Case Study

Client: Denver PrideFest

Every year, the GLBT Community Center of Colorado (The Center) hosts Denver PrideFest, the annual celebration of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual pride. Denver PrideFest creates a fun, safe and empowering space to celebrate and promote the heritage and culture of the LGBT and allied communities of Colorado.

Denver Pride Fest PR

The Challenge

When The Center engaged Pushkin PR to coordinate interviews and secure media placements, we thought the big stories would be about The Center’s 40th anniversary and the politically charged conversation about transgender bathroom rights that was dominating the national news. With PrideFest rapidly approaching, media wanted to know The Center’s position.

After the tragic shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, everything changed. Overnight, questions about safety and security became the primary focus for the media. In turn, we developed a strategic plan for PrideFest that included several components.

The Solution

We focused our key messages and media pitches on public safety and community pride. The Center’s spokespeople emphasized two important messages: “We are working with the police and the City to increase security at PrideFest,” and “We will not let what happened in Orlando drive us back in the closet.”

Our plan included the following tactics:

Communications Problem? We can help

The Results

We secured over 100 positive media placements for Denver PrideFest including 9News, 7News, CBS4, Fox31, KGNU, KUNC, KOAA 5, Colorado Public Radio, The Denver Post, 303 Magazine, 5280 Magazine, Out Front and Westword.

The media coverage helped The Center deliver a positive message about pride and courage in the face of adversity, and communicate uplifting messages around the heritage and culture of the LGBT and allied communities of Colorado. Pushkin PR helped PrideFest manage a deluge of media activity and intense community anxiety, which enabled The Center to produce an event that was safe, enjoyable and meaningful for all who attended.