The methods used in preparing the communities to receive the train are as important a feature of the project as the visit of the train itself. On the effectiveness with which the advance work is done depends its opportunity to reach as many people as can be accommodated and to have the audiences made up of the most hopeful “prospects,” those most likely to act on the suggestions offered. Advance information that arouses interest will bring visitors to the train in a receptive frame of mind that makes it easier to present the message quickly. One or all of the following kinds of advance work will need to be done in each place to be visited, according to the nature and scope of the campaign: 1. General publicity and advertising. 2. Specialized appeals directed to selected groups and individuals. 3. Arrangements for distributing attendance over the full period of the visit. 4. Arrangements for local co-operation in the above work, in taking care of visitors to the train, and in organizing or carrying out follow-up work later. For convenience, the discussion of these matters is given in terms of trains, although most of it applies equally to motor tours as well. GENERAL ADVERTISING The appeal to the general public in a community may be made through news items in the papers, posters, window cards, window displays, advertisements and inserts in advertisements, and slides in motion picture theaters. Of the wide variety of methods to advertise an event, these are probably the ones best adapted to advance preparation for both large and small cities and towns. It is not the purpose here to discuss the technique of preparing any of this material. Unless they have ability and training in this field, those responsible for getting work out should call in specialists to do it, or at least to advise about it. The purpose of advertising is more than merely to get a crowd. If there is very little competition from other events, as is often the case in small towns, it may be fairly easy to secure a large attendance. It is the business of your advertising to attract the attention of persons not yet interested in the subject matter and to arouse intelligent interest in what the train or truck will show. To design posters and prepare copy that will bring these results requires skill and practise which may sometimes be obtained as a gift but is worth paying for. SPECIALIZED APPEAL