- Breakfast & Networking
Wake-Up Call: Identity Crises (& Opportunities) for Media & PR Pros in the Digital Transition Mark Hamrick, award-winning business and financial news journalist for the Associated Press, will share lessons learned in his experiences working with PR professionals over his more than 30 years in broadcast journalism and in a decade in the leadership of The National Press Club, with a particular focus on how the digital transition has transformed roles on both sides of the journalist/PR pro dynamic.
.png) Mark Hamrick
Business Reporter, Broadcast, Online Video Producer, Associated Press;
Immediate Past President, The National Press Club
@hamrickisms |
Blogging and Content Creation: The Missing Link in Your Media RelationshipsForward-thinking brands have moved well past the notion of media relations as a pitching and messaging process. They know that journalists, citizen bloggers and industry influencers need news, insight, data, video, graphics, images and human interest right now—packaged, consumable and, yes, enjoyable. In short, media pros are dealing with brutal deadlines and working under severe budgetary constraints, and they need your content and your storytelling skills. Top brand bloggers will show you how they are using their own content to build trust-based relationships with media pros and other influencers, and raise the profile of their organization.
You’ll learn how to:
- Make the case within your organization for the power of high-quality, consistent content creation
- Make sure your blog and other content reaches journalists and influencers in your industry or vertical
- Find content and ideas for content within your own organization
- "Newsjack"—use current events and hot news items as leaping-off points for your content
- Determine the content needs of your targeted journalists and influencers
- Increase the reach of your content with social channels
PLUS: You’ll receive PR News' blogging platform comparison chart
Measure, Refine, Repeat: How to Use Metrics to Make Your Media Relations Efforts More SuccessfulMeasuring the effectiveness of a media relations campaign continues to be a source of contention and even angst, as it cuts to the very heart of a PR pro's value to an organization. But media relations metrics don't have to be a source of sleepless nights. In this panel, media relations pros will show you how to use smart measurement tactics to shape and improve your successful media relations initiatives.
You’ll learn how to:
- Conduct content analysis to measure messaging, sentiment and positioning
- Put organizational goals at the center of measurable media relations efforts
- Measure share of voice against competitors across social media channels
- Integrate social media metrics with other coverage data
- Use logic models (inputs, outputs, outcomes, impacts) to analyze and refine media relations programs
- Focus on engagement and impact rather than audience size
- Develop ROI models that will result in budgets getting approved
PLUS: You’ll receive a sample measurement matrix you can use as a model for your own media measurement programs
 Lawrence J. Parnell
Associate Professor and Program Director, Masters in Strategic PR, Graduate School of Political Mgmt
The George Washington University |
The Rules of Media Engagement on TwitterNearly 90% of journalists use Twitter or Facebook to follow and monitor news yet, according to a Society of New Communications Research study, only 1% prefer Twitter as a point of contact with PR pros. What this says is that Twitter is of utmost value to members of the media, but they are very wary about how it is used—or abused. This session will show you how to gain the edge on your competitors and master the art of using Twitter with an authentic and useful voice. You need to become a valuable follower of media professionals and bloggers who are influential with your target audiences—and get them to follow
you.
In this session you will learn:
- How journalists are using Twitter today
- How and when to engage with media pros directly on Twitter
- What is likely to make a media pro “unfollow” you
- How to be viewed as a resource on Twitter
- How nonprofits can use Twitter for issues management
- Which tools to use to monitor what the influential media outlets in your market are saying on Twitter
- How to identify influential media professionals on Twitter
- When pitching a story on Twitter may be appropriate
- Which kinds of tweets are most likely to inspire action
- How to measure the results of your Twitter activity
PLUS: You’ll receive the PR News Tip Sheet “Five Steps to Aligning Strategy With Social Media Policy”
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Networking Break
Transform Your Facebook Page Into a Media CenterWhen members of the media need information about your organization or about your clients, they can go right past your Web site and traditional online newsroom and head straight for your Facebook page. And, keep in mind, in the social media age, all “likes” can be considered citizen journalists. This session will provide you with strategies to use your Facebook page as a center of sharable news and content that attracts the media and inspires “likes” and engagement. In addition, you’ll learn best practices of interacting with the media on their own Facebook pages.
Facebook experts will show you how to:
- Target members of the media as potential likes for your Facebook page
- Integrate content from your Web site and blog on Facebook
- Create contests and promotions that the media will notice
- Use Facebook for organizational announcements and for crisis communications
- Know when to take the conversation with a media pro offline
- Monitor content and safeguard your organization’s reputation
- Manage public affairs issues on Facebook
- Measure the results of your media relations efforts on Facebook
PLUS: You’ll receive PR News’ Checklist: 10 Tips to Determine Your Brand's Likability on Facebook
 Kevin Dando
Director, Digital Marketing & Communications
PBS |
Media Training Do’s and Don'tsWhatever the format—TV, one-on-one, press conference, telephone or online—interview preparation and relationship building with the media is vital to making your message heard. But before you even get to that point, you need to know how to insure that key executives are equipped with the kind of messaging that engages your stakeholders. This session provides you with real-world tactics to help you set the agenda in your relations with the media, develop sound bites and message points, communicate with the media during a crisis, master nonverbal cues, use bridging techniques, convince senior management of the value of formal media training and more. You’ll also find out where you’re most likely to get caught up in a media professional’s “traps.”
You’ll learn how to:
- Craft clear messages and sound bites
- Use message maps
- Communicate research statistics
- Use verbal bridges to stay on message
- Prepare for and handle difficult questions
- Respond quickly and transparently across all media platforms in a crisis
- Prepare spokespeople and craft messages before a crisis hits
- Engage with media professionals whose coverage of your organization’s management of a crisis has been negative
- Get senior management buy-in for formal media training
PLUS: You’ll receive PR News’ Interview Preparation Checklist
.png) Karen Friedman
Chief Improvement Officer; Author, "Shut Up and Say Something"
Karen Friedman Enterprises |
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Networking Break
Luncheon Keynote Presentation: Lanny Davis' 3-Legged Stool Approach to Crisis ManagementWhat keeps you up all night and what don’t you want the
New York Times to write about? In his keynote presentation, legal crisis management expert Lanny J. Davis, who served as President Bill Clinton’s special counsel (1996-98) and as a member of President George W. Bush’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (2006-07), reveals what individuals and companies must do to survive the inevitable crisis crossfire. As President Clinton's chief spokesman for handling "scandal matters," Davis had the unenviable job of briefing reporters and answering their pointed questions against the president and his aides. Davis, who has handled the cases of public figures from Martha Stewart to Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, from Whole Foods to Rep. Charlie Rangel, will discuss his 3-legged stool approach to all crises involving law, media and politics.
Lanny Davis will discuss:
- The advantages of having attorney-client privilege to develop the most effective, accurate and complete media messages
- Media monitoring of critical issues for clients
- Developing proactive communications strategies to address client problems, including the use of media and litigation to achieve client solutions
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Networking Break
The Drive Toward Integrated Communications: How NASCAR Overhauled its PR ProgramAfter an unprecedented 18-month research-driven review of its business, the first step in NASCAR's Industry Action Plan was to overhaul its communications practices. In 2011, NASCAR made the initial move to transform its entire media relations, PR and marketing department toward a more integrated approach. David Higdon, NASCAR managing director, integrated marketing communications, takes us under the hood to show us how the department went from reactive to proactive, from working in silos to working closely with business units, to chasing quality coverage rather than measuring quantity of coverage and embracing social media in cutting-edge ways, including a first-of-its-kind partnership with Twitter. In October 2012, NASCAR unveiled a Fan & Media Engagement Center designed to transform the way it reacts to media and measures tonality of coverage. This discussion will help PR professionals determine how an integrated marketing approach can help you and/or your business.
Time and Team Management: How to Best Allocate Your Media Relations Resources Every time a new social networking platform emerges, you can be sure that members of the media will be there. This makes balancing your PR resources against your objectives and reaching your business goals more challenging than ever. The first questions you need to ask: Who are the media, exactly? Which outlets and individuals are most important to my organization or clients? How should I mobilize my team to engage with them? This practical session will explore these questions and provide guidance on how best to allocate time and resources on writing and optimizing press releases, interacting with members of the media and analysts, setting budgets for your media relations efforts and more.
This session will show you how to:
- Create a plan to allocate staff resources for multiple media platform outreach
- Build media monitoring into your staff’s daily routine
- Establish a team leader for measuring media coverage and comments
- Use your media data to prove the ROI of your media relations efforts
- Make search engine optimization of all Web site copy, newsletters, blogs, press releases, video and still images a priority
- Determine the optimal time spent using social media channels to communicate with the media
- Optimize staff time spent crafting press releases
- Gauge the effectiveness of your resource allocation and make the necessary adjustments
- Manage team responsibilities during a crisis
PLUS: You'll receive the PR News Tip Sheet "Five Steps to Retaining Your Communications Talent"Colleen Cleary
Vice President
Havas PR
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Networking Break
Media Pros Talk Back & PR Pros Listen (and vice versa)Get ready for a no-holds-barred exchange of ideas, experiences and war stories between top journalists across a variety of media platforms and you, the PR practitioner. First, you will hear opinions and insights from our media panelists and find out what they need today from PR pros, and why. You'll learn what kinds of content they have to produce—and how you can work with them
and get more coverage as a result. And you'll be able to fire off questions of your own in this highly interactive session.
Moderator:
Afternoon Keynote: The Power of Online Storytelling Most marketing and PR professionals believe that content marketing is a new and revolutionary method of telling your brand’s story to journalists and directly to your customers. That couldn’t be further from the truth—what’s new and revolutionary is the power to move your content rapidly and widely. But without a solid foundation in storytelling, your content messages get buried by competitors. In this timely closing keynote presentation, Joe Pulizzi, author of
Managing Content Marketing, will share the secrets of effective and shareable content creation.
session.
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media training, message crafting, crisis management and measurement, as well as tips on using popular and emerging social media networks to engage with members of the media. You'll get checklists, case studies and practical tips from media relations and digital PR experts. 
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