Episode 38: Crash Course on Event Coverage
Episode 38 – Crash Course on Event Coverage
If you’re wanting to get your feet wet in freelancing for equine media, event coverage is an excellent place to start. There is a real need for more writers to cover the vast number of horse shows occurring all over the place for magazines and websites. HOWEVER, event coverage is a unique form of journalism. Before you head out to your local rodeo, we want to talk about what you need to know to do this detailed type of writing.
What is event coverage?
What we mean when we’re talking about coverage is how to cover it for multiple media in the equine community - it’s not the Olympics or traditional TV! It’s finding a way to cover a story where the majority of followers already know who won and the results.
• Print — what’s that interesting twist that will get someone reading, even when they know the winner?
• Online — How can you stop a scroller with a snazzy headline and impactful quotes?
• Photos (or not)
• Social media — How can you reach a broad audience, quickly, with accuracy?
Our own experiences with event coverage
Abigail: interned for AQHA and covered the AQHA Youth World Show, worked on staff at APHA covering world shows, first freelance gig was National Reining Horse Association major event, have covered barrel racing futurities and rodeos every month for Barrel Horse News since 2013, currently cover NRCHA and NCHA major events. For associations, also independent magazines and online coverage
Kate: At Texas A&M, I interned at the AQHA World Show, writing daily online articles and taking around the show photos, and many years at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. After graduation, I worked for the HLSR where I covered our month-long event with daily press releases and information round ups that were sent traditionally to media and also in subscriber e-blasts. Working for Western Horseman and then Quarter Horse News, and now managing Reined Cow Horse News, equine event coverage became a staple in my monthly duties.
How to do it
What do you need to know?
- How the event works: rules, scoring, penalties—and the correct words (i.e. lope vs. canter). Locate the association’s RULE BOOK – so important~
- Read the magazines to understand the terminology of that area of the horse industry, this discipline, breed.!
- How to track down pedigrees and data about horses: AQHA database, APHA Online, Q Data (Robin Glenn), EquiStat (Morris/Cowboy Publishing publication use only), NRCHA or NCHA or association specific earnings.
o Again, know the publication: Do they round earnings to the dollar? Exact? Do they include dam and dam sire or only sire?
- How the stories need to be organized/templated. Look at previous coverage from that pub or website. Do not be afraid to ask the editor for examples!
- Get clear on expectations: word count, format, where to get photos, deadlines.
- What is the dress code when attending in person? Generally Abigail wears cowboy boots, jeans, long sleeve shirt. Some places require button down and a cowboy hat. Do not show up in shorts and flip flops! Bring layers – vest, jacket—coliseums can be chilly! Be prepared to walk miles and miles—wear comfortable boots.
What should you cover?
- Match the publication’s format and word count. You will probably only need a shortish interview. Make your questions count! You may not get to use all the info.
o Looking at examples, online and print, tailor your questions to meet expectations and standards of previous work – then elevate it!
o If the assignment is print, and it will be out after results are known, what is going to be your angle to make readers take the time?
- Abigail always brings a notepad with questions – even though I’ve done this literally hundreds of times, it helps me remember everything I need to ask them.
o Do not forget simple details / confirmation of city, state, age and even name – some associations use the birth name but most people may know a rider by a nickname.
- Tell the important details (scores, round winners, money earned, prizes) You can find this out from official score sheets, the producer and event media—you don’t need to ask your winner this info.
o Be sure to include information from the prelims if there is a final round. If the horse won the prelims, that adds a lot to the money earned.
- Reference the horse’s pedigree, owner, rider, rider’s location. Again check this on score sheets, event website, and look up the pedigree later. But double check that this info is available before you go to your interview!
- Don’t only ask surface questions. Get the good stuff! Start with the horse – people love to talk about their horses.
o Tell us about this horse. You want to know its personality, strengths, quirks, their favorite thing about the horse.
o What’s the backstory? When did they get this horse, and how?
o What was their journey like getting to this show?
o What made the horse special, were there any moments of doubt before the event?
- Always cover questions that speak to the event: (online as well as print)
o How was their performance? It’s always good to ask them to walk you through their run/ride.
o I always like to ask if there were any challenges or anything unexpected that happened during the show. You might get nothing out of the question, or you might get a story worth including in your coverage.
o How does it feel to win with this horse?
- Don’t forget to ask the rider for some info on them:
o How did they get into horses (a quick google can help—make sure you’re not asking a Hall of Famer who’s well known to the audience this kind of question)
o What’s next?
o Anyone they’d like to thank?
o Always ask if they have anything else to add! Maybe you’ll get a great backstory!
o Always ask for their phone number in case you have further questions (if you don’t have it). I used to not do this when I worked at breed associations because of their databases. But it’s not always a guarantee that the show will have contact info.
o Keep the recorder rolling the entire time, until they walk away, just in case some tiny tidbit needs recording. If another rider walks up to congratulate them, keep it recording, too. Interaction is great to include in an article.
PREPARING FOR COVERAGE:
(in person or at home you can use these tips)
Check the schedule online at least the day before. Plan to arrive before the class you’re covering starts—it’ll take a bit to get parked, get a media badge and get oriented.
o Be sure to check the shows media policy before you go, even contacting the media manager to be sure you know about any access issues. (The Run For A Million media blackout as example)
o Do not take photos in the arena if there is an official photographer or unless you know it is permissible. Discuss with your editor if you need to take photos—if so, do them outside the arena. Unless directed otherwise you will work with the official show photographer to get images.
o Sign up for a media badge before the event, filling out the paperwork at home cuts down on time.
- Check the live feed (if available) before leaving for the show.
- Expect to pay for parking. Save your receipt to write it off if not being reimbursed!
- Gear to bring - We have a vlog post about the gear we take with us for in-person event coverage!
o a digital recorder with extra batteries & a small note pad
o Schedule of events
o working order (run list of riders)
o score sheet – you’ll get these last 3 from the show office or around the arena.
o Water/snacks
o Laptop if you have one—down time at the show is a great time to start your coverage.
o Camera – only if your editor has requested images, and you’ve cleared it with the media department, and the official show photographer.
- Sit in the stands and watch your assigned classes. Keep track of the score. Pay attention to audience reactions. Listen to the chatter in the stands—you might learn about an angle worth discussing with your winner, or the fact that this horse’s dam won the same class 3 years ago and she was homebred, just like this horse, etc.
- Listen to the announcer:
o Pay attention to high scoring record-breakers.
o Info from the announcer can help cultivate questions. Sometimes, they have watched these riders for years; however, always research a claim or check with the rider on a stat.
in person, aka hunting the winner!
- Find out how the class/event will be announcing winners.
o Will there be an award ceremony?
o Will you have to track down the winner in the barns?
- Make sure to be there for the awards, if there are any, so you can catch the winners either on their way in to the arena, or more preferably, on their way out of the gate. THIS IS YOUR BEST CHANCE TO GET YOUR INTERVIEW!
- You may have to wait in line with other media. Be respectful and give them space. You will get your turn—we are not paparazzi! Also, the horse industry is small. If you’re not nice to someone from a rival magazine, they could be your boss next year and you’d have made a bad impression!
- Introduce yourself and the magazine, then ask if you can ask them a few questions for event coverage. Be ready with your tape recorder and notes. If they’re not available, ask to follow back to their stalls and you can interview along the way.
o Be courteous and respectful of their time. They may have clients in subsequent classes, or more horses to show. You can always come back later to their stalls. But do your best to get the interview right then if possible. Should take 5-15 min of their time unless the interview and backstory is incredible!
Give them your business card. Sometimes people have more thoughts or wish they’d said something a little differently and they’ll want to contact you.
Interviewing remotely, aka praying they pick up the phone!
- This is what Abigail does most often. Know when the show is going on and the date it ends.
- Depending on whether you are covering one class or doing a write up on the entire event steers your interview tactics.
- Entire event? Contact the show producer as soon as possible after the show. Get an interview that includes:
o how the show went
o anything new or different this year vs last
o Records broken? Interesting things that happened?
o Ask about the competitors: Locals? Qualified to come? From 15 surrounding states? Loyal repeat exhibitors?
o entry numbers – how do they compare to previous years?
o cash and prizes/ event sponsor to include
o info about the location
o who the photographer was – with contact information!
o winner contact info.
- Contact winners as soon as possible. This can hold up your entire article if you can’t interview the winners!
o First, reach out via phone—don’t be afraid to send a text! If you also have email, send an email. Then, use social media if things are getting tight on deadline and no response.
- I ask the same questions as I do in person, but try to get a feel for how the show went.
- Immediate publishing / posting? Focus on the emotion and the event.
- Posting later? Be sure to ask:
o What was the atmosphere like? What did the show grounds look like?
o What was their favorite thing they did in the area?
- Contact show photographer for photos as soon as possible.
o Be sure to know who the photographer bills for the image!
Get it right
• Check scores and cash amounts with official results. > don’t be afraid to contact the association to confirm scores or earnings. Money didn’t make sense because all earned the same due to producer.
• Double check spelling of people and horse’s names. AQHA’s database of free records for members will get just about everything you need, if the horse is registered. APHA has info available on its free level of database as well. And allbreedpedigree.com is also an option.
• Make sure you understood how the class works. Sometimes barrel races are clean slate. Sometimes you only need to qualify in one of two rounds to make the finals. Sometimes it’s the fastest average. So many possibilities! If you don’t know, ask the producer.
Final thoughts
- Print allows for deeper stories with more details and behind the scenes info.
o Take time to do research outside of the event, read other information on the rider, even look up the horse’s sire or dam record to see if they’ve won the same event or had multiple champions. Sometimes, events are what push a horse to achieve a record, like $1 Million Dollar Sire/Dam.
- Online coverage needs to be quickly verified info with the basic details and great quotes to drive emotion
- Social media is even more immediate, achieving the goals of the company that hired you. Behind the scenes, live tweeting, results, etc. are all necessary in today’s social world.
o This is where knowing the brand you’re working for comes in play – hashtags, style, etc.
- Event coverage done remotely may seem like a piece of cake, until you do it. When you leave a message, there is no telling when the winner may call you back so you have to be ready at any time. Missing a call can mean a multi-day lag in interview time.
- Covering in person can be exciting as well as nerve wrecking. Don’t be afraid to travel to an event, if you can negotiate mileage.
Sometimes, offering to do social media or suggest gathering a short training piece at the event can offset cost of attending.