“It’s very different.”  That is what most marketing and PR executives discover the first time they work with PR specialists who have many years of experience in developing and running PR campaigns for conference, exhibitions and events.

During the 30 years since members of the Clareville team first worked behind the scenes in this PR industry sector, we have worked with many of the world and UK’s leading organisers on a vast range of events. In that time we have seen as well as developed and implemented many ideas and ways of working within the industry that we now regard as best practice and that we would recommend, where appropriate, to most prospective clients in the conference or exhibition industry.

Here we would simply like to share a few of them with you so that you can consider them for your next event.

1. Media partners – do you really make the most of them?

Partnership deals between organisers and key industry titles are a fundamental element of most event PR and marketing plans. In our experience, in reality, most event organisers do not maximise the PR benefits they could achieve from them.  The key difference between those who come close and those who could gain much more are that the more successful define their editorial expectations precisely – how many articles, word count, which editions, subject matter – and build them into the contract. Secondly the PR team follows up with the editor as well as the publisher to ensure that everyone is aware of the details of the agreement, confirms the deadlines and ensures that the editorial is published as contracted.

2. Offering media conference and interview facilities to exhibitors and partners

Experienced exhibitor PR teams know that the event is a good opportunity to announce major news or for their CEO to meet key media. Providing facilities adjacent to the on-site Press Office for press conferences and one-to-one briefings is a simply way to offer added value to the PR and marketing teams of exhibitors. At the same time, if the exhibitors’ PR teams make efforts in advance to invite and arrange these meetings, their efforts can help to maximise what the media gain from attending the event.

3. Sharing lists of registered media

Some organisers are reluctant to share lists of media who will be attending the show, often because the press register so late that the list is very short until close to opening day.    In our experience, as long as the media have agreed to the information being shared, the show can only gain from sharing, especially if it helps exhibitors arrange press events and briefings that supply the media with news.

These are just a few of the lessons we have learned over the years running event PR campaigns and on-site press offices at major events; from payments  and franchise exhibitions to sports events and antiques shows, in venues ranging from Las Vegas, Messe Frankfurt and the NEC to the Press Centre in the London Olympic Stadium for the Anniversary Games,  We have many more thoughts – please just ask!

To learn more about our exhibition PR experience please visit http://clareville.co.uk/london-pr-consultants-knowledge/exhibition-pr/