Four of the industry’s future stars spent Wednesday, July 22 at Grand River Raceway in a day-long media training workshop organized by the Standardbred Revenue Allocation (SRA) Marketing Committee
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Scott Zeron, Nicholas Boyd, Jonathan Drury and Doug McNair were coached by communications expert Ray Kahnert in the basics of effective media relations.
Topics included the role of the news media, response techniques, key messages, and what the media seeks from a spokesperson. Kahnert took the young reinsmen through a series of practical exercises in which they were interviewed on camera and later critiqued on their technique.
In describing some of the key points gathered from the session, the four participants cited maintaining control of the interview situation and conveying a positive message as vital considerations. “One of the most helpful things I learned today was how to approach an interview situation with the confidence and ability to represent harness racing in the best way I can,” said Zeron.
Media training for racing participants is one of several initiatives funded by the The Standardbred Revenue Allocation (SRA) Marketing Committee.
The SRA is responsible for administering funding from the Pari-Mutuel Tax Reduction Program, to be used for initiatives that create new racing fans and new horse owners while promoting Ontario harness racing.
The SRA committee is comprised of industry representatives, and the initiatives and funds are administered by the Ontario Harness Horse Association.
The SRA’s intent with this media training program is to empower racing participants to interact with the media in a confident and proactive manner. Industry participants with an interest in media training should contact the Ontario Harness Horse Association at (905) 854-OHHA for future sessions as approved by the SRA.
(Grand River Raceway)
This is such an important
This is such an important step in growing harness racing and it needs to be expanded further. Trust me every major sport has wide spread media training. Some people are naturals at it, others need help. What is important to remember is the image of the sport is widely affected by what people see, hear and read in the media. Kudos to Grand River for this initiative, and hopefully others will pick up on it. It would be interesting indeed if one of the participants were to put their thoughts on the experience into a comment on this story
Bravo to all those invovled
Bravo to all those invovled in this program.
It's time we highlight the positives that go on in our industry.
Awesome initiative! It is so
Awesome initiative!
It is so important that participants in our sport learn how they can help the sport through media relationships.
Great job Kelly at Grand River and SRA.