UPDATE:  See event coverage from the UU World and my related live tweeting.

Friday, September 20th I’ll be helping to document and amplify the Boston climate strike, live tweeting photos and video interviews, especially of our Boston Unitarian Universalist Contingent.

Below are some media tips for you wherever you are striking!

Whether you are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or taking pix for other use, consider the following “shot list” of photos and videos to take to guide your efforts.

1. CLOSE-UPS WITH SIGNS

Photos of people holding signs fairly close up, say two people together with their signs. The media loves these! Show the people and their signs.  Make sure you share your sign photos including the hashtag #ClimateStrike and sign.  People search for those words together to find the signs, including for articles sharing the “top signs” from the protest.

Example: Tweet your sign photo with the TEXT OF YOUR SIGN written out followed by #ClimateStrike sign

2. GROUP SHOTS

Organize your group so you are all together with your signs and banners and take a group shot. Do this before things get started. Every march or protest I attend I organize people into group shots. This is often overlooked and a missed opportunity.  Sharing your group photo publicly AS SOON AS YOU GATHER will help build energy and interest in the event.  These photos are helpful on websites and PR for climate justice events.

Example: Group photos I’ve taken have been used in PR for nonprofits for YEARS following the action. They’ve been published in magazine articles, blog posts, coffee table books, and used in scholarly presentations on the climate movement.

3. ACTION SHOTS

Once you are marching, especially in a group with a banner, have someone from you group run ahead and take a good action shot of you marching. You can take turns doing this.  Just run ahead, move to the side, and take photos or short videos of your group marching.

4. CROWD SHOTS

When you hear yourself thinking, “Wow, there are so many people here” take a crowd shot. People love seeing the size ofcrowds. Take a crowd shot.  But also consider taking a short video of yourself explaining where you are, how many people there are,  how exciting it is, and how happy you are so many people turned out.  Show the crowd, Trump and the fossil fuel industry are watching…

5. SHARE YOUR STORY

Try and tell the story of your experience as it unfolds. Take photos as you are first gathering before the action. Take a photo as the crowds build. Don’t wait until everything is in full swing to take photos and share them. Help others experience marches through your eyes.  I have found that sharing the story in this way helps engage people tuning in, including journalists considering reporting on the event.

6. SHARE A VIDEO MESSAGE

This takes a bit more intention, but it is powerful.  If you have something to say about CLIMATE CHANGE and our need to act, share it in a video message.  Take a short video — 30 seconds is fine — to share why you’re striking, your thoughts and feelings about climate, and a message for the people viewing your video.  If you had 30 seconds to share a message on national TV, what would you say?  Say it, tweet it, and tag it with the #climatestrike hashtag.

Example: You never know when a video will get picked up.  I tweeted a short video at the start of a recent youth climate strike, tagged it #ClimateStrike and it was picked up by Twitter in the national coverage and was viewed 26,000 times within 48 hours.

TWEETING? TAG ME IN PHOTOS FOR RETWEETS

If you do any of the above, I’d love to see your photos and videos and share them.  Tag your tweets with @UUPLANET and I’ll get notified.  That simply means including the text username @uuplanet in your tweet.  Easy!

Thank you for striking tomorrow or participating in actions over the coming week!  I look forward to seeing your photos and videos.

If you’re joining our Unitarian Universalist gatherings in Boston, you can read more about our plans and schedule here.