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Jill Stone

Your Meeting Matchmaker Fairy Godmother

Be Seen at a Conference, Part 2: During and After

in: Event Planning Advice

be seen conference part 2

In my last blog, I discussed what to do before an event in order to prepare for positive media attention. Now we are going to see what you need to do during and after the event.

During The Conference

While the conference is happening, you need to be working it. Make it a point to meet the journalists and share with them your story, provide them with a schedule of any product demonstrations/talks, offer to do a private demonstration just for them, swap business cards, and be open to providing them with any other additional information they may need to make your story easy to include in their mix. You’ve practiced that one or two minutes of super interesting story, right?

Stay up on your social media as well! Use the conference hashtag to keep everyone up to date with what is going on with you and your presence at the event. When you’ve had the chance to meet with a journalist, make sure to thank them and share it with your network. I, for example, may meet up with a newsperson and we may, in the course of our lively conversation, talk about her awesome shoes. So I could post something like, “Just met @newsjournalistpeep. Great conversation about the happenings at #conferencehashtag and love her #awesomeshoes!” One of the best parts about social media is that the conversation does not need to end.

Be sure to take lots of pictures of the event, as well as video of you and your organization’s activities.

After The Conference

Once the conference is over, follow up! A couple or so days after the conference, you’ll want to follow up via email and/or on twitter. If you received media coverage during the event, thank those that did so and leverage this attention with those who have yet to pick up your story.

If you were successful in your media quest, make sure to talk it up on social media, include a link to the story on your website, write a blog post about the experience, remember to post that pictures and video footage you took of the event. Of course, don’t forget to tag and mention!

Finally, continue and grow your relationship with the reporters. You want them to remember you for next year, so when you have interesting news to report, make it a point to share the information with them.

Please share the strategies that have worked for you in the past. Good luck! This takes work, but it is well worth it!

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