Put yourself in their shoes. They get countless invitations every week to “the exciting launch of…” To you it’s the most important project in your work life at present and your key to building your reputation with your boss and your peers. Or maybe you just self motivated to do your best job possible. One of the most anxious moments for anyone organising an event involving the media, is standing waiting to see who pushes the door to come in.
To the media, many of these events are painful. Because they are so frequent, they are seen as much of the same with the logo changed. So how do you stand out? Here are some tips:
- Make sure you have a news worthy reason to invite the media. A new product isn’t necessarily news worthy if it does not have some material new feature that’s desired by the market place.
- Make your event interesting, engaging and differentiated from all others
- Ensure your event is as accessible to media as possible (easy to reach location)
- Develop a strong rapport with the media or hire someone who has
- Be accessible to the media all year through and make sure your management team is too
- Give them no more than 2 weeks notice and no less than 1 week; inviting the right people in the media and respective department (Business, Sport, Culture etc.)
- Follow up with e-mails and telephone calls, and don’t harass
- Get cell #’s where possible so you can remind them 2 hours before the event (those who said they were coming)
- Have a plan “B”- Have your own photographer/videographer so you can send press kits with pix, audio and video to print and electronic media not present
- Thank media for coming- a short thank you e-mail
