Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 9, 1994 TAG: 9408090106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One might reasonably argue that the Roanoke Valley has had its 15 minutes of fame, what with this summer's international, albeit nocturnal, coverage of the Tour DuPont.
But wait! There's more!
Because of some inexplicable convergence of the patron saints of publicity, the Star City soon will be featured in not one, but TWO national media outlets.
The Wall Street Journal, with 1.8 million readers, is doing a story about the valley as an environmental do-gooder community, with a focus on R. Frazier, a computer recycling firm in Salem that has gained global recognition.
And Fox Cable's new morning show, "Breakfast Time," will show its 18 million viewers the fun, wacky, "interesting" side of Roanoke, said assistant producer Michelle Cohen.
"I'm looking for human interest, the fun things that people are doing," said Cohen, whose near-manic exuberance verily bubbled over the phone line from New York City.
"We're on an adventure. We're walking and talking. It's entertainment." Just as an example, there's a man in Roanoke who stands on his head and walks backwards. "We want to talk to that man, we want to be there, to ask him what it's like," Cohen said.
The show will broadcast five live segments from different spots around the valley the week of Aug. 22. The area was chosen because of the critical mass of cable subscribers, Cohen said. Saginaw, Mich., will share the limelight with the valley that week.
Deborah Wright, director of marketing for the Roanoke Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau, sent the network the standard package of information. But the producers wanted something light, she said - how to brown peanuts, or what it's like to raise 10 children.
"I think that they've got the wrong area," Wright offered. "I'm afraid they're perceiving the valley as something it's not."
Cohen, in her research, was tipped off that the downtown farmers' market is "very hot." One of the segments likely will be taped on Roanoke's City Market, she said, perhaps with some of the farmers joining host Jilian Hamilton doing leg lifts during the 6:30 a.m. warm-up portion of the show.
She's still looking for ideas, though. The upcoming Ms. Virginia Senior Citizen pageant won't work, schedule-wise, Cohen said. She also contacted the Salem Buccaneers, who are playing nightly home games all that week.
"They're not sure if they can get up that early. We need people on set at 5:30," she explained.
What about talking to a local rod and gun club, surely a bastion of Roanoke Valley culture?
"We have a pet show," Cohen said. "I don't know if they would appreciate that."
Well, there's always Roanoke's most unusual tourist attraction: mini-Graceland.
"I don't know if they'll go for it. Anytime I start a state, I always find an Elvis lover."
Some people, however, apparently have their priorities in order, such as Wall Street Journal reporter Timothy Aeppel.
"He was really smitten with Graceland," said Lin Chaff, a public relations executive in Roanoke. Aeppel spent four hours talking with Kim Epperly, the creator and owner of mini-Graceland, and was so impressed, he plans to do a separate story on it, even though it's way off his beat - the environment.
Chaff had been courting Aeppel for months, sending him information and clippings from local publications in hopes he'd do a story about Roanoke's environmental virtues.
The valley is a microcosm of firsts, Chaff explained: Roanoke is the first community in Virginia to have curbside recycling; it is the first downtown in North America to recycle; Vinton is the only municipality in Virginia with mandatory comprehensive recycling; the regional trash train is a first of its kind; Clean Valley Council is one of the nation's first beautification organizations; and Cycle Systems is one of the oldest, largest recycling companies on the East Coast.
Chaff finally enticed Aeppel to come on down July 20 with a story about an innovative company that recycles computers, taking the old components and rebuilding new ones for sale.
Aeppel spent an entire day at R. Frazier, looking over the company's process of breaking down old computers to their smallest scraps, recycling about 98 percent of each computer. The company has grown from eight employees in 1988 to 75 employees, with offices in Costa Rica, Scotland and China.
Chaff has a call in to Aeppel to see when the story might run, although the newspaper traditionally has a long turnaround time, and is loath to nail down publication dates.
Martin Skelly, marketing director with R. Frazier, said the company occasionally advertises in the Wall Street Journal, at about $5,000 a pop. "If we could get an article in, that would be worth many, many times an ad."
by CNB