Master the skills needed to craft press releases that resonate with journalists and win coverage.

Will you be joining us?

The press release is an old tool that communicators are using in new ways. Join PR News at the Yale Club in New York City on May 2 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. for its Press Release Writing Workshop, where our experts will examine how today’s efforts to amplify shareability and optimize for SEO can blend harmoniously with time-tested techniques to create a press release that wins attention and coverage from the media.

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to write catchy headlines, polish your storytelling skills and enhance them with multimedia elements that reporters value, all while ensuring that you’re also pleasing the search engines with SEO-optimized content.

Register

Michele Fino

Chief Marketing Officer
DoSomething.org
  • Images, Video, Infographics, Data and Your Press Releases: What Works? What Doesn’t?

Nati Katz

Senior Director, External Communications
  • SEO Tips That Get Your Press Releases Found

Agenda

You’ll take away practical knowledge about how to:

  • Deploy the correct style and voice
  • Identify and correct common mistakes
  • Discern between content reporters value and content they find useless
  • Make sure your releases work in tandem with social media
  • Apply best practices of search engine optimization
  • Make your releases more visual in ways that appeal to reporters

Tuesday, May 02

  1. 8:00 am - 8:30 am

    Registration and Networking Breakfast

  2. 8:30 am - 9:30 am

    Structuring Your Press Release for Effective Storytelling and More

    Good press release writing is about more than just using the right words: They have to be in the right place. It’s imperative to cater to what reporters want and the desires of your organization at the same time, as well as observe certain traditions, but also to tell a story that arouses interest or empathy. To accomplish all these things can be a tricky balancing act. In this interactive session, our experts will assess your writing and coach you through ways to improve it.

    You’ll learn how to:

    • Write for your audience by focusing on the benefits to the reader of your product or service
    • Communicate to the reporter’s audience from the reporter’s perspective
    • Make it as easy as possible for media to run with your story
    • Put storytelling concepts ahead of internal marketing dictates, clichés and jargon
  3. 9:30 am - 10:30 am

    Images, Video, Infographics, Data and Your Press Releases: What Works? What Doesn’t?

    A news release containing or linking to images or video can make the difference in winning coverage; a survey and accompanying infographic can provide the proof points that make your story newsworthy. But sometimes these elements can be useful, and sometimes just a distraction (or an annoyance). Our experts will discuss what makes the crucial difference for your target audience and how to execute well on the creative side.

    You’ll learn how to:

    • Exploit free and inexpensive tools and resources that add value to your release
    • Use video to position your spokesperson as a good interview and provide information reporters find valuable
    • Use images to simplify concepts (while maintaining the accuracy of your content)
    • Differentiate between vanity visuals and data and those that will win coverage
  4. 10:30 am - 10:45 am

    Networking Break

  5. 10:45 am - 11:30 am

    SEO Tips That Get Your Press Releases Found

    Our experts will tackle the subject of search engine optimization and the various factors that must be taken into account to raise the profile of your press releases in Google search. You’ll also learn about techniques that can improve your search ranking and how to avoid “black hat” methods that can get you booted from Google searches.

    You’ll learn how to:

    • Use keywords and meta tags effectively
    • Avoid overuse of keywords and links that can actually harm your page ranking
    • Understand Google’s SEO ranking factors
    • Optimize your press release headlines and lead paragraphs
  6. 11:30 am

    Closing Remarks

Press Release Writing Trainers

  • Erin Burke

    Director / Vice President
  • Michele Fino

    Chief Marketing Officer
    DoSomething.org
  • Nati Katz

    Senior Director, External Communications
  • Mandy Menaker

    Head of PR and Brand Development
    Shapr
  • Bianca Prade

    Senior Vice President

Who Attends

If you spend at least a quarter of your time in any of these areas, you should attend this workshop:

  • Audience Development
  • Brand Marketing
  • Business Development
  • Community Relations
  • Corporate Communications
  • Crisis Management
  • Digital and Social Media
  • Employee Communications
  • Fundraising
  • Human Resources
  • Information Technology
  • Lead Generation
  • Marketing
  • Marketing Communications
  • Measurement
  • Media Relations
  • PR Budget Creation/Management
  • Public Relations
  • Public Affairs/Issues Management
  • Publicity
  • Research & Analysis
  • SEM/SEO Management
  • Social Media
  • Video Production
  • Web Marketing
  • Word of Mouth Marketing

Register

Venue

The Yale Club

50 Vanderbilt Ave
New York, NY 10017

Pricing

$700 per person and includes access to trainer presentations.

Register Now

Testimonials

Don't take our word for it. See why hundreds of your peers have attended PR News events!

This was a great event. Not only were the speakers knowledgeable and engaging, but the attendees were awesome. And networking was great! Communications Manager, CIGNA

Great workshop, speakers and venue! Loved the clean and candid approach of all speakers towards the topic at hand.External Relations, US Operations and Marketing North America, Procter & Gamble

The ability to download PDFs of the presentations is awesome. It will be great to share with colleagues who were unable to attend. Associate Vice President, Finn Partners

Sponsor

For information on sponsoring this event, contact Jonathan Politte at [email protected] or 301-354-1716

Contact

Questions

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