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How to Advertise an Event

The best way to be effective in your ministry is to let people know what you’re doing so they can join you! There are many ways to do this.

Parish Bulletin
The weekly parish bulletin is prepared each week by one of the parish secretaries (as of 8/31/16, that is Lori Hrnchar, lhrnchar@sfxmedina.org). The bulletin space is highly coveted by parishioners and nonparishioners alike, with priority being given to parish events. Deadline for consideration is Monday afternoon of the preceding week. You may drop off or email her a paragraph or images (300 dpi, high-resolution images reproduce best). She will do her best to accommodate your request, but there is no guarantee you will get as much space as you desire. All images will be black-and-white or one color (at this time, full color is only available to our advertisers on the back cover).

Bulletin Board Signs
There is limited space on two bulletin boards in the Washington Street and Parking Lot vestibules. If there is room, you may post a small flyer about your event. Please do not REMOVE another ministry’s flyer to make room for your own unless the event date has passed. Please DO NOT post flyers about organizations or parishes other than our own, unless you first obtain specific permission by the Parish Office.

Parish Website
Jennifer Webb maintains the parish side of our website. To post information about your ministry or event on the parish side of the website, email Jennifer at jwebb@sfxmedina.org. A picture tells a thousand words! Please include a picture or logo that relates to your announcement. She will post it on the website.

Parish Facebook Page
Jennifer Webb maintains the parish Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/St.FrancisXavierCatholicChurchMedina/), which as of October 2019 has nearly 1200 page “likes.” Email Jennifer at jwebb@sfxmedina.org or call her at 330-764-8946 or 440-477-7049 to ask that your ministry or event be featured on the Facebook page. (Have you joined it yet?? Please spread the word to your ministry members!)

Parish Newsletter
The Navigator is our bi-monthly parish newsletter produced by our Stewardship Committee and mailed via bulk mail to all registered households in the parish. Contributions are welcome! Photos should be high-resolution JPG files, 300 dpi, (often close to 1 MB) and can be emailed or delivered via flash drive, for example. A small file (less than 200 kb, for example) is not usable in this print publication. Navigator articles about your ministry’s activities reach the widest audience in our parish. The newsletter is edited by Jennifer Webb, jwebb@sfxmedina.org, 330-764-8946. Deadline for consideration for each newsletter is the first day of the month prior to the issue (for example, Aug. 1 for the September-October issue) unless other arrangements have been made.

Parish E-Newsletter
This is a good idea that unfortunately hasn’t been well-developed…yet. Contact Jennifer Webb at jwebb@sfxmedina.org, 330-764-8946, if you can help, or want to include news here.

Catholic Radio
We have two Catholic radio stations in our area, Living Bread Radio Network AM1060 out of Canton, and AM1260 The Rock out of Cleveland. To submit news items for their community calendars, visit:
Living Bread Radio: http://www.livingbreadradio.com/submitevent/
The Rock: http://am1260therock.com/contact/
Items must be submitted at least 3 weeks in advance to be included in their community calendars.

Medina Gazette
Image result for medina gazetteThis daily (except Sunday) newspaper has a small staff that prefers to do original reporting wherever possible. Medina editor Bob Finnan (RFinnan@medina-gazette.com) is a helpful resource. You can send him news about an upcoming event that he may include as a brief or story, as space and time permit. He may contact you to request photos and additional information for a story after the fact.

Medina Post

This weekly tabloid newspaper has a small staff with some original reporting that is heavily supplemented by submitted stories and photos.
This means you have a good chance of having your news printed exactly as you submit it. You can Image result for medina postsubmit stories and photos by emailing news@thepostnewspapers.com. Stories must be submitted by 11 a.m. Tuesday to be considered for Saturday’s edition.

The Post also offers a small space for a free event posting up to 500 characters. All submitted Postings must be received by 5 p.m. Monday for consideration in the following Saturday’s paper. Click here to fill out the form: http://www.thepostnewspapers.com/submit-posting/

Akron Beacon Journal
The deadline for the paper’s weekly Religion Notes is noon Tuesday. Items must be in writing. Please fax information to 330-996-3033, email information and related photos to religion@thebeaconjournal.com or send it to Religion, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309.

Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Plain Dealer has two segments: the newspaper, which does not circulate daily in Medina County, and its website, www.cleveland.com. To contact the content teams at cleveland.com, please email editor@cleveland.com.

Other Parish Bulletins
Just as we occasionally publish events happening at nearby parishes, you should consider submitting news of your events to our neighboring churches. Contact information can be found on their websites.


What to include:

Who you are. Be sure to include that you are a ministry of St. Francis Xavier Parish (please use the complete name, not St. Francis, not SFX).
Time
Date
Place
Some details about what will happen at your event. Personal stories are particularly interesting to readers.
Photo from last year, if you have one
Contact person for more information


Social media guidelines:

We will post items on the parish social media channels (as an original post or share), in this order of importance:

1. Anything sponsored by the parish staff or its ministries may be featured as a post or event.
2. Anything from the community sponsored by a Catholic organization (such as Knights of Columbus or Catholic Charities) or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or other Catholic schools or agencies.
3. Announcements by community organizations whose missions align with the values of the Catholic Church (such as Birthcare, Oasis of Hope, SHC, Race with Grace).
4. Items that are featured in the parish bulletin.
5. Anything that the pastor specifically requests.
6. Photos, quotes and updates from our parish campus or world that would seek to inspire or connect our community of faith.
7.Information about ballot issues relevant to our Catholic values.
8. Job openings on the parish staff.

Items that should not be posted on parish social media:
1. Anything that would appear to endorse a political candidate.
2. Anything that would promote a for-profit business enterprise.

Other guidelines:

  • Comments must be positive and encouraging, or they will be removed from the page. A commenter will be reminded of our Christian values of mutual respect and affirmation. If there is a second such comment, the commenter will be banned from the page.
  • Liking, following and sharing of our page posts is highly encouraged as a tool of the New Evangelization.
  • The parish page will like, follow or share posts by other organizations according to the same priorities and values listed above (i.e., if they contribute to our parish mission and goals).
  • Only those individuals who are approved as administrators or moderators have access to post news and photos on parish social media channels. To request that an item be shared on parish social media, please contact Jennifer Webb, director of ministry and communication, at 330-764-8946 or jwebb@sfxmedina.org, or Natalie Boothe at denandnat@frontier.com.