Memorial Day Weekend is a time for reflection, remembrance, and gratitude. It is also a time when local newsrooms are often looking for meaningful stories that help readers connect with the people behind military service.
This year, Strategic Communications had the opportunity to help share two veterans’ stories with The Palm Beach Post. One featured Joseph Byrne, a young veteran and founder of Wellington-based Champions Moving & Storage. The other featured Ryan Onda, a veteran who founded Semper Fi Service Dogs to help other veterans through the life-changing support of service dogs.
The stories came about in a way that says a lot about how local PR actually works. The week before Memorial Day, Strategic Communications president Crystal DeStefano met with editors at The Palm Beach Post on a completely unrelated topic. As that conversation wrapped up, Crystal simply asked if they were looking for any veteran-focused stories for the holiday weekend. After hearing about Champions Moving & Storage and Semper Fi Service Dogs, the Executive Editor was interested.
That kind of opportunity does not happen by accident. Local newsrooms receive literally hundreds pitches and press releases every day. Relationships do not guarantee coverage, but they can help the right story get recognized at the right time. In this case, two strong local stories rose above the noise because they were timely, human, community-centered and relevant to Palm Beach County readers.
For local businesses and nonprofits, there is an important lesson here: your most meaningful media opportunities may not come from a standard announcement. They may come from recognizing the human story behind your work, understanding when that story fits into a larger community conversation, and knowing how to bring it to the right newsroom in the right way.
At Strategic Communications, we help businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations identify credible local story angles, shape them clearly, and connect them with the newsrooms that matter most to that organization’s audiences. Palm Beach County is full of stories worth telling. The first steps are simply knowing which story to share, when to share it, and who needs to hear it.