in New Jersey.

“It’s just incredible that she’s here; she wrote the very first text on race class and gender which is now in it’s sixth or seventh printing,” Clingan said.

Other offerings include butterflies, wolves, using wildland studies to educate ESL students, sustainable business practices and green building. Many of the courses will cover psychology- eating disorders, studies of the brain, borderline personality disorder, and spirituality in addiction recovery to name a scant few.

For a complete colloquium schedule, visit www.prescott.edu/map or call Frank Cardamone at 350-3218.

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Celebrities speak at Prescott College ’s Coming Home Weekend

October 7, 2005 (Prescott, AZ) -- Prescott College is hosting an event-filled weekend for parents, alumni and the public featuring a movie star, an award-winning adventure filmmaker, and a high-profile Arizona author. Events kick off Friday, October 21 with an opening reception and book signing by Fred Duval at the Sam Hill Warehouse at 5:00 PM., followed by a lecture and question-and-answer session with Billy Jack star Tom Laughlin at the Crossroads Center at 7:00 PM. “We’ve put together a strong roster of well-known personalities with substance to show our appreciation to alumni, the community and, of course, the parents of our students,” PC Alumni Director Terri Harris said.

Laughlin filmed Billy Jack in Prescott in 1970; the movie broke box office records when it was released and has gone on to become a political cult classic. Filmmaking is very much on Laughlin’s mind these days (a new Billy Jack movie is in the works) and Laughlin will speak on his work, his politics and his worldview. “The whole world depends on our becoming conscious of the unknown parts of our personality; that’s the way to transform the world,” Laughlin said.

Like Laughlin’s movies, Fred Duval’s book is set in Arizona . Duval, a former Clinton administration staffer, wrote Calling Arizona Home, a collection of vignettes from his experiences throughout rural Arizona .

“I’ve really come to appreciate that the real history is outside the urban areas,” said Duval, who grew up in Tucson . “It’s titled calling Calling Arizona Home because it’s a calling of Arizona home to a different principle. It’s not just about rugged independence; it’s about interdependence.”

On Saturday, the college hosts a presentation by adventure filmmaker Gordon Brown, who has won five Emmy Awards and who has just released an Imax feature, The White Nile. Other presenters include Randall Amster, who will speak about his experiences doing relief work in New Orleans ’ Katrina-ravaged ninth ward, and Kino Bay Center Director Ed Boyer who will discuss life, learning and research in Kino Bay, Sonora , among many others.

Festivities begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21 with a free campus tour departing from the admissions office. The 5:00 p.m. reception and book signing is free to Coming Home Weekend Registrants, but $10.00 for the general public. Tom Laughlin’s lecture is free and open to the public. Cost to attend the entire event is $50; students with attending parents and children 17 years or younger get in for free. For those interested in attending the presentations on Saturday or for more information call Terri Harris at (928) 350-4502, or visit www.prescott.edu/parents.

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College students retrace John Wesley Powell’s arduous journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers.

 Adventure education course teaches natural history in the wild canyons of Arizona and Utah.            

(Prescott, AZ) September 23, 2005 - A group of hardy Prescott College students and instructors will depart Flaming Gorge, Utah in early October to study in a riverborne classroom through the Colorado Plateau. The trip will carry them through three states and into the winter months, as they retrace the 1868 journey of explorer John Wesley Powell. Determined to explore unmapped terrain, Powell and 10 men put in at Green River Station, Wyoming and rafted down the Green River, eventually passing into the Grand Canyon. During the trip, they lost much of their food and gear and were nearly killed by river rapids. Though many never expected to see the men alive again, five of the original ten emerged as heroes several months later, having solved the mysteries contained in the West’s most famous canyon system. “Nobody knew what was down there,” said trip leader John Farmer, “The mapmakers usually left the canyons blank or they drew in Indians or dragons.”

It’s the first time in over a decade that Prescott College, a small liberal arts school based in Prescott, Arizona, has re-traced the route, once considered impassable by pioneers and Native Americans alike.  In 1992, Julie Munro, now part of Prescott College’s faculty, designed the trip as part of her Master’s thesis at Mankato State University in Minnesota.

Offered under the banner of Wilderness Exploration and Landscape Studies (WELS), the course is the culmination of three years of planning and obtaining permits on the part of Lead Instructor John Farmer. According to Farmer, returning to the river is an opportunity to use a spectacular landscape as a classroom. According to Farmer, the journey is without precedent.

“No other schools do 21-day trips, much less 70-day adventures,” he said.

In this modern-day reprise, the students will juggle lesson-planning and teaching with rafting and practical outdoor living skills in an effort to learn how to teach natural history in an adventure education setting. The college quarter spent on the river will instruct 11 Prescott college juniors and seniors in diverse topics including teaching theory, group dynamics and white water hydrology.

“Prescott College sees value in learning through adventure and always has. People learn a lot about life through adventure and adversity. Specifically through adversity,” said Farmer.            

Teaching on a river during the wintertime has built-in challenges. “What keeps me up at night is wondering what the students should wear on their feet,” Farmer said.           

According to Farmer, though day-to-day life on rafts will dominate much of the students’ time, they will nonetheless rigorously pursue the academic portion of the trip.

“We’re bringing a huge library with us,” Farmer said.             

On November 3, halfway through the quarter, the college will present a conference at Green River State Park featuring guest speakers Julie Munro, Grand Canyon Wilderness Coordinator Linda Jalbert, and Grand Canyon Guidebook author Larry Stevens.           

Farmer, co-instructors Justin Salamon and Joel Barnes and their students will send frequent dispatches of trip progress, which will appear starting October 13 at the course's site: http://www.prescott.edu/wels.

Prescott College is an independent liberal arts school offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines, including sustainability education and environmental science. The recently established John Wesley Powell Scholarship gives $4000 per year to high achieving students. They are on the web at www.prescott.edu.

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New scholarship helps students from Texas attend college in Arizona

Scholarship established in honor of southeast Texas resident who believed in young people.

Students from southeast Texas interested in studying writing, literature, or journalism will benefit from the new Dorothy Ruth Ellis Endowed Scholarship, designed to help students from the region attend Prescott College , a small liberal arts college set in the mountains of central Arizona .

Reuben Ellis and his wife Linda Dove established the scholarship in memory of Ellis’s grandmother, a Texas native who tirelessly advocated FOR the education of young people.

“The mission of the college reflects how she thought people learn best. She was a lifelong independent learner,” Ellis said.

While ethnic minorities and students hailing from Jefferson , Orange , Tyler , Newton , or Hardin counties in Texas have preference, the scholarship is open to all current or entering Prescott College students who are pursuing or plan to pursue studies in writing, literature, or journalism. Prescott College will disburse the first $1000 award in January 2006, and then every July thereafter.

The scholarship’s namesake, Dorothy Ellis, was a longtime resident of Bridge City who enjoyed visiting the Southwest but always returned to her beloved Texas , where she died in 1996.

“She embodied the values of intellect, integrity, and learning through experience. That kind of hands-on learning is an important part of the mission of Prescott College . That’s why we set up the scholarship,” said Ellis.

Ellis is a faculty member at the college, a small school with a focus on social justice and the environment, where students learn in small classes and through independent, interdisciplinary courses of study.

Those interested in the scholarship may contact Prescott College ’s financial aid office for an application at 1-(877) 350-2100 ext. 1111 or email finaid@prescott.edu. Deadline for the January scholarship is October 30, 2005.

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Conservationist John Muir to speak at local Church

Prescott, AZ – April 18, 2005 – Prescott College Professor Doug Hulmes will assume the identity of famed naturalist John Muir in a one-man show on Sunday, April 24.  The performance, which will accept donations to benefit the Central Arizona Land Trust, sta rts at 6 p.m. at the Prescott United Methodist Church, 505 W. Gurley Street .

The impression, or Chautauqua, takes a high degree of scholarly research and rehearsal to perfect, and brings a historical figure to life. "In the 1920's and 30's, it was used as a way to educate.  A common Chautauqua portrayed Mark Twain," said Hulmes.

Hulmes has performed his Chautauqua to standing ovations both locally and throughout the country.  By bringing the performance to the United Methodist Church, Hulmes hopes to be able to offer the experience to a broad segment of the public.  "I've done the Chautauqua in Prescott, but there is a large part of Prescott's population that hasn't seen it yet."

John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892 and published more than half a dozen books.  His writings and efforts to conserve the natural beauty of the American west have served as a guide for the generations of conservationists and naturalists who have followed him.  Quotes by John Muir can be found along the trails of Acker Park in Prescott.

Cleaving closely to the vision of John Muir, the Central Arizona Land Trust (http://www.centralazlandtrust.org) seeks to preserve open space and scenic beauty in Prescott and the surrounding area.

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2005 Historic Fire Station Thrives in Downtown Prescott

Prescott , AZ —March 16— Downtown Prescott has more life and color thanks to the recent renovation of Prescott ’s old fire station. The station, located at the corner of Goodwin and Granite Streets behind Whiskey Row, originally opened in 1956, and became a restaurant in 1991. Now, new owners Linda and Robin Forbes have spent the winter re-designing it to recall its prior duty as a fire station. The Forbes are committed to helping keep downtown Prescott true to its history. “We have done a lot of remodeling. We’ve done some major repairs since the remodeling. It was pretty rundown when we bought it,” said Linda Forbes. Gone are the green awnings of the last decade; in their place are black and red accents that complement the original sign painted on brick that says “Prescott Fire Department.” On the south side of the building, construction of a parking garage is keeping pace with the Forbes’s repairs. Workers use an 85 foot crane that soars above the old hose tower to fit the garage’s massive pre-cast concrete and steel components into place. “The largest piece they’re lifting and placing is 63,000 lbs,” said Bryce Winterton, owner of Biff’s Bagels, which serves New York-style water bagels. Winterton, along with the other owners of Old Firehouse Plaza businesses, are tracking the garage’s progress with interest. The construction has impacted the businesses financially, but its completion should ultimately bring them new opportunities. “When the parking garage goes in, the city will provide a handicap ramp leading into the walkway in front of Biff’s and Pangaea. We’re going to redo the pavers where it comes in. It will be more of a courtyard when that happens,” said Forbes. Prescott Fire Department Captain Paul Williams worked at the station for three years until it closed. “Every morning the firefighters would get a glass of tea or coffee and go into the bay to check out their equipment. They’d always be setting their cups on the rigs and if the alarm went out, coffee cups would go flying off the rigs every time. There’d be broken glass all over Goodwin street ,” he said. Hot drinks are still served at the Firehouse Plaza ’s Biff’s Bagels and Pangaea Bakery. Both businesses serve coffee along with their baked goods and cater to downtown lunch crowds throughout the week.

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Prescott Area Women in Black to Hold Vigil on Anniversary of Iraq War

Prescott, AZ - March 11, 2005 – Prescott Women In Black (WiB) will stage a silent candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 19 to mourn those killed since the U.S. entered Iraq two years ago. The event will take place at the corner of Cortez and Gurley streets on the courthouse square, and is open to all who care to attend. “We encourage people to come wearing black for mourning or white for peace,” said WiB member Erica Ryberg. The candlelight vigil will follow a daylong vigil held at the same location by core members of the group and other activists. Women in Black was started in 1988 by a group of Palestinian and Israeli women responding to middle-east violence. Prescott ’s Women in Black have stood in a weekly vigil of mourning at the courthouse square since October 2002. For more information, call Angie Ruth at (928) 776-9868, or log onto www.dreamfactoryink.com.

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Prescott Artists Join to Celebrate and Encourage Public Art Trio of shows features music, comedy, ‘paint-formance’ and pictures of murals from around the world. Prescott, AZ – March 3, 2005-- Local artists will come together March 12 at Sharlot Hall Museum to present the first of three evenings of music, celebration and an art discussion to raise money for the non-profit Prescott Downtown Mural Project (PDMP). Eclectic musicians Lily Swan and Jacob Devaney will each play their original music, followed by a slideshow and presentation of murals from around the world. The work of local artists will be offered through silent auction. Festivities begin at 7:30 in the Blue Rose Theater at Sharlot Hall Museum , 415 West Gurley Street in Prescott . Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at Prescott Natural Foods, Showbusiness Video, or at the door. “We’re a small group of artists who feel that a few well-placed murals can add to the ambience of Prescott ,” said PDMP’s project director R. E. Wall. He hopes to raise the $14,000 needed for their next local community mural from grants and from the gathering on March 12, as well as those that will take place later in April. In addition to being beautiful, Wall said that murals created in other cities have proven to increase revenue from tourism. “We’re looking to expand the draw of downtown tourism beyond the confine of the courthouse square,” Wall said. The Prescott Downtown Mural Project has been around for the last four years, and has a 75 foot long mural along Granite Creek to it’s credit. After recently ramping up activity, it is seeking space for upcoming murals. According to Wall, PDMP is looking to involve the community and preserve Prescott ’s history. “We’re very interested in history. It’s a big part of Prescott .” The organization has no intention of going it alone. “We want to involve the community every step of the way.” Those steps will soon involve Prescott ’s children. In the wings is PDMP’s Mural Education Project, an effort that will train young artists and allow them to work on mural projects for scholarships. For PDMP, this is nothing new; the Granite Creek mural included material based on research done by at risk students at a nearby Mile High Middle School . You can see the week by week unfolding of The Granite Creek Mural at: www.livingfolklore.com/html/murals%20new.htm
You can make online tax-deductible donations at: www.livingfolklore.com/murals or contact the project at: muralswork@hotmail.com A Quick-Guide to Upcoming PDMP Events: March 12th, Sharlot Hall Museum's Blue Rose Theater 7:30pm --- The Enchanting harp, piano, and sacred drums of 'Lily Swan' with piano and stories from host Jacob Devaney of the Living Folklore, a silent auction, a slideshow of worldwide murals, and a word or two about paint-formance art in cities around the world. A sophisticated evening of celebration and imagination that you won’t want to miss!

April 2nd, Performing Arts Center 7:00pm --- The downright picture perfect sounds of Invisible Orchestra, Art Vandalay, and Midnite Snap! Live sound that wont let you down joined by an all star cast of local celebrity artists paint-forming up a storm. Mural slideshow, screen printing, raffle, and Live art all up in the place! This is what's happening in Prescott !

April 10th, Coyote Joe's 6:00pm --- 'Dave Whitley and Friends'. You've never heard folk music sung with so much heart and soul. Folk melodies which brighten up any dark picture. Beer, dancing,
paint-formance, a mural slideshow, art auction, and did I mention the beer?

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Local rock bands to honor artists who died in canoeing accident

 Tribute concert will benefit the Brian Gianelli Scholarship Fund.

Prescott, AZ – February 23, 2005 – Bands from the tri-city area will play a tribute and benefit concert on Friday, February 25 for Brian Gianelli and Luke Acosta. Doors open at the Sam Hill Warehouse, 242 N. Granite Street in Prescott , at 6:00 p.m. Headlining the show are the popular bands Life In Pictures and Invisible Orchestra. “It’s a concert of local musicians. We’re both paying tribute to Brian and Luke and raising money for the scholarship fun that was established in Brian’s name,” said Invisible Orchestra’s Rick Klaras. Admission to the event is three dollars. “We’re setting up two stages, so it’s going be non-stop music,” said Caleb Chambers, whose band, Life In Pictures, organized the event. Both Chambers and Klaras played music with Brian Gianelli, a local musician who along with Luke Acosta, died on December 29, 2004 in a boating accident on Granite Creek. “So many of us have made music with him or enjoyed his music. We’ve all been influenced by his music in one way or another,” said Klaras, “We felt that we should play a show.” Other bands playing in the show include Flux Capacitor, The High Rollers, Art Vandalay and Skyline Blue. The bands represent a diverse offering of music ranging from rockabilly to heavy metal. “We tried to have as many bands as possible so there would be something for everyone,” said Chambers.Those wishing to donate directly to the Brian Gianelli Music Scholarship Fund may send checks to Prescott Unified School District #1 at 146 S Granite Street, Prescott, AZ, 86303. The scholarship will benefit promising musicians graduating from Prescott High School.

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Art and Haiku
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minneapolis bookstore hosts a one-day earrings-for-haiku challenge. The idea -- to wed art and poetry -- will be part of the Poetic Alchemy gallery exhibit in Uptown at the Eye of Horus bookstore, 2717 Lyndale Ave.

On August 21, writer and jewelry maker Elise Matthesen will be offering 50 sets of her earrings in exchange for poetry written in the Japanese form of three lines of five, seven and five syllables respectively. Admission is free, though donations to cover costs are welcome.

On display in the gallery will be the visual art of several award-winning authors, including Pulitzer-nominated Native American poet Wendy Rose and local author Laurel Winter. Winter will present "Finding Your Way Without a Topographical Map for the Rest of Your Life" on Saturday, August 7.

"We know far too many writers that also paint and artists that also write," said Eye of Horus owner Thraicie Hawkner. "It's great to watch a piece of jewelry become a poem and a short story become a painting. It's a form of alchemy, transforming one art form to another."

These events and others will be taking place through September 25. The gallery will be open during the store's normal hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, call (612) 872-1292 or visit www.eyeofhorusinc.com.

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Prescott Native Home after Cross-Country Bike Tour

Solo female cyclist traveled more than 3000 miles by bicycle.

February 20, 2005 - Prescott -- Cross-country cyclist Erica Ryberg returned this month to Prescott after a year and a half stay in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 30-year-old Prescott native is an avid bicyclist who left a teaching position at Kestrel High School in 2003 to complete a solo tour across the United States. “I’m excited to be back,” says Ryberg, “It’s warmer and there’s nowhere on the planet that I’m happier.” The trip took Ryberg three months of pedaling to cross seven states into Canada. “I climbed eight passes in Colorado. The hardest one was Owl Creek Pass, which took me through the back country. A truck stopped to warn me about mountain lions.” Later, she braved rambunctious coyotes in Nebraska, and wolves and bears in Ontario.Ryberg ended her tour in Michigan after circling Lake Superior. In all, she pedaled over 3000 miles on a road bike loaded with 70 pounds of gear. “My favorite state was South Dakota. I’m not sure why; it seems like there were headwinds the whole way, but it was wide-open.” She settled for a year and a half in Minneapolis and split her time between teaching and writing. “You’d think that the kids in the inner city would be more challenging than the students in Prescott, but I find that kids and their needs are the same wherever you teach. I’m looking forward to being able to continue teaching and tutoring kids here.” Ryberg is excited about her return to Prescott. Her first project was learning how to make a website, which she named DreamFactoryInk.com. “I’m glad to have a place to put my travel writing. It helped me when I was planning for my tour to read people’s travelogues. I hope my inspire others to ride,” she said.

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Iranian Cultural Event to Take Place Saturday at Coffman Memorial Union Great Hall.

Minneapolis, MN - The Annual Persian Student Organization of MN (PSOM) Nowruz Gathering happens at 7 p.m. , Saturday, April 10. Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, occurs on the spring equinox, and has been celebrated by all the major cultures of ancient Mesopotamia for thousands of years. Celebrations with uniquely Iranian characteristics have occurred for at least three thousand years and are deeply rooted in the traditions of the Zoroastrian belief system. This Saturday’s celebration will feature food including subs, Gyros, salad, Iranian pastry, fruit, and veggies, followed by entertainment. Iranian music and poetry, as well as folkloric dance are featured, and a dance and DJ will round out the evening. Leili Pritschet, the former artistic director of the Iranian National Folklore Institute, directed the Kurdish dance, stating its importance in the following manner:

“Kurdish dances show unity, and are over five thousand years old. That men and women have always danced together shows equality. They stamp their feet to show triumph, and no matter what happens to them, they don’t want to show their sadness. Instead, despite what has happened to them over the years, they carry on, always dancing."

"This is beautiful that we are getting together to celebrate the freedom of this country. We like to show that we are one. This is a tapestry of us all together."

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I'm currently expanding my portfolio to include brochures and sales letters. Let me do yours for a bargain!

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Erica Ryberg || 928.308-7650 || Erica.Ryberg@gmail.com