Getting Media to Your Next Event

Would you like tips on getting media to show up to your next event? Last Thursday evening, December 3, we helped our client Oakland City Center/Shorenstein Realty Services bring media out for its annual Holiday Tree Lighting event. Our charge was to showcase the kind of activity that’s going on in Oakland year round, with a long-term goal of building positive association for the city and its merchants. These positive association are important to City Center, as well as the newly formed Downtown Oakland/Uptown/Lake Merritt Community Benefit Districts (CBDs), of which it is a founding member.

In response to a short and sweet event news release and focused follow up prior to the event, the media turned out in force. Two TV stations and the Oakland Tribune covered the event.

Here are a few tips for getting media to your next event:

1. Tis the Season… Seasonal events are good, as are events that tie into timely news items.

2. A Picture is Worth A Lot… At the Holdiay Tree Lighting event we had bell ringers, elves, Santa Claus and a big tree, all great visuals. We also had cookie decorating for kids to add a bit of spice and another photo opp.

3. The Company You Keep… Create higher profile partnerships whenever possible. This event was held in partnership with The City of Oakland. This helped to build its stature with the media.

4. Timing Is Everything… Keep in mind that TV and print reporters live by deadlines for submitting their stories. Try to plan your event time accordingly if possible. Also, remember deadlines when calling the media to remind them of the event.

5. Be Prepared... Remember that breaking news is always your competitor. Even the best laid plans for media coverage can go awry if a major news event pulls reporters away.

6. Tweet About It… After the event, send journalists who didn’t attend a message on Twitter with a link to a photo or video of the event.

Here’s a few more posts on the subject…

A PR professional’s job is to make a journalist’s job easier.

21st century Public Relations.

How to make press releases work for you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Marketing, Publicity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.