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The Main Event: PR Planning

Who DOESN’T love a great event? They’re what we mark our calendars with, look forward to and talk about amongst our friends and colleagues for months in advance. Over the last six months I’ve attended my fair share of events – I’ve been a guest at some elaborate wedding celebrations, I’ve attended several major technology tradeshows, I’ve even worked with a colleague to execute a press and analyst event for one of our clients.

In PR, events can be an incredibly strategic way to reach a company’s goals – whether its solidifying stronger relationships with customers, partners and investors, or establishing credibility and generating awareness among industry leaders, press and analysts.

When working with the press, planning an event is a whole different game. Reporters are constantly invited to company press conferences, dinners and special events that often times blur together as the ‘same old same old.’ Here are some tips for piquing interest and creating an event that is worthwhile to them, and at the same time rewarding in terms of your company’s goals.

Time it right. Make sure you do your homework in advance. Don’t plan a press event when most people will be busy (i.e. during the holidays). Instead – throw your event in tandem with a major industry conference or tradeshow, so that the press and analysts are already in one common location. Or – pick a weekday to invite the press as your special guests to come and visit your company headquarters for a special day devoted solely to them.

Stand out & make it memorable. If you’re going to request a hefty amount of time from reporters, you better make sure that what you have planned for them is interesting. Make it an event that reporters will talk about for weeks – something out of the ordinary that will inspire positive thoughts about your company down the road. A fancy dinner or cocktail reception often times won’t cut it – and they won’t set aside time in their busy schedules to ‘stop by.’

Be different. If you do have news to announce, don’t perform the standard press conference routine in a conference room with your executives behind a table and a screen up above. This summer my colleague and I secured a suite at a famous ballpark (Wrigley Field) for our client and released their news to a captive press audience right before the game started. Another time I represented a private jet company and we threw the press conference on a private jet (mid-flight), while serving the reporters champagne and strawberries!

Offer value. If you are going to announce news at your event, make sure it is in fact NEWSWORTHY. There is nothing worse than getting a group of reporters hooked in and excited about you’re announcement, and then letting them down with a lukewarm press release that has limited story potential. Not only will this damage the possibility of the reporter pursuing your company in the future, but they will also feel tricked. Additionally, make sure that your top executives are present and available to mingle at the event. Providing reporters with exclusive access to the top leaders at your company for an interview or casual mingling can do wonders for creating future opportunities!

Event planning doesn’t always fall into the category of Public Relations, but as an agency we have utilized this creative outlet to help our clients distinguish themselves on a whole new level. Pulling off a memorable, valuable and extraordinary event can sometimes generate that extra push needed to outshine competitors and solidify credibility in the eyes of the industry’s greatest critics – the press.

-JRG

posted by The Ardell Group @ 10:28 AM