{"id":32447,"date":"2012-11-10T16:27:47","date_gmt":"2012-11-10T16:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=32447"},"modified":"2012-11-10T16:28:33","modified_gmt":"2012-11-10T16:28:33","slug":"trade-show-pr-mining-its-not-just-the-fastest-biggest-gun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/trade-show-pr-mining-its-not-just-the-fastest-biggest-gun\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade Show PR Mining \u2026 It\u2019s Not Just the Fastest, Biggest Gun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"left\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                                                          google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp mceIEcenter\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Paperless Kits<\/h1>\n<blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_32448\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32448\" class=\"size-full wp-image-32448 \" title=\"Untitled-1\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-11.jpg?resize=350%2C263\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-11.jpg?resize=350%2C263 350w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-11-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-32448\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source - \u201cThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre,\u201d Warner Brothers<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201cWe don&#8217;t need no badges. I don&#8217;t have to show you any stinking badges.\u201d <\/em><strong>\u2013 Gold Hat (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0066166\/\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0066166\/', 'Alfonso Bedoya']);\" >Alfonso Bedoya<\/a>),<\/strong> \u201c<strong>The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,\u201d Warner Brothers \u2013 1948<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Shows like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), challenge your stamina.<\/p>\n<p>They push everyone to the limits of creativity and performance.<\/p>\n<p>Companies spend hundreds of thousands to attend them annually just to reach, educate, inform, persuade other companies and the media.<\/p>\n<p>But CES is the big daddy\/the Broadway of shows.<\/p>\n<p>There are hundreds, thousands of shows that take place every day around the globe that test you, prepare you for each bigger, better event.<\/p>\n<p>Companies large and small attend to get visibility, attention, coverage; and if they\u2019re really, really lucky, they get excellent leads and sales.<\/p>\n<p>Media (press folks), in greater or lesser numbers, attend them all.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, the publicists are there pushing to get coverage for their companies\u2019 better ideas, better products.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, most of the events have taken up the banner of \u201cgreen\u201d press rooms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Move Becomes Trend<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The forward-thinking Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) was (we believe) the first to eliminate paper in the pressroom several years ago, recommending an online press service VPO (Virtual Press Office).<\/p>\n<p>The majority of PR people don\u2019t have the luxury of \u00a0a \u201cgotta\u2019 visit\u201d company web site. They have to work really hard to get attention for their companies.<\/p>\n<p>That means they have two choices \u2013 take advantage of a virtual press shopping mall or have their own news store and hope for traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Some companies still have a few paper kits in the booth for diehards who have strong backs.<\/p>\n<p>They still hold press events and give out shotskies.<\/p>\n<p>They still have press meetings.<\/p>\n<p>They still get coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Most events are following suit with green pressrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Some stick with the past out of habit.<\/p>\n<p>Some waffle.<\/p>\n<p>Walter Huston\/Howard looks at them and says, <em>\u201cI know what gold does to men&#8217;s souls.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For company management the gold is the coverage they unearth.<\/p>\n<p>For a lot of publicists, its how much material they cram into the press kit and carry with them.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, coverage should have started weeks, months before the show but that seldom happens because:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 things really aren\u2019t ready \u2013 products and\/or press materials<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 someone wants to keep the \u201cnews\u201d a big surprise so they scoop the competition<\/p>\n<p>Early announcement\/coverage is a tough sell to engineering\/management\u2026<strong><em>get over it!<\/em>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s just one of the reasons publicity at the event puts a lot of pressure on the publicist.<\/p>\n<p>Or as Huston\/Howard explained it, <em>\u201cHey you fellas, how &#8217;bout some beans? You want some beans? Goin&#8217; through some mighty rough country tomorrow, you&#8217;d better have some beans.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Management expects magnificent coverage despite the fact that the company\u2019s announcements are competing with everyone else for mindshare.<\/p>\n<p>For some stacks recycled, rehashed releases are proof they did their job.<\/p>\n<p>After that\u2026it\u2019s all media\u2019s fault!!!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paper or Plastic?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Always hate it when the grocery clerk asks us that.<\/p>\n<p>It sounds like we have to make a choice between chopping down trees and helping release plastic molecules that had been trapped in the ground (credit to George Carlin).<\/p>\n<p>Electronic kits seem easier because:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are always last-minute release changes or added releases so they can be posted; and no one will ever know it wasn\u2019t \u201calready in the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The company is easier to identify than going to the press kit room and seeing packages of stuff from firms in the pigeon holes and hoping \u2013 you\u2019re on an equal footing with the big guy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Publicists don\u2019t have to lug boxes to the show, onsite media people don\u2019t have to throw away barrels of paper as they dig out the gems they want, will use.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Online provides detailed metrics as to who accessed, which announcement(s) they viewed, which subjects were of most importance to the media.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Onsite media folks can sit in the press room and flip through all the kits while having refreshments and can cut\/paste their news or files for later reference.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not every media person who wants to cover the show\u2019s news can afford the time\/expense to attend but with a few well placed mouse clicks\u2026they\u2019re digging for gold every day.<\/p>\n<p>Some folks cling to bridge solutions \u2013 CD or flash drive.<\/p>\n<p>Most media folks just never have the time to organize all of the stuff they got at the show because they have deadlines, commitments. The generally poorly labeled discs sit in piles for a few months and are discarded.<\/p>\n<p>But not the flash drives. They\u2019re given to friends, associates, the kids to use for storing their stuff so the kit\u2019s \u201cfolder\u201d enjoys a second life.<\/p>\n<p>The online show kit means:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no begging for release approvals a week before the show so kits can be produced<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no rushing to print, stuff, overnight ship kits to the tradeshow floor<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no late night visits to the event city\u2019s local quickprint place to redo a couple of releases and restuff the kit on your hotel room bed<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 media folks actually believe that the company (and PR people) are super-professional, super-organized<\/p>\n<p>The real key is that event publicity starts with news materials for a reason. You know:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 new products, new services, and new applications<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 thorough background, including presentations\/white papers when necessary<\/p>\n<p>It is <strong><em>not<\/em><\/strong> about copies of releases from the past three months, data sheets\/sales literature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wordsmanship<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of course, release writing is work.<\/p>\n<p>Good news release writing \u2013 is even harder work and should be drilled into the publicist before he\/she sends his\/her first text message\u2026first IM\u2026first tweet.<\/p>\n<p>Releases aren\u2019t short stories or the great American novel.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re just good news items \u2026 <strong><em>live with it!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>News writing has to:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 get past the company approval committee<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 convince the media it should be of interest to them<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 convince the media it should be of interest to their audience<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s about the time Bogart\/Dobbs says, <em>\u201cNobody puts one over on Fred C. Dobbs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A virtual press service at shows isn\u2019t a revolutionary, bleeding-edge or a dangerous idea.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the way things are going for PR people who don\u2019t weigh their value\/their worth in cut lumber and pounds.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine something that is green, faster, easier to use, delivers better media reach and actually costs less.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32449\" style=\"width: 359px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32449\" class=\" wp-image-32449\" title=\"Untitled-2\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-21.jpg?resize=349%2C263\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-21.jpg?resize=349%2C263 349w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Untitled-21-300x226.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 349px) 100vw, 349px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-32449\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source - \u201cThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre,\u201d Warner Brothers<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p>As Tim Holt\/Curtin pointed out,\u00a0 <em>\u201cYou know, the worst ain&#8217;t so bad when it finally happens. Not half as bad as you figure it&#8217;ll be before it&#8217;s happened.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This web thing just may be real !!!<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"># # #<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">G.A. \u201cAndy\u201d Marken<\/h1>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>President<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Marken Communications, Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"mailto:Andy@markencom.com\">Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paperless Kits \u201cWe don&#8217;t need no badges. I don&#8217;t have to show you any stinking badges.\u201d \u2013 Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya), \u201cThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre,\u201d Warner Brothers \u2013 1948 Shows like the&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":32449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533],"tags":[5819,5885,3410,5027,5886],"class_list":["post-32447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","tag-ces-2013","tag-media-kit","tag-pr","tag-press","tag-trade-show"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}