Business Wire Charlotte hosted a lunch on April 28th to discuss “Effective Communications Strategies in Challenging Times.” The discussion, led by Charlotte-area PR, IR and media professionals, revolved around the best practices for getting your good news out in a struggling economy.
The panel of speakers (left to right in the above photo) included:
- Kiley Rawlins, VP of IR & Communications, Family Dollar Stores
- Jefferson George, Business Reporter, The Charlotte Observer
- Laurie Tardif, Media Relations Manager, Goodrich Corporation
Brandon Uttley (far right), President of Web Business Freedom as well as the Charlotte chapter of PRSA, moderated the event to over 40 communications professionals.
Some notes from the discussion:
- Whenever possible, offer full access to your company’s CEO. A reporter will rarely turn down the opportunity to meet with a C-level executive no matter what the topic is.
- Since the economy is struggling, steer your angle towards ways to help people (ie. ways to reduce spending, create jobs, etc.) to guarantee media coverage.
- Don’t just rely on Twitter or blogging to communicate your company news. Keep a relationship with your local media to get real coverage.
- After you send out a release, tweet about it to get conversations going about it.
- If you don’t have big news to announce, get creative and find ways to keep your company’s name in the media through feature-type articles.
- Monitor what people are saying about you in blogs.
For more information on local Business Wire events in your area and what’s coming up on our award-winning webinar series, be sure to check out upcoming Business Wire events.
Posted by Amy Yen, Marketing Specialist, Business Wire 
