If you’re planning a special event, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with owls or animals, take a tip from the Houston Nature Center in Houston, Minnesota.  

When Publicity Hound Karla Kinstler of the center read one of my tips about creating a Hall of Fame, she knew the idea was a perfect fit with the annual “Festival of Owls.”

“We now recognize one owl and one human each year who have done extraordinary things to make the world a better place for owls,” says Karla, who submitted a Help This Hound question several months ago.

The first year, the Oregon Associated Press picked up the story when Fat Broad, an owl in Oregon, was inducted into the hall of fame.

Last year, the nature center widened its search and made it the “World Owl Hall of Fame.”

“Coverage of our hall of fame wound up in the Canberra Times in Australia, and was linked to from the New Zealand Journal of Birds website,” she adds.

This year, the nature center has nominations from seven countries on four continents. It has added a “Special Achievement” award category since there were so many nominations.

“Now we call our festival the International Festival of Owls and have folks attending from the U.S., Canada, Jamaica and The Netherlands this year. I just wanted to let you know that starting a Hall of Fame is, in itself, an award-winning idea.”

The next step, Karla says, is to grow the Houston Nature Center into a North American Owl Center with its own room for the World Owl Hall of Fame.

Why not follow Karla’s lead and create your own hall of fame that ties into your own product, service, cause or issue? Promote it by writing and posting online press releases, pitching bloggers who write about your topic, pitching journalists on your media hit list, using social media sites, and creating videos about inductees.

See “The New Rules of Press Releases.”