Where's the Media?

Imagine you're a competitor and you're getting ready for a contest, maybe it's the biggest in your state, and you've really invested a lot into it. You've hired a coach, you've altered your eating, you've purchased suits, accessories, taken time off work, booked a hotel room and paid entry fees. Nothing is going to stop you. You have, what's often loosely referred to as, tunnel vision. You're a man/woman on a mission. 

You get to the contest and look your best. You're on time for check-ins. You've got your number, your info packet, you get a great night's sleep. You're on time for tanning, you're early for the athlete's meeting, you really walk away feeling confident. You take the stage at prejudging, nailing those mandatories, holding your peak, looking very sharp, standing tall, confident. Life is good. 

You don't get lost, afterwards. You eat a sensible meal. You're back, early, for the night show. You win your class! You win the overall! You want to tell the world about your journey, about how you conquered your demons, overcame all the obstacles; you want to thank all those who helped you, you want to announce your next show, thank your coach, send love to your family, but wait... there's no media, there's no one to ask you how you did it, no articles will be written about you, no videos will be blasted all over social media. I guess you could ask your friend to point your phone at you, provided you have a friend. Maybe you just prop your phone against someone's rubber dumbbell and give a speech. Maybe you just hold your phone in your hand, trying to gather your thoughts for a 15 second story or a 60 second post. That'll be the extent of your media coverage.

Promoters who truly care about customer service, should strive to have media. Sometimes there's no media around - that does happen - but where there is, they should at least try.

Great media brings a promoter great value. Solid media means the show will gain popularity and a good promoter can easily market that popularity to sell more booths, get more competitors to enter, and sell more tickets.

Great media also makes for very happy competitors.

Sadly, some contests are more about the promoters, than they are about the competitors. This is why so many contests don't have press, don't have guest posers, and charge competitors, their trainers, and their families for absolutely everything. Customer service hasn't just taken a backseat, it's been thrown in the trunk.