Face To Face – Holding Effective Press Conferences
Some years ago, press conferences were fashionable because people felt that holding them made their organisation look very important. Companies – and notoriously those in high-tech industries – would call journalists together at the drop of a hat to break some allegedly earth-shattering news. ‘Our computers can now compute 10 per cent faster than anyone else’s computers.’ ‘We’ve just won an important £10,000 government contract in Outer Mongolia.’ ‘Our offices have been completely refurbished’ (a slight exaggeration, this one! But you see what we mean – any excuse to impress the Fourth Estate).
Today, corporate press conferences are not so popular because (a) journalists got fed up with being regularly banged up in a hotel for two or three hours to hear a story which they could have got just as effectively through a press release; and (b) the givers of press conferences began to realise just how expensive they were in terms of executive time, venue hire, catering, drinks, etc., compared with the resultant coverage in the press.However, having said this, there may still be a place for a very occasional press conference in your media strategy.
After all, they do give you a first-class opportunity to meet and greet some of the journalists you’ve been dealing with on the phone for so long. They also give journos a chance to get to know you and your senior people better, and to gain a more in-depth feel for your organisation.
When To Hold A Conference
As we’ve suggested, it needs to be a big or important story whose impact will be maximised by giving journalists the opportunity to ask questions, follow up angles, and write nice big stories. An example might be the announcement of a major corporate merger, takeover or new company formation, and what effect it will have on the marketplace. Another would be an important breakthrough in science or technology and its ramifications – e.g. a new form of energy creation, a potential cure for a hitherto virtually incurable disease.
Here’s a useful checklist of things to do (and not to do!) once you’ve decided to hold your first press conference.
Date And Time
It is perhaps best to avoid Mondays, which are often editorial conference days for journalists, and maybe Fridays when some like to get home a bit early! Also, remembering that editorial conferences for finalising monthly issues are often around 10
th – 15
th of the month, it may be as well to avoid that period if you can.
The start time will largely depend on whether you’re intending to offer the customary hospitality afterwards (see below). If you are, then allowing say 20 minutes or so for arrival, registration and coffee, maybe an hour for introductions and the presentation(s), followed by up to half an hour for questions, you could invite the journalists for 11.00am with a view to starting luncheon at around 12.45 – 1.00pm.
Venue
Many journalists are based in London or the Home Counties area, so select your venue with this in mind. It needs to be quietly impressive, easily accessible (preferably by public transport) and have good conference and catering facilities adequate for the sort of numbers you’ll be inviting. If you can afford it, you won’t go far wrong with the tried and trusted ‘central London hotel’ solution.
Avoid the temptation to go for a way-out venue which you’re sure the press will find really exciting and memorable – it can backfire on you. A company once
held a press conference on a Thames pleasure barge which, after the journalists came aboard, weighed anchor and chugged off on a non-stop return journey to Tilbury or somewhere.
Unfortunately several journalists were pushed for time and wanted to get back to their offices immediately after questions were finished, but were forced to hang around in mid-stream for another couple of hours while pre-lunch drinks and lunch were consumed before the barge moored up again back at the start point. The only escape route would have been to swim ashore; no one took it...