Cover Events Like a PRo

As the summer approaches and the opportunity to attend events widens for you, you may want to share your experience. When you present event coverage, you want to make your audience feel like they're at the event with you. Whether it's a conference, networking or special event, here are a few tips that will help you cover it like a PRofessional!

As any PR person knows, its good to start with the basics and to be prepared for any task.

●      Introduce yourself. “Hello, my name is…” may sound like the most fundamental thing to do but introducing yourself could go a long way. You may have found an event as an “attendee” but would like to cover the event as the “press”. Email in advance or seek the contact onsite and introduce yourself. This could be a step to getting introduced to others and building connections

●      Attend the event with a list of questions. Although you may or may not be able to ask them, its good to know that you were prepared for anything.

●      Pack the essentials. A camera, a notebook to take notes and your phone (along with a charger) are necessary to create the content on the event that you're covering. Taking a handful of business cards along would also be essential if you network while at the event.

There are various ways you can cover an event. Before posting online, decide what kind of content you want to produce and what format will work best for you and your audience.

●      Live-coverage allows you to report from an event in real time. This provides immediate coverage. Since there is a such thing as too much coverage, be sure to not overwhelm your audience with a huge number of posts.

●      Daily wrap-ups are used to provide day-to-day highlights, especially if you are attending a multi-day event. If you want to provide something that is quick and easy for your audience to take in, this format is for you.

●      Post-event coverage is composed at the end of an event after you’ve collected what you want to produce. Using this format allows you to focus on what you think was the best content from the event. It’s not best to use this format if you are producing time sensitive information.

Now that you’ve written your post(s), it’s time to share them. Here are a few simple ways to easily increase the distribution of your event content.

●      Utilize the event hashtag. Easily spread the word about your posts by including the event hashtag. Using the hashtag will increase your online visibility as well as include you in the conversation on the event.

●      Send your content to the event’s organizers. Not only will you audience benefit from your coverage but the event organizers may be likely to see and share your content as well. Doing this will be an advantage for you and the event organizers.

●      Think beyond Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and your blog. These platforms are great to use but you can get different storytelling opportunities using Vine, Instagram, Tumblr and Snapchat.. Using these platforms for event coverage will provide an interesting and innovative way of sharing content.

Now that you have these tips, you can take your audience along for the ride as you attend events. With the essential tips, covering an event effectively should be a breeze.  

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Jade Taylor.