Tag Archive for 'trade_shows'

Would you all mind if I tooted my horn just a bit?

No?

This was my Best Trade Show Ever(tm) in terms of media coverage for clients. To that I would attribute a bit of hard work on my part but more importantly, a client with a unique perspective, a trade show with an unusual amount of media attention (understatement of the century) and a whole lot of dumb luck.

My client didn’t have a booth and they weren’t there to sell anything. But from the perspective of the media swarm, they offered reporters and editors some perspective on the news. The could comment on the iPhone and AppleTV announcement from a third-party perspective.

Now of course there were plenty of companies who traveled to San Francisco with their own agendas. But once the iPhone was revealed, the whole tone of the show changed. For reporters, the iPhone was the only thing that mattered. All of a sudden, if you were selling iPod accessories you may as well have been selling reel to reel tape.

It’s moments like that where the really good PR people rise to the occasion and call an audible. Instead of pushing a press kit in the hands of everyone with a red ‘Media’ badge, the smart PR folks engage with reporters and offer them some perspective. They get their clients talking about the news and how it impacts the industry. So maybe they stories they get into aren’t about their new USB incompatible GPS dongle….  But you can bet the next time a big story breaks, there will be some journalists calling them up for commentary.

Anyway, I’m going to enjoy this cup of coffee and in a few hours I’m heading home. See you on the other side.