In the world of PR, clients typically leverage major user conferences as a means to getting their message across. They keep their product announcements and customer news close to the vest until the opening day of the conference. But as of late, I’ve been questioning if that is the right strategy for the smaller players in hotter technology categories. 

During a major customer conference, the hosting vendor who I will call the Goliath, and all of their big partners typically announce their news, and reporters are chartered with covering that news. Even if the vendor’s story hasn’t evolved much from the prior year, the David’s of the world (smaller vendors) appear to be of less importance, even if their news is truly compelling. If that is truly the case, does it make more sense for smaller vendors to distribute their news prior to the event or shortly thereafter? Or should they stick with what they’ve typically done - distributing their news during the event?

Over the past week, I’ve spent countless hours pitching my client’s news to reporters who are preparing to attend a very large user conference - the same conference my client is attending. I understand the need to cover the Goliath’s of the world, but what about the David’s? If they have superior technology and a truly interesting story, don’t they deserve an interview? I certainly think so or I wouldn’t have spent the last week pitching.

Some have been amenable and many simply haven’t responded. I realize that during a user conference, reporters are inundated with emails and phone calls from hundreds of vendors who want their stories told. However, it’s par for the course and requires that they sift through the piles of information to find some golden nuggets (like our news of course).

For those reporters who have responded to my pitch and were amenable to a pre-brief on the news, I am grateful for their ability to prioritize and squeeze it all in. Thank you!!!