Press release
Example with fictional company
Subject:
Makersweekend debuts on October 17 and 18 in Amsterdam Oost
Stadslab Oost is organizing the first edition of Makersweekend on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, a two-day festival about craft and circular design in a former machine factory in Amsterdam Oost. Forty makers will exhibit and lead workshops, including ceramics and furniture restoration, and there is a kids' programme. The organization expects 5,000 visitors.
Amsterdam Oost has seen a growing number of studios, workshops and small makers in recent years, and the municipality reports a growing creative maker industry in the district. These makers often work alone or in small collaborations and have little stage to show their work to a wider audience. Stadslab Oost created Makersweekend to bring those makers together for two days in one location, in the hall of a former machine factory that itself symbolizes the shift from industry to craft in the neighborhood.
Visitors will walk past 40 stalls from makers across different disciplines and can join ceramics and furniture restoration workshops, with a separate kids' programme for the youngest visitors. "We wanted to create a weekend where you don't just look, but roll up your sleeves yourself," says Ilse Mulder, programme director of Stadslab Oost. "From children to seasoned collectors, everyone will find something here to take home."
"I normally work in my own studio, so spending two days among forty other makers is just as special for me as it is for the visitors," says Noa Brink, ceramicist and one of the participating makers. Tickets cost 12.50 euros, children under 12 get free admission, and tickets can be ordered via the Stadslab Oost website. If the weekend is a success, the organization is planning a second edition in the spring.
About Stadslab Oost
Stadslab Oost is an Amsterdam platform that brings together makers, craftspeople and designers from Amsterdam Oost and gives them a stage. The organization works to increase the visibility of small-scale craftsmanship and circular design in the district. Makersweekend is Stadslab Oost's first public event. More information at stadslaboost.nl.
Press contact
Sanne Dijkstra, press contact for Stadslab Oost, pers@stadslaboost.nl, +31 6 23 45 67 89. High resolution photos, the full programme and interview requests with Ilse Mulder are available at stadslaboost.nl/pers.
Anatomy of the press release
Subject line
Under 80 characters, with the name of the event, the date and the location all in one line. An editor at a listings site scans dozens of announcements a day and decides on this line alone whether to read on.
Lead paragraph
What, where, when and for whom are all in the first paragraph. A listings editor can copy this sentence almost word for word as an announcement, without needing to ask anything else.
Context & problem
Municipal figures on the growing maker industry in Amsterdam give the newsroom a hook for a wider city story, instead of just a listing entry.
Traction & quotes
The programme (40 makers, workshops, a kids' programme) and the expected 5,000 visitors carry the story. Both the programme director's quote and the participating maker's quote stay under two sentences.
Boilerplate
A short standard text that newsrooms often copy verbatim under the announcement. Stadslab Oost, by the way, is a fictional organization: this example shows the structure, not an existing event.