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Facing Off: International Press Conferences vs. 1:1 Interviews

How does setting affect the success of our communication? Recently a spokesperson was boasting that he used to hold press conferences in Taiwan with 30 attendees. Whoww – I thought and I wonder what the result was. Tons or articles or tons of expenses?  In my ongoing exploration of the balance between efficiency and effectiveness in a company’s public relations tactics, I came to consider this question.  Specifically, I wanted to look at press conferences vs. 1:1 interviews.  What are the benefits to executives and journalists?  What are the drawbacks?  Does one work better than the other? Let’s take a deeper look, shall we?

The Press Conference…
Press conferences have had a long lifespan in the history of public relations.  They are an efficient way to send a message to a large number of people and, as a result, reach a large audience of stakeholders.  For a busy executive, press conferences are great because they do not require a lot of time, but have the potential to garner a lot of coverage and attention.  However, press conferences do not allow for an in-depth look, nor do they allow journalists to have a running dialogue with the company representative.  Additionally, there isn’t much room for relationship-building between a company and a publication.  Press conferences are also expensive, requiring a hotel and hospitality, yet you can never be sure who will show up.

On The Other Hand…
The 1:1 interview is a valuable way to connect directly with a journalist.  Unlike in a press conference, a journalist can ask more pointed, in-depth questions, asking an executive to go into detail about a product or issue.  1:1 interviews also foster relationship-building between executives and editors, providing possible benefits in the future.  However, 1:1 interviews take a lot of time.  Not just time in the sense of the executive’s time and how much of that can be committed to giving interviews, but also in regards to the time spent contacting and arranging the 1:1 with the journalist. 

So Where Does This Leave Us?
Both press conferences and 1:1 interviews have, of course, strengths and weaknesses.  Press conferences act as a way to efficiency mass message target audiences. With so much competition it is difficult  to get the RIGHT editors into one room. I am always amazed when I hear 50 editors attended a press conference in Beijing to hear a startup release a product. Are they the “right” editors?  1:1 interviews are effective for in-depth messaging and relationship-building, but they take time and preparation.  What we need to ask ourselves is, “What is my goal? What am I hoping to accomplish here?” At Globalpress Connection , we offer both press conferences  as key PR opportunity- always with time for networking and face-to-face time  and 1:1 interviews– when a client goes outbound and has time for press meetings. The key factor is identifying your needs so you can decide if efficiency or effectiveness is more important to get the word out for your product, and your company.

Effectiveness, Efficiency, and the Executive

As our everyday technology advances, our world becomes progressively smaller and communication spanning this smaller world becomes easier. No longer do we have to wait for news or messages; everything is instantaneous. One particular technology that has helped stimulate this trend is online video chatting. Conferences, meetings, and even job interviews are being done through online video communication services. While this undoubtedly cuts down on the costs and hassles involved with constant travel, it leads me to wonder whether we are losing something by removing face-to-face interactions.

Wait, What's Happening?
CEO’s and their executive teams are busy. Even if they’d like to, they do not have the time to fly all over the world meeting with clients and reporters. By using teleconferencing technologies, they can efficiently communicate messages without having to spend valuable work time traveling. The problem with teleconferencing, however, is not with efficiency, it is with effectiveness.

Science Says…
A study done by the University of Washington found that teleconference-based interaction takes away from the important non-verbal components of communication. About 93% of our understanding of a message is comprised of visual and vocal cues – not verbal. This includes eye contact and voice tone. Eye contact is a major factor in how we perceive a speaker and his message. Eye contact can show confidence or excitement in a message or reveal that facts are being left out or glazed over. In short, eye contact gives away our true feelings about a situation every time. When teleconferencing, people look at the camera when they’re talking, not the faces of their audience. Therefore, it is impossible to read this vital part of communication over video conferencing. Similarly, voice tones cannot be fully replicated by technology, hindering our innate abilities to read people.

But There’s More…
Aside from the technical hindrances to communication and message-sending, video conferencing can potentially limit the building of personal relationships. There is little opportunity for small talk about common interests. I wonder, had part of our Summit been teleconference-based, if some of our clients and editors would have lost some of the value that in-person meetings provide.

Where Does This Leave Us?
At Globalpress, we believe that the human aspect of PR will never go away. While time and efficiency are always concerns, effectiveness is always a priority. I think that our Summit and reverse press tours find a balance between those needs while also allowing for the vital networking and relationship-building between companies, their peers, and the editors that write about their products. Let’s not forget that about the relationship part of public relations.

 

 
Vin Ratford and Bruce Fienberg of Xilinx enjoy the fire with editors Jim Harrison,
John Blyler, and Gerhard Stelzer at the Summit 2012

Customer Survey - Summit2011 was pretty good ...

Not being a fan of surveys myself for the first time we did an online survey wanting to know details on our Summit2011 in Santa Cruz. To my surprise 50% responded within a day and (not to my surprise) we got a 4.5 out possible 5 points. The Chaminade Resort got highest marks but clients said we could improve on networking opportunities. 55% clients regularly communicate with editors in Europe and Asia directly, 22% use agencies for mostly monthly press updates abroad.

What is the biggest challenge for US electronics companies to reach international media?
85% said: knowing and building relationships with editors and reporters is difficult due to time and language differences. Well - this is where Globalpress Connection helps and matches the right editors with the right companies.

Editors at the Globalpress Electronics Summit2011 will get yet again a real treat. In his keynote, Wally Rhines, Ph.D., CEO and Chairman of Mentor Graphics will gaze into the crystal ball of the future. He will go in depth about which industry segments show signs of rising from the dust after the recession, what segments of EDA is hot and which applications or hotter than hot.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Twitter and get up to minute news from this key electronics media conference.
at's interesting to you

Two weeks before the Summti2011 we can report that 18 countries are represented; largest delegation from China. We asked several CEOs to gaze into the crystal ball of the future. Stay tuned for updates on technology trends.

RE-invention – hard but no way around it

Sometimes it takes a combination of time and reconnection with old friends and colleagues to see the past clearly.

I recently reconnected with PR agency veteran Barbara Kohn, who worked for years with Brodeur Worldwide. We chatted on the phone about our love for cats and our mutual history of technology PR in Silicon Valley.

After we talked for a while, Barbara decided to write the Globalpress Connection story. Reading it, I learned more than I even knew about how I re-invented my business a few times over in the last 20+ years. She points out that many of our peers are no longer around, going out of business in one bust or another. Others are hugely wealthy because they sold out to multi-national agencies, or they exited the business because they were sick of pitching and chasing the media. Still others just left because they found other passions.

Maybe I have found my life-long passion in this global PR business, trusting myself enough to adapt and re-adapt with changing conditions. But as I get older I too dream about finding someone to lead Globalpress with me into the next re-invention phase. I think the next wave is just around the corner – multimedia, social media, online TV or whatever it might be.

How have you re-invented your work and life over the years? What new patterns and perspectives have you noticed as you view your past career from the perspective of the present? And for those of you associated with the technology world, what do you think the next waves will be in our industry? I would very much welcome your comments.

Chinese Editor goes the extra mile...

Not only has the recent Asian press delegation from China, Korea, Taiwan produced unusual high numbers of eeditorial already, one of the editors writing for 21ic, Ms. Karen Cui, went the extra mile and put together a landing page featuring the company C-level executives fromBerkely Design Automation, Vitesse Semiconductor, IDT, Fairchild, Gartner, Mentor Graphics,  

We will feature other special editions as well.

Have I forgotten myself... I am baaack!

With utter shock did I discover that I haven't written to my blog followers. Why not - because I thought it is enough to enter interesting things into Facebook and Linkedin which will beTwittered automatically.

Not sure if you follow us/me but the last 6 weeks were crazy: the unspeakable vulcano in Island stranded some European editos scheduled for the Summit in Santa Cruz, tizzy of rebooking, waiting, anxiety. All went well and tech gurus met the press from Europe, Asia and the US. Highlight was a discussion on the future of MEMS and the San Francisco TV Station KTVU Channel 2 rolled into our event to interview several editors and myself on the dilemma of print media. What a appropriate subject. We are all a little scare about our future, I guess. BUT the next Summit is scheduled for March 28 - 31, 2011.If you read this you are a true Globalpress fan and are the first know the new date. We'll announce shortly in a more strategic way.

I will keep this blog up again - FB here or there, Linkedin everywhere - to tell you what's going on here at Globalpress.

The China Crisis …. SARS was a blip

There is a crisis lingering in the world again! What else is new you might ask. China and the US seem to be in a real stand-off.  After years of issues with Europe where the US tried to oppress standards and regulations in its favor there are now new conflicts arising on the other side of the world. China seems to clamp down in many areas:  American families adopted healthy children for years, China needs now healthy children for their own growth and makes  only special needs children available for adoption, environmental differences, human right, internet freedom, technology  – you name it. China owns so much of the US values, it is scary.

And yet, my Rotary Club has a Shin-Shin Foundation where we raise money for rural schools and their libraries.  At a club meeting today we had a speaker from the Xi’an province telling us how historic and prosperous that area was/is, which gazillion treasured buried under two tombs. Maybe digging up for the poor people supporting the Rotary initiatives would be good.

On the technology front and for us at Globalpress it gets tricky.

That’s where our small agency fits in? Well over 15 years we have helped US companies do business in China, hundreds of Chinese editors came to our events, learned, made friends and wrote their reports. The largest delegation is attending our 8^th electronics press event April 26 – 29 in Santa Cruz and we can only hope that the information shared by our clients will not be censored for “product correctness”.  I thought 2003 the  SARS was the worst crisis we could have– it lingered but went away after a few months but now I am really concerned that these many political issues will hurt us all for much longer than SARS.

Hope our governments come to its senses so we can all continue to do exciting business and nurture our East-West friendships.

Something’s happening in EDA, and this time it’s good!

Participation by executives from EDA companies at the upcoming Globalpress Summit is already up to 4 vendors.

That’s a 100% increase over last year, when we had only 2 announcements by Mentor Graphics and Tanner EDA. These great companies will return this year to be joined by  Apache Design Solutions, EVE and several other vendors in the EDA space who are still looking at the opportunity to meet the global media in Santa Cruz April 26 – 29. Gabe Moretti of GABEonEDA heard that our event is the place to go for industry news.

Why the increase in participation from leading companies in the EDA industry? This once-a-year gathering is the perfect platform to launch products, introduce new management or set the stage for young companies on Emerging Day.

John Blyler, editorial director for Extensionmedia (which includes Chip Design and Embedded Intel magazines), has attended the Globalpress Summit for many years. He notes that companies continue to look for ways to engage the global editorial community – in addition to the US press.

Meeting with editors from all over the world is crucial since today’s EDA and semiconductor development environment are equally global. Further, a unifying theme among the global ecosystem is the need for system-level design and manufacturing solutions. This need is reflected in the current direction of the major EDA vendors, explains Blyler.

“The rise of embedded systems – both in SoCs and PCBs – coupled with lower power requirements, shrinking time-to-market windows and tighter revenue margins mean that EDA vendors must offer more than traditional tool flows,” he says. “To be competitive they need to provide everything from tools, to IP, integrated software stacks, RTOSes and even applications.”

A systems approach benefits EDA companies in another way. Such companies can now successfully participate in vertical electronic markets – such as medical, industrial, automotive and others.

Something good is happening in EDA – and it shows at the Globalpress Summit.