SPECIAL OLYMPICS
UNIFIED RELAY ACROSS AMERICA
COMMUNICATIONS TOOLKIT COVER MEMO
To: All US Program Marketing and Communications Contacts, URAA Liaisons, CEOs
Cc: SOI Comms, P. Wheeler, M. Teem, M. Coelho, K. Jordan, V. Rivers, SOI Corporate Team, B. Alldridge, J. Froetscher
Greetings everyone,
We are pleased to share with you a new Unified Relay Across America (URAA) resource to assist you with
your media and communications efforts in support of the Relay coming through your state: the Unified
Relay Across America communications toolkit.
Many of the items found in this toolkit can be customized to accommodate the unique aspects of your
particular URAA route and/or community celebration. We recommend using several of these items, as
applicable to your event, as part of your media plan and media kit. Any items not intended for sharing
with public or media are so noted below as “Internal Resources.” Programs are welcome to add any
additional Program-specific media assets to this toolkit, as appropriate.
This toolkit, along with all other URAA resources can be found on the Unified Relay page of
resources.specialolympics.org. The toolkit, specifically, is found under the “Communications Resources”
heading of the URAA page.
With respect to when to distribute these resources to media: use your discretion based on your
knowledge of your media market, and other events your Program or community may be conducting inmarket close to the URAA. However, we recommend that media pitching begin 2-4 weeks out from your
event(s), with distribution of your media kit, and that alerts begin approximately two weeks prior to your
event. It is the purview of the Program to determine the cadence of alerts/releases, once begun. We
recommend having media kits available on site at the event(s) as well.
Toolkit Table of Contents
Template Press Releases/Alerts for Media
Press Release: National Announcement
Press Release: Local Relay Stop & Celebration
Media Alert: Unified Relay Coming Through City/Area
Media Alert: Community Invited to Join Celebration
Traffic Alert: Unified Relay Coming Through City/Area (Note: we recommend working with your LETR
agency liaison or Public Information Officer on these)
Fact Sheets/Background Info
Template Local Unified Relay Factsheet
National Unified Relay Across America
Special Olympics Factsheet
2015 Special Olympics World Games LA
Special Olympics Language Guidelines
External Resources
Executive & Co-Captain Bios
The Journey of the Flame
Media & Communications Guidance
Internal Resources
General Talking Points
Social Media
Visual Assets
Post-Event Checklist
Internal Contact List
Asset in development: we anticipate having a crisis communications plan available to share with
Programs.
We hope these assets will be helpful to your Program. If you have any questions or have
recommendations on/requests for additional assets not found in this toolkit, please let us know.
2 | Special Olympics Program Name