I’m writing this post on a plane returning from the Storage Networking World conference that took place this week in Scottsdale, Arizona.  We had several clients at the show and it turned out to be a great event.  I got to spend some downtime with several journalist and analyst contacts and it reminded me of an important lesson when targeting these folks during a trade show. 

No matter how important you and your clients think your news is, you’ve got to remember that these people are receiving literally hundreds of pitches from other PR folks who think their news is just as important.  We all know this right? We learn this early on in our career and we tell it to our clients and then what? We pick up the phone or write an email requesting a meeting at the show.  So what’s the answer? The problem is there isn’t a clean answer, but the savvy PR consultants understand this and work to find a solution. 

Understanding the position of your media/analyst targets is step number one.  Find a creative way to get the story to them.  Is your client best served in a 30 minute rushed briefing that gets cut short because the journalist/analyst is late from the briefing before and has to run to the next meeting? Start your days a bit earlier and extend them a bit later to allow for some relaxed meetings in the morning and evenings. 

Plan something fun and casual where multiple media/analysts can come and meet with several of your clients at one time.  The number one rule in PR is to know your audience and that must be remembered when your audience is a pre-reg media/analyst list at a trade show.  These folks are buried and if you approach them the wrong way, you’re going to do your client more harm than good.

– Matthew Podboy