Dining program featured by award-winning food critic

In 2017, Watermark Retirement Communities launched its Thrive Dining (now Gourmet Bites) program at communities across the nation. Working with its local PR partners, the organization invited the local media to attend a tasting and see what this revolutionary dining program was all about.

As the PR representative for Watermark’s Florida communities, I managed media outreach for three communities including The Watermark at Trinity in Pasco County. Outreach included local TV stations, newspaper reporters and hyperlocal community papers.

Our ideal story would be a placement in the Tampa Bay Times, given its large readership and online presence. I pitched Laura Reilly, the Tampa Bay Times food critic, the idea of covering Thrive Dining and she happily attended a tasting and wrote a cover story for the LifeTimes section of the paper, that targets readers aged 50 and older. The story also appeared online.

Print story | Food for thought

Online story | Changing the shape of food

In the same year this story ran, Laura was named a finalist for the Pulitzer. She later went on to become a reporter covering the business of food for the Washington Post.

Interested in getting your story on the news? Contact me to learn more about my media relations service.