Top PR tips for ensuring event press briefings run smoothly

For a tech PR, it’s always nice to take a trip out of the office to staff press briefings at a conference. It can offer some valuable face time with our clients, as well as to checking out the ‘entertainment’ on offer, which often ranges from the bizarre (booth babes) to the sublime (ice cream vans). To me, the sign of a successful event is some great client coverage and returning with enough free key rings to set up our own shop! But it isn’t all fun and games, and if things are going to go wrong, you it will almost certainly be when in an unfamiliar environment of a conference venue. Horror stories range from both press and clients going AWOL, to trying to conduct a briefing only to be interrupted by an impromptu brass band marching past.

So if you are looking to ensure press briefings go as smoothly as possible at any conference or event, here are some of my top tips:

In advance

  • Double check journalist’s roles and expectations: Are they part of the sales team or editorial team? Will they be interested in your client’s news, and more importantly, are they likely to write about it afterwards?

  • Ensure that your client is fully briefed on the journalist and publication.  Also make sure your spokesperson can talk about what you think they’re talking about!

  • Make sure that both journalists and clients have a clear schedule in advance of the briefings, and check they have read it to avoid any embarrassing no-shows.

  • Phone numbers – make sure that you have them, for both journalists and clients!

Once at the event

  • Do a ‘reccy’ to if there’s any particularly good areas (quite spaces, restaurants, coffee shops) for press interviews. In a conference situation it’s an idea to designate a meeting point and walk journalists and/or clients to the appropriate briefing area. If you have pre-assigned rooms, check where they are and make sure you remember how to get to them!

  • During briefings, keep an eye on the time and make extensive notes, particularly on any important follow-up points.

Afterwards

  • Communicate any important points that have come out of the event to the team that they might not know about.

  • Follow up with journalists to see if they need any further information to write their pieces. See if they have any other feedback which might give you some insight into what they thought of the event or briefing.

When all these things are done and dusted, you can finally sit back and hopefully enjoy the great coverage you have secured for your client!