Event Planning and PR: Working Together
Having a party? Don’t forget the balloons! Photo Credit: Express Monorail via Compfight cc
For many agencies, the event planning people are in a different wing from the PR people. It makes sense – they, usually, do different things. Both jobs are so big, wide, vast that companies really do need different sets of teams to handle all the differences in tasks and details. So, that’s fine, and it works.
But…
Event Planning and PR are intricately tied together. Really, event planning is a subset of PR. The event, above all things, is concerned with how the guests feel, ensuring that they come away from the event with a feeling of “that was such a nice time.” When those feelings are rumbling around the brains of every attendee, it promotes goodwill with the company hosting the event. And that – that’s what PR is all about! Promoting goodwill. Making sure the public has a good feeling about the company.
If you’re the Marketing Director for a company, you might be in charge of PR, Marketing, Event Planning, Social Media…all of it. Yes, it’s a lot, but there’s a lot of benefits tied to multifaceted teams. We’re going to list the ways event planning and PR should work together in an event planning process. Note the benefits of event planning and PR working together to ensure you’re taking full advantage, no matter what type of event you’re planning…conference, gala, seminar, networking happy hour…
And, if you’ve got separate teams for PR/Event Planning/Marketing/Social Media (and so on), read on – you might see areas of improvement for each of your teams.
Event Planning and PR, working together to:
Coordinate media outreach.
Who better to enlist with getting the news out about your event than the PR people who reach out to the media daily? In order to host a great event, you need publicity about it, encouraging attendance. PR makes that possible. Start early, really, really early, for the most impact.
Ensure no minor details are forgotten.
PR people are notoriously detail-oriented. Event people are notoriously detail-oriented. Work together to make sure nothing is overlooked. Make a schedule for the event, defining roles and responsibilities clearly for all involved.
Planning a trade show? Get your PR people involved. Photo Credit: Ryosuke Yagi via Compfight cc
Alert your audience.
Usually, this means social media. Get out tailored messages on each of your company’s channels. Larger companies: Does this mean roping in social media managers? By all means, get them on board! Maybe they’d be willing to live-tweet the event?
Avert a crisis before it starts.
PR people are also stellar at cleaning up the milk before it is even spilled. Take advantage of that skill set in case of blown fuses, miscommunication about the event dates with the caterer and whatever else might go wrong.
Provide on-site back up.
It’s nice knowing someone has your back, isn’t it? Event management throughout the event (and before. And after.) ensures a capital event for all involved: the guests, the PR people, the Event people.
Use event planning and PR together to cement your next event as a spectacular one for all your guests!
Need help with the PR side of things? Give us a a jingle at 262-303-4238, or click below to set up a time to chat.
