Somebody just send me an email with a subject line “Quick question for members of the media”:
Good morning!
Quick question . . . .
If you were to go to ONE press conference a week, which would be your favorite day? Is Monday a good day, at the start of the week? Not Friday, I imagine; right? Wednesdays – to get out of your routine and break what can be a monotonous week? This is not a fickle question, or a trick question; I’d love to know – truly!
She included a link to her website.
Here’s how I responded:
I would probably do everything in my power to avoid going to a press conference altogether. Reporters despise press conferences because the vast majority of them are irrelevant. If it is of any significance, all media people leave with the same story.
So, bottom line, I would do everything in my power if I were you to NOT hold a press conference in the first place.
When I interviewed Sandra Eggers, APR about Creative Alternatives to Boring Press Conferences, she gave example after example of fun media events that generated fantastic publicity, like:
—A fun “Kid’s Town Hall” that publicized what was otherwise a boring college news event. (Lots of cute faces for the TV cameras!)
—How a florist association announced its formation by giving away 50,000 roses and carnations to new moms in local hospitals.
—How a group used hundreds of conch shells to publicize a lack of funding for special education in Michigan.
By the way, sending a blast email to media people brands you as clueless. If you’re not sure how they do their jobs, read my newsletter for publicity tips, or ask your colleagues for guidance.
Food might be a draw, but after the food is gone, a boring press conference is still a boring press conference. Everybody comes away with the same story.
Great tip about video, Ken.
I’m half laughing as I write this but I’ve found that reporters tend to go to press conferences that feature food. From an ethical standpoint, this really isn’t a good thing but I’ve seen it happen many times.
On a more serious note, good press conferences tend to anticipate the reporter’s needs. If the gathering is about a new program, bring in or make available people who will be impacted by the service. An official is usually not much more than a talking head. But ordinary people giving their opinion of your service can have a major impact on having your story being picked up and the amount of coverage it receives. Also, think about video options for TV stations, some of which refuse to air any kind of meeting video.
If there is a huge corporate announcement such as a merger or acquisition worth billions of dollars, I believe the two parties that are part of the deal should hold news conferences. It is the most efficient way of getting the news out and the personal interviews given by the major players. If a reporter can get a one-on-one with each CEO, he/she won’t necessarily have the same story as everyone else. I am a former reporter and speak from experience.
Ann Gibbon, Principal
http://www.anngibboncommunications.com
Ann, of course you’d call a press conference for something like that. But 99 percent of press conferences don’t announce news like that. They announce news the media doesn’t care about—things that could have been communicated just as well in a press release.
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