5 ways to avoid botching your press event

Hold off on the high-fives. A few oversights or glitches leading up to the event can alienate even the most interested journalists.

Picking a comfortable, accessible spot for the event and providing beverages and tasty snacks are important, of course, and there’s plenty of good advice out there from event planning pros. Jayna Cook, CEO of Eventup, offers nuts-and-bolts advice about vendors and caterers and other important logistics here on PRDaily.

Top priority, though, should be building a rapport with reporters.

Here are a few dos and don’ts for maintaining good communications with journalists before, during and after an event:

1. Be clear about what will be discussed at the event with both the client and members of the media. This may seem like a no-brainer, but a client with little media experience could easily spend too much time talking up a secondary project or product. For instance, if the purpose of a press conference is to unveil plans for a pediatric wing, make sure hospital executives don’t ramble on about balancing last year’s budget.