A non-scientific poll of office workers this afternoon in Woburn on the day of the official launch of the iPad tablet by Apple suggests that men like the name iPad – while women tend to correlate it disfavorably with feminine hygiene products.
I think the name is OK and that people will likely become tired of the joke – if they ever laughed in the first place. If the iPad rocks as most Apple products seem to do these days, it’s not likely to matter much anyway.
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.
Although we’re not dramatists, we talk to clients frequently about building story arcs that link the elements of PR, communications and marketing programs. Deciding early in a PR campaign to tell a long-running story, with supporting data, commentary from industry influencers and analysts, and objectives that are measurable, supports demand-generation efforts and illustrates PR’s value to your company’s stakeholders.
Story arcs allow us to manage the ebb and flow of news by creating events or episodes – trends and predictions viewpoints, data analyses, podcasts and more – that take a few big issues or message points and build smaller, component stories that evolve and draw the sustained interest of multiple audiences. This approach creates an opportunity for industry participants to enter into a dialogue with your company’s thought leaders.
Development of story arcs also supports the repurposing and evolution of content assets across multiple channels. Among the approaches we use:
- Evaluate the company’s demand generation goals and refine a few big messages that support those goals
- Plot a story timeline against company marketing programs, industry events, and corporate milestones
- Mine content assets – white papers, podcasts, presentations – for supporting messages
- Look for opportunities to influence industry trends by providing commentary that links client issues to the ideas and concerns of other big thinkers.
- Work closely with analysts and influencers to validate messages.
How do you develop stories that hold readers’ interest and provide seed ideas for media?
