Media Kit Plan

A. The goal of the media kit for the MorningStar Solar Home is to increase awareness in the
greater Penn State and State College community about the home and its purpose. By targeting
local Penn State media outlets, we aim to increase this awareness in Penn State students who are
pursuing majors outside of the field of STEM, as well as to members of the State College
community.

Our first objective is to increase awareness of the MorningStar Solar Home. This must be done
among the local journalists in the area, as well as with students and community members. Many
people already know about the Sustainability Institute that oversees the Solar Home, but few
know about the history of the home and the events that frequently take place there. Increasing
awareness of the home in the media will lead to an increase of awareness in our target audiences,
as they will be able to attend events and give more media coverage to the home.

An additionally objective of our media kit is to correct some of the oversights that are being done
in relation to the promotion of the home by both Penn State and the Sustainability Institute itself.
For a few years now, the social media for the MorningStar Solar Home has been dormant, and no
one has been interacting with the audience on social media. No pictures have been uploaded.
Additionally, the official Penn State maps have no location listed for the Solar Home, making it
difficult for students and community members who are interested in visiting the home to find the
location.

B. To achieve these goals, our strategy is to reach out to the local media and news outlets about
upcoming events and speakers that are coming to the MorningStar Solar Home. By having the
local media cover these events, it increases the chances that students outside of the field of
STEM and members of the community will see the events and increase their engagement with
the Solar Home. To appeal to non-STEM majors, we will pitch stories to student outlets such as
the Daily Collegian and Onward State. These outlets are read by Penn State students, regardless
of major, and will allow the Solar Home to achieve great outreach success. To appeal to the local
community, we will pitch to print outlets such as the Centre Daily Times, and local news stations
such as ABC 23 WATM. These outlets are popular in the local community and will allow us to
promote the Home to a wide audience.

Additionally, we plan to provide local media outlets access to our photo gallery and b-roll
footage so that appropriate video packages can be made to air on local television. These photos
can be uploaded on the Solar Home’s social media accounts as well.

Social media will be a focus of ours. We will revamp the dormant accounts that the MorningStar
Solar Home currently has. Using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; we will be able to promote
events that are related to the Solar Home, promote tours and share sustainability tips. Our
message will be delivered using a variety of media types.