Seeking Contestants for Your PageantBobbie Ward-Hinds Aside from obtaining sponsors, a pageant directors main concern is where they will find their contestants. Without contestants you have no pageant. Here are a few ideas on how you can promote your program to young women who are eligible and may have an interest in competing for your title. Press Releases Writing a press release is a quick, easy and affordable way to promote your program. Keep the information short and to the point, with just enough details to catch their interest. Don't forget your contact information. Feature Stories Follow up your press releases with a personal contact to the news editor or special interest editor of your area papers. Suggest they set up a time for a one-on-one interview with your current queen as well as a photo shoot. Print Advertising Begin advertising in appropriate magazines many months prior to your event. Don't forget deadline dates are usually four - six weeks prior to publication. Many times you can run a business card ad for a very reasonable price considering the number of people who are going to see the ad. Community Calendars Submit your information to local, area and state magazines, newspapers and television news shows. Many states have equine specific publications that have calendars where your event can be listed at no charge. Promotional Materials Flyers and brochures on your program are easy to create on your home computer, or if you don't have the skills (most of us are self-taught so don't be afraid to jump in head first) see if someone on your committee or your current queen does. It never hurts to ask local businesses for their help in creating promotional materials. If your materials are not graphic intense you may be able to print them on your home computer or print one copy and have it reproduced at a local copy center (ask if they'll donate all or part of the cost to your cause). Flyers can be sent to feed stores, 4-H groups, extension services and others with ties to the industry. And don't forget to send some with your reigning queen as she's out and about. You can also put a blurb on her autograph sheets such as "For more information on competing for the Miss Rodeo Queen title contact....". Get out your area phone books and find addresses for tack and saddle shops, western wear stores, feed dealers, horse shoers and more. Groups to Contact Don't limit yourself to rodeo girls, there are plenty of eligible contestants who enjoy the sport but have never entered a rodeo. Any person with an equestrian background (riding that is) should be considered fair game. Here are some groups to contact:
You can find contacts for these groups by spending a little time on the Internet doing a search. For instance, if you wanted to find saddle clubs in Indiana place "saddle club" + Indiana in the search box of any search engine (Google and Alta Vista are good). Search their links to find more related groups. Personal Contact Get on the phone and call former contestants and titleholders and see if they are interested in competing again or can give you some contacts. Seek out young women who may be hesitant to compete but who may do so with a little prodding. Develop a database of persons to contact. Internet Promotion Look for discussion groups and other public equestrian related bulletin boards to post a quick notice that you're having a contest. You never know who's searching the net and what they'll find. The free and low cost web pages offered by RodeoRoyalty.com are also a great marketing tool. And don't forget to have your rodeo website contain information about your queen - a photo, bio and information on how to enter your pageant is a must. General Good Public Relations Your queen's attitude, her performance and that of the committee also play a part in your promotion. If you have a queen who is not doing her job, former titleholders who are disgruntled and committee members who are not supportive then your pageant may suffer. Keep your pageant fair and honest, keep a close watch on your queen and select committee people who have the best interest of the program in mind and you'll have a good pageant. There are years in which a pageant will have many contestants and years in which they will only have a few. No matter your numbers offer the opportunity to everyone you meet and hold your pageant even if one person wants to enter. That one person may not be ready for a national pageant, but by providing her the opportunity to hold your title and working with her to develop your skills she just may become a national titleholder in the years to come. The experience of competing for and holding rodeo queen titles has so many benefits you'll want to make sure everyone has the opportunity. Best of luck as you develop your rodeo queen pageant program.
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