Press Releases!

So I spent this week preparing press kits and getting everything ready to ship to different media shows around the country. I was also able to partially write a press release. I say partially, because the way we put together a lot of press releases is we pull parts from previous releases and then include some new information. This one was relatively easy as I only had to write the first page or two and still got to pull information from past releases.

The whole press release process, beyond writing, is where things get a bit crazy. Before we submit any releases to the web site or to media, we have it checked by many people. This process can take a lot of time, since after one person edits it and you make corrections, they have to re-edit and sometimes you go through this process multiple times. Also, if you include information about attractions, you have to send it to each PR person at the attraction to make sure all of your information is correct.

This whole process took about a week, but here is my completed product:

Cut loose without cutting back: CityPass saves big city vacation budgets

CityPass ticket booklets have always been a great way to city’s best museums and attractions while saving time and money, but in this economy, a budget-minded travel option is practically a requirement. CityPass savings mean that a family trip to see the Statue of Liberty or the Space Needle is easier on the wallet.
San Francisco -- March 2, 2009
Can this summer be saved? CityPass® rescues the great American city vacation by bundling the best attractions in 11 exciting destinations into ticket booklets that slash admission prices by nearly 50%.
Across the country or around the corner, there’s an affordable CityPass destination waiting to be the next unforgettable summer vacation. Each CityPass booklet contains actual admission tickets, not coupons or vouchers, for that city’s premium attraction. The booklet is sold at a price that only looks better and better in the face of harsh belt-tightening. This super-steep discount can mean travel dreams can still come true at iconic attractions like Disneyland, the Statue of Liberty, Georgia Aquarium, Seattle’s Space Needle and Chicago’s Field Museum.
Along with a great deal, CityPass delivers VIP-style perks that don’t feel a bit frugal. No blackout dates mean anytime access. CityPass tickets allow holders to bypass long, time-wasting box-office lines. A wide open “use by” window gives ample time to explore every attraction in every city (typically nine days from the date the first ticket is redeemed). Key attractions offer no extra-charge upgrades like immediate access to the world’s largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, complimentary audio tour along with a line pass at the Empire State Building Observatory, early entrance before the public one day at Disneyland and the transportation extras at SeaWorld in San Diego.
Unlike scouting out coupons or scrambling to catch fleeting internet specials, CityPass is easy to buy and stress-free to use. CityPass is available at any CityPass attraction or online from www.citypass.com. Booklets may be shipped to home, office or hotel, and an e-ticket voucher option saves shipping on costs. Each CityPass includes a map, public transportation routes, and insider travel tips. Up-to-the-minute attraction details are always live at citypass.com. Its small, light booklet format makes it easy to carry in a purse, wallet or pocket—no guidebook necessary.
Best of all, CityPass knows cities. Since 1997, CityPass has been connecting visitors with the most popular signature sightseeing spots that attract millions every year. When a major attraction opens or a sought-after exhibit comes to town, CityPass is in the know and CityPass users get the benefit. This year is stacking up as a high point for devotees of dramatic views:
Seattle’s historic Space Needle, renowned for its vista that spans Puget Sound to snow-domed Mt. Rainier now offers CityPass holders day and night access (two visits within 24 hours). Skyscraper fans who zoom up to the 103rd floor of Chicago’s Sears Tower this summer will be one of the first to see the city beneath their feet from The Ledge, Skydeck’s new hair-raising observatories available this summer – four glass alcoves that bump out from the building’s west face for unimpeded sightlines out, up and right down onto Wacker Drive. The Empire State Building Observatory continues to move CityPass holders to great heights with a line-passing inclusion for fast access to New York's most beloved vantage point, plus a complimentary audio guide.
This year is also a momentous time for some landmark CityPass museums. San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences emerged last fall from its long reconstruction as an all-new complex-- uniting the original 12 buildings into one beneath a 2.5 acre living roof alive with native California plants and wildflowers. Esteemed architect Renzo Piano’s modern, transparent interior brings Golden Gate Park into the museum, while up top, the grassy roof dips and rises over the planetarium, rainforest, and aquarium exhibits inside. Houston’s celebrated Children’s Museum doubles in size with a just-complete $35 million expansion – making their irresistible “Playground for Your Mind” 90,000 square feet of pure inspiration for kids. This summer, Hollywood adds more stars to its realm by welcoming the remarkable Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, the world’s definitive exhibition of wax figures for over 200 years. This location will include the red carpet treatment of Oscar night.
Details for each CityPass program in 2009, valid from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010:
Atlanta CityPass is a heaping helping of rich Southern history and present-day excitement. Where else can visitors watch a CNN broadcaster report live on the air, gulp down the sparkling tale of Coca-Cola’s success and still have time to catch the adorable antics of Xi Lun, Zoo Atlanta’s precious toddler panda? Atlanta CityPass is valid for nine days from day of first use. One admission to each of the following attractions is included: Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, Zoo Atlanta, Inside CNN Studio Tour, an option between the Fernbank Museum of Natural History or Atlanta Botanical Garden, and an option of either the High Museum of Art or the Atlanta History Center. Adults, including tax, $69.00, a savings of $52.00, youth 3-12, $49.00, a savings of $39.61.
Boston CityPass is packed with well over 200 years of American heritage revealed through legendary museums and world-class universities. Non-bookish attractions like the North Atlantic Right Whale or a kaleidoscopic exhibit of 3,000 glass flowers keep the Beantown area encounters lively. Boston CityPass is valid for nine days from day of first use and includes one admission to each of these attractions: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Science, New England Aquarium, Skywalk Observatory and the option of either the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum or the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Adults, $44.00, a savings of $35.95, youth 3-11, $28.00, a savings of $20.45.
Chicago CityPass is a hearty handshake from the Midwest’s city of big shoulders. Bisected by a river and hugging the shore of massive Lake Michigan, this dynamic destination is exciting from top to bottom, literally. In the space of one weekend, visitors can descend into a coal mine, be surrounded by reef sharks and then zoom up to the 103rd floor to watch a sunset over four states. It is valid for nine days from first use. One admission to the following attractions is included: Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Adler Planetarium, and the option of either The Sears Tower Skydeck or John Hancock Observatory. Adults, $69.00, a savings of $61.50, youth 3-11, $59.00, a savings of $51.50.
Hollywood CityPass offers access beyond the velvet ropes to old Hollywood and new celebrity. Voyeurs will love gawking at movie stars’ front lawns from their bus window, but curious types will get plenty of backstage dirt as they stroll through the historic movie palaces that house decades of silver screen nostalgia. Hollywood CityPass is valid for nine days from first use and includes one admission to the following attractions: A behind-the-scenes tour of the Walk of Fame with Red Line Tours, Starline Tours of Hollywood movie stars’ homes tour, The Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building or a guided tour of the Kodak Theatre, and either the Hollywood Wax Museum or the new Madame Tussauds Hollywood opening in August. Adults, $59.00, a savings of $44.95, youth 3-11, $39.00, a savings of $35.00. For the ultimate SoCal vacation, pair Hollywood CityPass with Southern California CityPass.
Houston CityPass is Texas-size hospitality at a tiny price. Visitors cozy up to the cattle, oil, space, and technology that made Houston world-famous, seemingly overnight. Closet space explorers indulge their inner astronaut while visiting Mission Control or attempting to retrieve a satellite. Or, find earthbound thrills by drilling for black gold via a state-of-the-art robotic probe. Valid for nine days from first use, ticket booklets include one admission to these attractions: NASA’s Space Center Houston, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Downtown Aquarium and the Houston Zoo, and the option of either Texas living history at George Ranch or The Health Museum, and either the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston or the Children’s Museum of Houston. Adults, $39.00, a savings of $31.96, youth 4-11, $29.00, a savings of $21.72.
New York CityPass saves both time and money – benefits that don’t come easy in America’s capital of finance, fashion, and ambition. Genealogy groupies can now trace, to the day, the emigration of great-great grandparents while modern art aficionados get their fill of seminal artists in digs designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Valid for nine days from first use, ticket booklets include one admission to: The Empire State Building Observatory, American Museum of Natural History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the option of either a two hour day or cocktail cruise aboard Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, or a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Adults, $79.00, a savings of $61.00, youth 13-17, $59.00, a savings of $42.00.
Philadelphia CityPass exalts American patriotism and daring in the place many consider the heart of democracy. This city bleeds red, white and blue. Of course, our founding fathers didn’t have the chance to take a spin on the new Amazon Rainforest Carousel at America’s first zoo. One admission to each of the following attractions is included: The National Constitution Center, The Franklin, Philadelphia Zoo, Adventure Aquarium and the option of either the Academy of Natural Sciences or the Eastern State Penitentiary. Adults, $58.00, a savings of $46.60, youth 4-12, $39.00, a savings of $32.57.
San Francisco CityPass is bursting with the scenic and unique temptations of the California’s City by the Bay. A bay cruise under the magnificent Golden Gate is breathtaking, though not quite as chilling as a few hours on “the rock” for a peek into an Alcatraz cell. And no one can resist riding a cable car climbing half way to the stars. Valid for nine days from first use, the booklets include one admission to each of the following attractions: A 7-day MUNI public transportation pass including cable cars, light rail and the entire city bus system, newly-reopened California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39, Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure, and an option for either the de Young Museum and sister venue California Legion of Honor (if visited on the same day) or the Exploratorium science museum. Adults, $59.00, a savings of $56.40, youth 5-12, $39.00, a savings of $32.95. Visitors can opt for a tour of Alcatraz instead of a bay cruise when purchasing CityPass booklets from Alcatraz Cruises at Pier 33 or by calling 415-981-ROCK(7625).
Seattle CityPass shows off all the facets of the Emerald City, a place where breathtaking scenery vies with technological wonders. The soaring Space Needle perfectly stages Seattle’s sea-to-snow landscape just below, and rock fans can visit the Fender Stratocaster Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock. One admission to each of the following attractions is included: the world-famous Space Needle on a day/night ticket for two different views in the same day, the Seattle Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo, Pacific Science Center, a bay cruise aboard Argosy Cruises, and an option for either the Museum of Flight or admission to both Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum. Adults, $54.00, a savings of $52.30, and youth 4-12, $39.00, a savings of $29.38.
Southern California CityPass delivers the wonderworld of theme parks that makes this California’s most popular region, from Hollywood to San Diego. From Mickey and Goofy, Bart and Scooby-Doo to showman Shamu, all the theme park celebrities are ready for their close-up. The booklet includes six days of park admissions, savings of 29% and is valid for 14 days from first use. It includes: A Disneyland® 3-Day Park Hopper Bonus ticket for Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure Park™ including one early entrance to Disneyland, one day at Universal Studios Hollywood, and in San Diego, one day at SeaWorld and one day at the San Diego Zoo or the Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Adults, $259.00, a savings of $106.00, youth 3-9, $219.00, a savings of $87.00.
Toronto CityPass, on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario, shows off our cosmopolitan international next-door neighbor. This is mining country, so there are exceptional rocks, gems and minerals to ogle but for more the delicate types, the lush, formal gardens of the mansion Casa Loma supply civility and beauty. And when the look down from the sky high CN Tower is dizzying, go underground with a naked mole rat or black-tailed prairie dog. It is valid for nine days from first use and includes one admission to: CN Tower, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto Zoo and Casa Loma. Adults $59.00 CDN, a savings of $49.12, youth 4-12 $39.00 CDN, a savings of $32.58.
CityPass is sold at each city’s participating attractions or from www.citypass.com. For more information, to take an online page-by-page look inside CityPass ticket booklet or to link to each attraction, click on www.citypass.com. Recorded information is available at 1+707-256-0490 or toll free (U.S./Canada) 877-THEPASS (877-843-7277). CityPass. It’s the ticket that makes the trip.