PR pros know that aiming high for publicity means courting the media relentlessly. But could you drown in your own success if the media attention overwhelms your expectations? When an eight-member media relations staff took on the job of publicizing the world's largest and most popular art exhibit, it found it hard to come up for air while swimming through the demands of an overwhelming media pool.
Deborah Ziska, a press and public information officer for the Washington, D.C.-based National Gallery of Art, understands firsthand what it takes to be understaffed and overworked. With her small staff, she promotes 15-20 art exhibits for the gallery every year. The gallery receives federal funding for operations and private donations for the art buildings and special programs. Ziska would not reveal her PR budget.
When Ziska found out in late 1997 that "Van Gogh's Van Goghs: Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam," would be coming to Washington, D.C., she immediately put her PR plan into action.
"Nothing is scientific, but our goal is to utilize and inform the media in as many ways as possible and to inform the public about the exhibits," she says.
Stroking the Press
Ziska's first move came in January 1998 when she planned a special press announcement about the exhibit for a selected list of invitees. She orchestrated articles with the New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times about the press event. In an atypical move, Ziska embargoed the information so papers would hold the articles until after the event. For other press, the Van Gogh announcement came as a surprise.
"We did not say what the event was, we just said, 'major international exhibition,' " Ziska said. "I would never do that kind of arrangement without established relationships."
But the plan went somewhat awry when another Los Angeles paper - the Los Angeles Daily News - got word of the exhibit and printed an article. Ziska, who has been with the gallery since 1988, expected full-page feature stories, but got only a small article with the New York Times due to copy space.
This first press event was also an opportunity for Ziska to announce the exhibit's corporate sponsor: Andersen Consulting.
"From the beginning, we worked together [with Andersen] so there was no overlap," Ziska said. "I needed to know who they were calling and when they were calling them. We didn't want them to promote the exhibition."
The point person from Andersen Consulting was Eric Jackson, director of global media strategy. He described the relationship with Ziska's office as "constant back and forth" of ideas. Each partner's mission was very different.
Jackson, who said his company provided monetary support in the "low seven figures," said he, unlike Ziska, targeted business media such as The Wall Street Journal and Fortune and Forbes magazines. This five person staff, along with outside firm Burson-Marsteller, garnered 20 million media impressions.
Crunch time came the Thursday before the exhibition opened on Sept. 24, 1998. By then, Ziska had already been working closely with the media and formed close ties with Washington Post reporter Megan Rosenfeld. Nicknamed the "Van Gogh Bureau Chief," Rosenfeld told Ziska that the Post was planning "saturation coverage for Van Gogh." Although this was a media relations dream come true - and extremely unusual for the Post - it turned out to be both a positive and negative experience.
"They were a little surprised at my demands for the [attendance] numbers," Rosenfeld said. "I had to work harder than I anticipated to get those numbers." Rosenfeld also felt slighted, she said, when Ziska's office overlooked updating her on key events.
"As a beat person, I expected they would have told me when they installed metal detectors. Our city desk found out, even though I had been there interviewing security guards," she said.
On the other side, Ziska's staff struggled with controlling press attendees. She arranged for a morning press breakfast in the West building and another "press preview" that same day. Altogether, 659 media personnel attended. A total of 480,496 people attended the 90-day show.
"We weren't prepared for the 11 a.m. preview," Ziska said. "We got such a huge response and a much larger group of people. We should have been more prepared." That day, Ziska rallied her staff and a group of 30-40 volunteers to help escort the press and find spokespeople for interviews throughout the day.
Pleasing the Public
It was a staff joke, Ziska told PR NEWS, that Van Gogh tickets were selling for higher prices than Redskins' seats. As a result, Ziska explained on TV that the authorities could arrest people for scalping tickets on its property. Ziska said that throughout the show, numerous people were detained and arrested - drama the cameras loved to pick up. Reporters also lamented the long lines and unhappy people waiting for tickets. In order to thwart the scalpers, gallery staff changed from colored tickets to dated tickets.
Another highly publicized controversy involved disgruntled local hotels. They feuded with the gallery after it did not provide them with advance passes for guests. Providing hotels with passes, however, violates Congress' mandate requiring all shows at the public gallery to be free to visitors. Passes offered to paying guests are technically not free.
"We just stated our position to the press over and over again," she said. "We had to keep tabs on everything in order to be able to tell the press about daily attendance and to give the public tips about what days were best. I even got calls at home."
Ziska and the rest of the staff worked nights and weekends and couldn't take vacation during the three-month run. She also had to hire a temporary worker to handle media inquiries. "Every day of the exhibit was a press day." (Ziska, 202/842-6356; Jackson, 212/708-5151; Rosenfeld, 202/334-7546)
Tips for a Small Media Relations Office
- Prepare staff to work a lot of overtime.
- Keep morale up; whether by small compliments or recognition for staff awards.
- Hire temps to help with overflow works.
- Seek out volunteers from other offices.