It was a beautyful day, great biker (About 3,000) turned out, cast members of the "Sons of Anarchy were present to support the charity fund raiser sponsored by, Bikers Against Child Abuse (B.A.C.A.) The run started at Down Town Disney Harley Davidson and ended at the HD Factory in Orlando, I-4 was shut down and we were Police escorted from begining to end, where we were provided with lunch and live music(The Trans AM group) all was great. One thing was missing though, inspite of 3K bikes present, TV Actors, Police escort and tens of thousands of dollars raised for a great cause, the event received zero coverage from the local media, who chose to cover two other events taking place at the same location. One was a marathon and the other a parade for the UCF football team. It's OK in my book to cover these stories but in my mind, I think a local station (FOX News) chose to cover one of their Anchors(John Brown) and give him more coverage than even the marathon received. I'd like to know how any of you who may have attended the bike run feel about the lack of coverage, one way or the other. 

There should have been, next time shoot a few kids and dogs you'll get coverage then

My first question would be... did the organizers contact the media and invite them to cover the event? Most of the charity motorcycle events that we all know about because we visit places like CycleFish and hang out at places where there are posters and flyers, the media doesn't normally hear about  - at least not in time to schedule a team to cover it. Whereas events like the UCF football parade and marathon tend to advertise in mainstream media, so they already know about them. Even then I am sure those events have someone in charge of media relations.  Media almost NEVER covers anything but bad news unless they are specifically asked or invited to.

I work with lots of charity events (typically in an advertising and PR role) and one thing I always do is make sure the media is notified if it is a large event for a cause and can normally get some type of coverage from local papers and even local TV stations for the really big events.

I'm going to have to go with Lucky on this one. If the organizers don't promote it there's little if any coverage. A.B.A.T.E. use to flatter itself and think everything they do would get media attention. They learned very quickly what PR was all about. In any case, you might want to satisfy your curiosity by simply asking the media.

Peace

Sadly if one of the bikers would have gotten into an accident with John Q Public family and then his friends yanked them out of their minivan, CNN would have been on the spot interviewing the whole place. We ride in the local BACA run every year and although we only number 500 to 1000, the local radio stations do a good job in getting the word out about the event. Rock stations have always been good to the biker comunity in our town so maybe next year you can give them a call and let them no whats happening a couple of weeks before the event.

Thanks for the responses so far. Although I can't say for sure, the sponsors (Disney World, Harley Davidson and B.A.C.A.) contacted the media for coverage, I can confidently state one or all three did communicate with local media. What upsets me is, assuming they(Local news media) were informed, the sticking point is why. I contacted Fox news via E-mail and asked for a reason, to date no one has contacted me to inform me with one.

Oh well, I wouldn't let it bother you too much. All of you rode for a great cause and you know what you did and who you helped... if they rest of the people don't care, that's their loss.

Thanks Lucky I guess you're right but it would've been really nice if they've had covered the cause, even though there's always next year. If I'm still around God willing, I'll make my busyness to let the message get out, with the purpose of hopefully spreading it to as many sources as possible and increasing the causes bottom line.

LoL the corporate media,there is your problem,they ebb n flow with the amount of nonsense they can spill into your ears.Most of the time they dribble on about kim & Kanye & what the glamor hats are in hollywood n how those botox injections didnt look rite on there latest product.blech..excuse me I have to go vomit some bile...

Izzy .. My wife and I were also at the BACA charity ride. Like you, I was dismayed at the lack of coverage by the media even tho we did at one point see a uplink truck. But what I really did (or, actually didn't) notice was the lack of promotion for the event .. even tho there were 3000 registrations.
I did not hear one iota about the event until some friends mentioned it to me. They were members of the Blackwater Riders who had been participants the previous year. After they invited us to ride with their group, I hunted around various websites looking for any information about the event. All I was able to find was an inaccurate article in the Orlando Sentinel. There was nothing on any of the local rider magazines, Slick's Scooter Schedule, Cyclefish or even FaceBook. I also checked the national BACA website and found no information. So, I kinda blame the organizers of the event. It appears they only got the word out to previous registrants and let them spread the word. And, I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not that was intentional.
One other thing .. and this is my personal observation/rant .. they had the Highway Patrol provide the escort and intersection blocking and I think they did a poor job of it. I don't know if its just that the FHP doesn't know how to do an event like that .. or if they were just under manned for the event. My bike was approx 3/4ths of the way back in the procession. And, by the time we got to some of the turns, there was no FHP. We had cars barging into the procession, breaking up the procession into small groups who simply had to make their was as safely as possible from Downtown Disney to the Harley Dealership. Actually I saw probably only two or three FHP cars blocking intersections. There were maybe another 2 or 3 blocked by Fish & Wildlife trucks .. and those guys have probably never been involved in an event like that before. Personally, I think they should have let the county sheriff handle all of the escort duties. Those guys are more familiar with charity rides and the like. But that's just my opinion.

PS: Izzy .. there are pictures. Biker's Post was there taking lots of photos .. some 600 or more. I found a pix of my wife and I on our bike. Maybe yours is there too. They actually do a nice job of covering many of the local events.

Actually Bill the event was listed in the CycleFish Calendar - Was put in about 40 days ago... http://www.cyclefish.com/event/24199/ />
Don't class us with those other biekr sites and rags that miss events - just sayin...

Another event I saw no coverage on was the unification rally at the capitol.No news locally to speak of.I am scratchin my head here wondering whats their agenda? Is the media deliberatly tryin to black ball the whole entire motorcycle public in general??
Also the riders that did go to the rally didnt post much that I have seen,in this day n age thats incredible!!! Maybe it was a bust?? It would be great if all riders put aside their differences and not let the suits in sacto dictate whats best for us.Dayglow jackets for everyone in a group ride?? I have heard some crazy stuff about the changes they are considering to group riding for motorcyclists.

Hi guys, I just wanted to say, CycleFish & Harley did post the event some time ago, so they get my vote for it but I also noticed the lack PD on the escort, so much so that some bikers were riding on the left unlike last year when we were warned not to do so because Highway PD would be using that lane, I also noticed at least 3 entrances being covered by the fish & wildlife department, two of them appeared to be texting in their SUV's. None the less it was great to see so many bikers supporting the cause and enjoying themselves before the start and at the factory. Thumbs up for everyone present.