For Malen Yantis Public Relations summer time means constantly hosting media. During a typical summer season we host more than 60 journalists within a three and a half month time-frame. With different writers on different schedules things can get chaotic. When planning a particularly crazy, media-filled weekend here are four areas to pay extra attention to, to ensure success.
Start Early: As the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm. The same is true with hosting media. Putting together a press trip has a lot of components on its own. When there is more than one trip at the same time things can get down right hectic. To set myself up for the best chance of success, make sure to start the planning process as early as possible. It takes time for partners to get back about media courtesies, writers to respond to itinerary drafts, etc.
Stay Organized: As a host, you need to be able to keep yourself organized in addition to your media guests. Keeping everyone’s schedules straight is definitely a big challenge but it becomes so much easier if you create a master itinerary. By combining all of the itineraries into one master you can see where everyone is all week and you will also be able to identify when it would be a good time for you to join someone for dinner, an activity, etc.
Social Media “Toolkit”: In the week leading up to the writers’ arrival create a “toolkit” containing all of the social handles and hashtags that they might want to use. Send electronically so that they can easily access it anytime. This will encourage them to connect and engage socially while they are in town and possibly, before they even get there. Be sure to include restaurants, lodging, and any other pr partners that they interact with while on the trip. It is also a good idea to give the writers social information to the pr partners and encourage them to share the writers’ content.
Flexibility: Things are not going to go according to plan. It does not matter how much time is spent perfecting an itinerary, something will always come up. As the host, you want to make the trip as smooth of an experience as possible for the writer so going with the flow is key. Maybe a writer forgot cash and needs you to do a quick grocery shop for them or maybe a writer asks you to grab spontaneous post-dinner drinks; learn that your schedule is never written in stone.
Press trips can get overwhelming but if you start planning early, stay organized, keep open communication and remain flexible you are bound to have a success.
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