Event Publicity

For Traditional and Online Media Partners

How to Negotiate Anything for Your Event’ we discussed how to get partners on board and by this point you should have certain media outlets that are partnering with you for your event. Presumably you are giving them something extra that non-partner media will not be receiving. In return you can ask for something extra as well. In addition to the publication of press releases, interviews and other promotional materials, ask the media outlets you are partnering with for:

• Permanent or periodic presence in their publications (online and offline) 

• Place your organization’s or event’s logo as their partner

 • Ad space

 • Publish some promotional materials for the event 

• Permanent or periodic presence in their newsletter or bulletin 

• Presence at one or more of their events if they have any - booth or stand, make a short presentation during a session break, prize draw (the prize being tickets to your event), etc.

Create a targeted media list

Set your sights on local media outlets and get as local as possible. Journalists are after stories that are important to the community they cover, so if your event is in South-East London look for media based there. Create a list of the publications you have found and add the editors’ contacts. 

Localize by industry too. Find media outlets that cover your particular industry or field, or that of the event and add those to your list as well. If you are organizing a gaming conference contact magazines that review games and likely cover the gaming industry.

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To recap, focus your efforts on media that is:

Small    Local    Specialized

That is not to say you should avoid big media outlets, just tailor your message and focus more on the ones above.