Blake Barbera asked a very good question… how should we interact with the media at trade shows.
I’ve been doing these for years and it seems at every single one I get sent off with the instructions from some higher-up that I’m supposed to knee-cap anyone with ‘press’ credentials who passes within 500 feet of the booth. Under no circumstances shall I accept ‘I don’t have time right now’ as an excuse. Reporters MUST talk to our client.
Well Blake, trust me, that approach would get you tossed out of most trade shows.
The first thing to do is get the registered media list and really read it. Not to strip every email out of the spread sheet and into Outlook so you can spam the list with pitches, but really read it and figure out who on the list is appropriate for your client.
And then it’s PR 101 – figure out an approach for the reporters who are right for your client and pitch them. Be respectful of their time – for larger shows many reporters have large chunks of their time blocked out weeks before the show and others have a list from their editors of ‘must visits.’
At the show, don’t be a pain in the ass. I can’t say that enough. This is your golden chance to meet face to face with some of the reporters you deal with on the phone. Impressions count.
File folder press kits are out. No one wants to carry them and trust me, they go unclaimed in the press room. If you can’t put everything on a 64MB USB drive, don’t bother. There are a lot of vendors who can slap your client’s logo on a USB drive, we got ours at Memory Suppliers. If you can find someone cheeper, drop me an email or leave a comment.
There you go Blake. I’m sure other readers will leave their own thoughts in the comments (hint, hint).
Technorati Tags: public relations, trade shows
