Tag: events

Have you ever walked into an event and your whole body says "WOW!" before you utter a word from your mouth? Have you ever recalled a time when you went to an event and you became obsessed with the brand expression of the host, or just because it was so "cool"?

Helen Reizer has been a friend for a good part of the past 10 years or so. She has always been the person who manages the big events in Melbourne and sometimes other parts of the world. Her events are perfectly organised, and a celebrity-full with a bunch of the who's who walking around sipping french champagne and canapes.

Over the years, there have been a few PR experts that have stood out; namely Shona Boyd. She is an industry veteran in Sydney and has had every big name client under the sun. She is more professional than the rest and without doubt is one of the few people in the industry that guarantee results. She has a no bullshit radar, and refuses to work with people who can't sit straight. I love her. She was one of the first real PR people that I have ever met.

Then there were others that came along, without qualifications but equally capable in getting column centremeters like Roxy Jacenko. They have built their businesses on largely fluffy PR but have done so with gust and have certainly gained my admiration.

I played the PR game earlier on. I realised that it was a quick way to make some serious money. I worked on the more serious part of the equation; public listings, technology PR, business PR and alike. It was fun. All it required was an ability to write a press release and build a relationship with a journalist. By knowing what the journalist was interested in, I was able to tell the client upfront whether or not they had a chance of getting published or not.

For that privilege, I wrote the press release in 20 minutes and charged $2,500 per piece. Easy money and paid the rent. Didn't get much better than that.

Gosh times have changed. Why did I ever stop doing this. Now, we charge a few hundred dollars for writing a press release and send it out to a database. Not the same results might I add, but it seems that that is what most people are doing and getting away with.

Good PR people have the following qualitites:

The picture above says it all. Stylish, designer and memorable. 

I came across Kerryn Howell and Jane Klose, I was amazed by their talent. They are so creative in event theming and design, that you are always guaranteed something truely special.