May I vent?
I received a voicemail message from someone that really got my goat. She said something like, “A very important celebrity is coming to Seattle within the next week. It's incredibly important that we fill the room with people. We don't have any budget to get the job done. Of course, we thought of you.”
Yikes! If that is the message my efforts are sending, I need to do better.
I have done a fair amount of event publicity and have a track record of “getting the butts in the seats.” But I sure as heck don't accomplish those results with an 11th hour effort and without appropriate compensation. You can bet I made that message crystal clear when I returned the call. And, I don't need to “try out” with this important celebrity project in hopes that I might earn the assignment in a future year. Either I am in or I am out on the merits of my talent, experience, and results. But I don't try out.
Big events that are coming to town require more than a week's notice to communicate. Anyone serious about building buzz should at a minimum allow two full weeks to alert the “business calendar” notice folks in the local and Internet media. And, if earning attention in the glossy magazines is a priority, allow even more time to deliver the news.
Earning big “ink and air” requires careful planning and focused story pitching. That means allowing adequate time to deliver the goods. The old “spray and pray” approach doesn't typically deliver the goods, especially with just one week left to go until Event Day.
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. And, if you need event publicity, never lead with the telephone message this person left for me. That is the perfect way to end a conversation before it ever has the chance to begin.
