Events Offer Three Bites at the Publicity Apple

Stories that are event-based--with a specific time and a specific place--offer three bites at the publicity apple.

If you're settling for anything less, then you need to work on growing your PR appetite. Not to get too technical, but I like to refer to these bites (or "phases") as:


1. Before. 2. During. 3. After.

Before: This is a preview that promotes the event, to encourage attendance by media and/or interested individuals. It also lays the groundwork for a follow-up.

Here is an example from this week's media outreach by Inside Edge PR, on behalf of DivorceIllinois and its Feb. 4 meeting in Oak Brook.

During: This is when you can secure coverage of the event itself, via the presence of one or more media representatives. Serving as an "In-House Journalist," Inside Edge PR often plays the role of pool reporter for those media outelts unable, or uninterested, in attending.

After: This is typically a news release, often accompanied by video and photographs, that highlights significant developments at the event. It represents an opportunity to break new ground, so should go beyond a re-hash of the preview with a mere revision of verb tenses.

All along the way, too, you should be buzzing things up on social media, through communication portals such as YouTube and Facebook.

Inside Edge PR's website has a bevy of other resources to help you secure media coverage, including "To Get the PR You Want, Focus First on The Media's Need.'