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CREATING A MEDIA FRIENDLY EVENT
You work hard to promote a special event and to entice the media to come and cover it; but, that's just part of the battle. Once the media arrives, meeting their needs increases your chance of coverage and of the media returning for future events. Here are some tips that I have found to be useful:
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GREETING DESK: When media arrives, have a media table available to greet them. Here, they receive the media release, backgrounder information (usually one page), and they sign in.
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SIGN-IN SHEET: The media sign-in sheet includes the media person's name, the media he/she represents and his/her contact numbers (e.g., phone #, e-mail). This information is important for follow-up with media and for building your media databases.
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INTERVIEWS: On your media advisory, you will note interview opportunities. Be sure that your advisory and release include the proper names and titles of your interviewees, and that your people to be interviewed are aware that they are listed and are ready for media questions.
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PHOTO OPS: Newspapers and especially television are visual media. As such, thinking in advance of interesting images - people, props, backdrops for interviews - is always appreciated by the media. For people shots, offer action of some sort revolving around the event itself, such as an invisible ribbon being clipped on someone's lapel.
Good luck with your event. Here's to developing great relations with the media, one event at a time.
Editor's Note:
Marion Grobb is Director Communications at CFPSA, an author, Toastmaster and a national member of Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. She may be reached at grobb.marion@cfpsa.com 613-996-6826.
