I’d barely hit SEND on the enticing news release about hand-painted #10 rocks mysteriously sprouting throughout the Carlsbad Village when a barrage of replies from the news media appeared in my inbox. The decorated rocks were part of a pre-event campaign promoting ArtSplash, a two-day community celebration for arts education celebrating its 10th anniversary in September 2012.

Within days, the story and its “rock star” artist were featured in the North County Times, UT San Diego, Coast News, Carlsbad Patch and Carlsbad High School Lancer Link. The rock hunt captured the attention of the widely viewed “San Diego Living” Channel 6 morning show, resulting in a live TV preview. I also shared the story on ArtSplash’s Facebook page, where it went viral.

Best of all, the rock saga led the media and readers to our “real” story: the ArtSplash chalk art and entertainment festival. Being featured on so many platforms at no cost to ArtSplash enabled the nonprofit to attract additional event-goers and sponsors, resulting in additional money to fund arts and music programs in North County schools.

In media-speak, the story had great legs, meaning it successfully “walked” (in this case “rocked”) to diverse news outlets and exhibited great staying and sharing power.

I’ve crafted many other stories with legs, including that of a 106-year-old woman who was gaga about fish tacos and taco-wild about Lady Gaga, and one relating how a few shares of UPS stock turned into a very special delivery for a client.

Due to its fun factor and element of mystery, the ArtSplash rock story didn’t just have legs; it morphed into a media centipede.