From February 21st through the 25th, at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif., the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition – APEC 2010 – will focus on the practical and applied aspects of the power electronics business. Not just a designer’s conference, APEC has something of interest for anyone involved in power electronics.

Not only is this an ideal venue for exhibitors to learn the latest information in the power electronics business, it is also a great opportunity for companies to leverage their tradeshow investment by building a package of communications activities to support being at the show.

Some ideas to leverage your investment at APEC 2010:

- Use your company blog to highlight your tradeshow message. This can help drive traffic to your booth, and the web.

- Leverage other social media channels, like Twitter or your company Facebook page, to expand your reach.

- Have your agency or internal PR team arrange editorial and analyst meetings at the show. This expands your reach after the show, extending the benefits from your investment.

- If budget permits, consider taking advantage of show offered sponsorships, especially pre-show mailings to bring people into the booth.

With only a few months left before the show, now is the time to take the steps to leverage your investment and maximize your ROI from APEC 2010.

Technorati Tags: Communications, Events, Marketing, PR, Tech

I was talking with an editor, I won’t say who or what pub, today on an editorial calendar opportunity that was spot on my client – an owner-funded company with a great product that is the coolest thing in its market – literally.

The editor agreed and we started talking additional information, what he’d need, possibility of an article, podcasts, briefings, essentially the whole nine yards of PR glory.

Somewhere in there, he says, and I am quoting here: “of course, we give priority to our advertisers, and very few if any non-advertisers ever make the book.” Caught by surprise, I had a really snappy comeback…I said – “oh, really.” As it stands, advertising is not what my client wants to do. They understand the need, and in fact do some, but prefer the third-party validation that comes from successful PR.

We got into a discussion on pay-for-play, the value of PR and the role of advertising. I did my best to persuade him that ultimately, running editorial that is only from advertisers will undermine the credibility of his book. He, in turn, tried to convince me that a company that was willing to advertise really wanted to reach his market.

In the end we agreed to disagree. But every time I run across this pay-for-play scenario, I can’t help but think…if editors often consider PR professionals as nothing but schills for their clients, what does it make them when all they accept is editorial from their advertisers?

Technorati Tags: editorial calendars, PR

One of the most important lessons from any internship and public relations class I had during college was the importance of reading in PR. Now being at Topaz, I can’t stress enough how important it really is in every day public relations.

Starting my day off with the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Boston Globe is a must. I am able to see not only what is happening in the world but who is writing what and how often they write about what topic. This is a key in relationship building and how you should pitch an editor in the future.

After reading those newspapers, I switch to my Google alerts. Google alerts are easy to set up and really can help you get a grasp on who is talking about what. For all of my clients, I set up Google alerts to understand the trends in their space, who is saying what and how my clients can fit into the picture. This is a great way to start to “trendjack” or introduce yourself to an editor.

My RSS feeds (Google Reader, Bloglines or even email RSS feeds and newsletters) are also part of my daily routine – at 89 subscriptions; it’s a great variety of blogs, news and other items. Although some of my blog are personal favorites—celebrity gossip, jokes, finance tips, dinner recipes and Boston restaurants reviews—most are centered around the various technology blogs as well as social media and public relations blogs. This is a great way to learn new ideas, pick up new tricks and be well informed in various areas.

Many people ask me why I’m on Twitter. The answer is to read more. There are great links that other people provide on Twitter than you may not otherwise see unless you followed them. My greatest tip about Twitter is to follow people in your industry- you’ll learn from what they have to say and offer in their 140 character tweets.

I start my day off with reading and read even more after work. It’s a great way to stay informed and a daily part of public relations life.

Technorati Tags: blogs, Google, public relations, reading, RSS feeds, Twitter