4. PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public relations is a major part of the marketing mix. You can ad-
vertise anything you want—that is, what you say about your orga-
nization and your event. Public relations can determine what oth-
ersperceive of you and your mission. It may be as bold as a team
of press agents distributing releases to newspapers or staging press
conferences to extol the virtues of your event. Or it may be as sub-
tle as a trade publication interview with a leader of your organi-
zation, when the interview includes references to your event and
its benefits. The essence of a public relations campaign is that it
never stops; rather, it is an ongoing effort to establish positive per-
ceptions of your organization and its products.
The first step in establishing a public relations campaign is to
determine what the current perception is. The patriarch of mod-
ern public relations is Edward Bernays, the namesake of the most
revered public relations award in the hospitality industry (the an-
nual Bernays Award sponsored by the Hospitality Sales and Mar-
keting Association International). Bernays was a devotee of re-
search, the need to survey, to conduct focus groups with
facilitators, and to thoroughly research the attitudes and needs of
target markets. He also initiated methods of matching the market-
ing strategies with those professed needs. Bernays advocated the16 Chapter 1 Introduction to Event Marketing
1.Proximity to the potential attendees and ease of travel
2.Availability of parking for a commuter audience
3.Ambiance and originality of the site
4.Logistical practicality of staging a particular event
5.Surrounding attractions/infrastructure for ancillary activities
6.Existence of related audiences, organizations
7.Degree to which the location fits the character of the event
8.Safety, security of event attendees
9.Availability of public transportation (airport and city)
10.Availability of overflow space (sleeping and meeting rooms)Figure 1-2
The decision to choose a location is based on more than the
appearance of the facility. Selection must be made with the
audience and its profile in mind.