How I Replaced Our PDF Press Kit With a Microsite (And Why It Worked)

For The Universe is Absurd with William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson, I created an HTML press kit microsite to replace our traditional PDF. The results proved that making information accessible matters more than following convention.

We used to rely on PDFs for our press kits. You’d fire one off, and a journalist would sigh, ready to wade through 12 pages of links and images that were nearly impossible to find. Did bulky mean professional? Spoiler: it didn’t.

How Replacing Our PDF Press Kit With a Microsite Changed Everything

I suggested creating a microsite, just one simple page on our website. Radical, right?

The old guard wasn’t thrilled:

-Do we have time? (Not really.)

- Isn’t the PDF good enough? (Only if we’re aiming for mediocrity) 

- It’ll cost money! (Everything costs money, but I can handle it for free.)

When the business isn’t people-focused, meeting the audience where they are becomes impossible. What can WE do for YOU? I keep that question front and center, aligned with our values. Investing time and resources can feel risky and I agree. But think of the big picture: short-term effort for long-term payoff.

Bottom line: if you want people to engage with your brand, don’t make them work for it. Make that yes as easy as you can. Just one click away.

Just Do It (And I Did!)

I was sure a polished final product would quiet 'the critics'. Turns out, there were no pushbacks, just a lack of enthusiasm. It was dubbed a “parallel media kit”.

Fine. Challenge accepted.

The proof is in the pudding

After the show, we noticed that , every media outlet used the HTML version as a reference.

One small win for moi, and a giant win for our business.

The poster image I created for the press kit's top banner and the one that was used by outlets. Luciana Machado created the posters for The Universe is Absurd! With William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson 2025

My philosophy is: if I can help, I will. Even if my brilliance isn’t seen at first. I’m here to see what you might have missed.

Side note: marketing+comms isn’t just a side hustle for bored interns. This is a field, people. There are actual academic credentials involved! Being able to make a newsletter in Canva does not mean you’re ready to storm the press with a masterful campaign.

Respect the craft.

The Lesson: Remove Friction, Not Features

The microsite worked because it removed barriers. No downloads, no hunting through pages, no broken image links. Journalists could grab assets with one click and move on with their day. Sometimes the best innovation is just making things easier.