Media Contact:

Megan Allen

Communications Director

Brimhall 260

801-900-1528

PRESS RELEASE

Olympian to Race Utah High School Swimmers to Prevent Teenage Meningitis

Olympian Dara Torres invites high school athletes to swim meets across the state to promote meningitis vaccination.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Nov. 1, 2015) – 12-time Olympic swimming medalist Dara Torres will racehundreds of swimmers in individual meets at 24 Utah high schools from Nov. 18 to Dec. 22, 2015 toencourage teenage meningitis vaccination.

Many parents are unaware teens are susceptible to this rare but deadly infection and can die within 24 hours after exposure. Meningitis is preventable through vaccination. Children should receive the first dose of the vaccine at age 11-12 and then a booster shot at age 15-16.

Torres will race teams of six swimmers in 24 laps, symbolic of the 24-hour window wherein meningitis can take a life.

“I’m honored to be a part of such a great cause,” Dara Torres said. “As a mom of two teenagers myself, I know I’d do anything to protect them. I hope more lives can be saved through the information available at these meets.”

A registered nurse from the National Association of School Nurses (NASN)will be available at each event to help attendees start the conversation about vaccination with their health care provider.

“Meningitis is a tragic infection that is preventable,” said Sarah Hoskins, a registered nurse in the Davis School District. “Too many lives have been stolen as a result of not vaccinating teens at the right time. Vaccination is a simple process that saves lives.”

For more information on preventing meningitis, visit Voices of Meningitis.

About the Utah Department of Health:

Public health is essential for happy citizens. The Utah Department of Health works with 13 statewide departments to control outbreaks, promote wellness, provide access to health care and protect citizens from harm. The UDOH works to keep Utahns healthy across the Beehive state.

About Voices of Meningitis:

School nurses across the country joined together warn against the dangers of meningitis. This rare but severe disease can take the life of a healthy teenager in just one day. Voices of Meningitis strives to improve teen vaccination rates. The National Association of School Nurses’ Voices of Meningitis educational initiative is made possible through collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur.

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Strategy Brief – news release

UDOH MENINGITIS

Key public: Utah parents, especially moms, with children around the ages of 10-12 and 15-17 (the time to vaccinate). These parents highly value the well being of their children and want to keep them safe from harm.

Secondary publics (if any): Parents of children on Utah high school swim teams or an interest in Olympic swimmers.

Action desired from public(s): Raise awareness for meningitis vaccination, including starting a conversation with health care providers to get the vaccination for children.

Proposed headline: Olympian to Race Utah High School Swimmers to Prevent Teenage Meningitis

Proposed lead:

12-time Olympic swimming medalist Dara Torres will race hundreds of swimmers in individual meets at 24 Utah high schools from Nov. 18 to Dec. 22, 2015 to encourage teenage meningitis vaccination.

News hook:

This story is about announcing that an Olympic swimmer Dara Torres (prominence) is coming to Utah to race high school students (proximity) to promote teenage vaccination to prevent meningitis deaths (timeliness.)

SEO terms (10-20 key words or phrases): Dara Torres, Olympic swimming, meningitis prevention, high school swimming, swim meet, teen health, Utah Department of Health, Woods Cross High School

Primary messages (two-five short statements, similar to sound bites)

Secondary messages (bulleted supporting data, facts, examples, stories, testimonials, etc.)

1. Primary: Meningitis is preventable through vaccination, and parents can rest easy knowing their child is protected.

Secondary: • Children should receive the first dose of the vaccine at age 11-12 and then a booster shot at age 15-16.

• Teens are susceptible to this rare but deadly infection and can die within 24 hours after exposure.

• “Meningitis is a tragic infection that is preventable,” said Sarah Hoskins, a registered nurse in the Davis School District. “Too many lives have been stolen as a result of not vaccinating teens at the right time. Vaccination is a simple process that saves lives.”

2. Primary: Woods Cross swimmers can swim with Olympian, Dara Torres in the meet at Woods Cross High School.

Secondary: • Torres will race teams of six swimmers in 24 laps, symbolic of the 24-hour window meningitis can kill.

• A registered nurse from NASN will be available at the meet to provide resources and vaccination information.

  • The individual meets will take place at 24 different Utah high schools from Nov. 18-Dec. 22, 2015.

Opinion leaders and how they will be used (testimonials, quotes, etc.):

Dara Torres, a famous Olympic swimmer:

“I’m honored to be a part of such a great cause,” Dara Torres said. “As a mom of two teenagers myself, I know I’d do anything to protect them. I hope more lives can be saved through the information available at these meets.”

Sarah Hoskins, Davis School District nurse:

“Meningitis is a tragic infection that is most of all, preventable,” said Sarah Hoskins, a registered nurse in the Davis School District. “Too many lives have been stolen as a result of not vaccinating teens at the right time. Vaccination is a simple process that saves lives.”

Photos/charts/graphics (if any):

Olympic swimming medalist Dara Torres is pictured competing in 2012 Olympic Swimming Trials. Torres is visiting Utah to compete with hundreds of high school swimmers to raise awareness for meningitis prevention.

(Jamie Squire, Getty Images.)

Strategy Brief – social media posts

(Facebook, Twitter)

UDOH

Key public: Utah parents with teenagers, moms especially.

Secondary publics: Utah teenagers, specifically those interested in swimming. Ages 15-17 primarily.

Action desired from public(s): For parents to protect their teenagers from meningitis by getting vaccinated/booster shot.

Overriding message for series of posts (should tie to the overall big idea and appeal to self-interest): Teenage swimmers can swim with Dara Torres, who is promoting meningitis prevention.

Photo or graphics (if applicable): (These are included in the Tweets below)

Hashtags and/or text links (if applicable): (Included in the tweets and Facebook post)

SEO terms (10-20 key words or phrases): Meningitis, Dara Torres, Swimming, Olympics, Vaccination, Utah, High school

First five posts (include primary/secondary message elements; may not include all elements
below):

  1. Message: “#Meningitis can kill in 24 hours. Protect your teen. Get the second shot! #Vaccination #UDOH”

Links:

@: VoicesOfMeningitis

Character Count: 90

  1. Message: “Utah parents- there’s a teenage danger you’ve never heard of. Read about the 24-hour killer here. #UDOH”

Links: udoh.com/health/teen/meningitis

@: UDOH

Character Count: 105 text + room for the link

  1. Message: “Have your high school #swimmers signed up to swim with Dara? One week until the meets start. This could be your teen!”

Art:

Links: secondshot.com/event-info/utah

@: UDOH

Character Count: 119 text + 20 for the photo

  1. Message: “One shot for your kids in elementary school isn’t enough. Learn about the #meningitis booster with #DaraTorres on Saturday.”

Art: (Would make a sharable graphic with swim meet schedule.)

Links: Link to Voices of Meningitis

@: UDOH

Character Count: 124

  1. Message: “Your kid is already an Olympian…if they sign up to swim with @DaraTorres! #MeningitisPrevention ”

Links: secondshot.com/event-info/utah-swim

@: UDOH

Character Count: 96

  1. Facebook post:

“Hey parents, have you heard of the #meningitis booster for your teen? UDOH is hosting swim meets with Dara Torres for meningitis prevention!”

Links: udoh.com/meningitis

@: UDOH

Character Count: 139

Analytics to monitor posts: Facebook Insights & Twitter Analytics

Megan Allen

COMMS 421

Feb. 20, 2016

Dr. Wilson

News Release Revision Reflection

Writing the news release was a huge eye opener for me. I thought I knew how to do it, but I quickly learned how much more there was to practice. I realized I needed to tighten up my wording and focus on the messaging after meeting with Dr. Wilson. I started with changing my angle and making about all of the Dara Torres meets in general. It’s still localized to Utah, but not just to a certain city and high school. My headline, subhead and lead reflect this change. I added in the “when” by including the dates of the whole campaign. I also added in the detail that indeed, Dara Torres is an Olympic medalist in swimming.

I also made my angle concrete by focusing on meningitis vaccination, instead of the vague “meningitis prevention.” I also went through and cleaned up my phrasing. I realized I could be saying the same thing with fewer words, (the power of active voice!) I took out the awkward comma before “preventable” and adjusted my wording in the “About UDOH” and “About Voices of Meningitis” sections.

I turned back to the 5Ws and H on Learning Suite to add in more details, including the tidbit about the National Association of School Nurses. This added greater legitimacy. I added the detail “many parents are unaware” because I wanted to put the focus on parents, the key public of my press release. I rearranged most of my paragraphs to create a better flow of information. I edited Torres’s quote by taking out a generic sentence and adding in the detail about her being a mom of teenagers. This message better connects with my target audience. I also revised my social media posts to have my key public be Utah parents (and moms.)

This revision process was a great opportunity for me to improve. It was helpful to get feedback on details I never noticed. I now feel more confident in my ability to write a streamlined press release. This will definitely come in handy as I move forward in public relations!