HOW TO MAKE NEWS AT THE INTERNATIONAL CES 2019 TRADESHOW
[Source: ScanMyPhotos Media Department]. Here are eleven tips for hacking and breaking through the mountainous media clutter at CES — the global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow that takes place each January in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Having attended all prior Consumer Electronics Shows since 1990, ScanMyPhotos.com has dozens of additional tested recommendations that worked for us (those are secret to keep us just a bit ahead of some in our industry also attempting to score media coverage). Hey, we need to keep some cards face down. CES is like a safari hunt to locate and capture media attention.
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CES is the world’s largest consumer trade show in Las Vegas [January 8-11, 2019] and attended by hundreds of thousands of tech innovators and an ocean of media contacts.
1) Have a compelling story. You have less than the standard 30-second elevator pitch time to grab attention. Two sentences max to attract interest. Have your story 10X better and create urgency. What is the “who, what, where, why, and when” to your story? Is it trending, a REAL game-changer? Solve a problem: ScanMyPhotos.com solved the biggest problem in photography: we pioneered an easy and affordable way to scan the nations and overseas pictures with a game-changing, crazy-low price. ScanMyPhotos.com digitized 600 million photos. People are sharing these decades of nostalgic memories on all the photo-sharing apps and new photo gadget platforms and devices introduced at CES. Past news stories from the world of photo scanning.
2) Download and memorize every tech reporter’s and blogger’s headshots. Print up baseball cards and study their backgrounds. Reporters at CES often hide their name badges or use others so they aren’t recognized. Tweet photos at media outlets exhibit booths with hashtags and Twitter addresses of those reporters you see there. Get personal and humanize your message
3) Focus. This is like a safari hunt to locate and capture media attention. Don’t look down at your mobile phone when walking; instead, look forward to trying to identify everyone you pass for any media in the crowd. Study the name badge, and at the end of every conversation, use their name.
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4) Position yourself. Stand near media events and news conferences and chat with reporters as they enter, and leave. Start with a friendly intro, vs. a heavy pitch. One time we waited four hours just to get a single interview.
5) Be visible but silent. Don’t use social media to alert competitors to the media contacts you met. Use email, text, and direct message on Twitter, and go offline.
6) Be ready with background information. Have an OMG “news peg” ready. Explain why it is news, timely, and has a sizzling appeal. Be relevant and honest. Your detailed pitch and links should be available on your phone in notes to immediately send to those you meet. Today, reporters are on lightning-fast deadlines and can file stories and publish live on the spot. That’s how we scored this HuffPost CES story:
7) Be prepared to fulfill an onslaught of orders. Work with your customer service team (at ScanMyPhotos.com they are called “personal customer service concierges”) to prepare them for pending media coverage. The most important process in making media is to dazzle every new customer then. We even send flowers to customers with compelling stories, from needing pictures scanned for a memorial service to raving fans who used our live support or called to comment on how impressed they were with ScanMyPhotos.com. Surprising customers with flowers are our only marketing budget item; people take pictures of the flowers, and post with a lengthy narrative about their ScanMyPhotos.com experience and we reach dozens or hundreds of new raving fans.
8) Wear comfortable shoes. Start early, stay late, and network. Be bold. Ask everyone you meet what THEIR best, most successful marketing and media pitch was and who profiled them.
9) Only connect with reporters who cover your beat. Many at CES don’t write about your specific industry or product. Don’t waste their time.
10) Take advantage of other companies held captive in their booths. Most attendees are stuck at their booths, immobile all day. Use that to your advantage to walk the show and gain valuable visibility. Never rest. Stand near company-sponsored events to track down media guests. Our favorite area for entrepreneurial innovators and many feature writers is Eureka Park, the “flagship startup destination at CES where retailers, venture capitalists, manufacturers, and others find budding entrepreneurs, fledgling startups, and homegrown innovation.”
11) Smile and buy drinks. All-day and night, use this strategy to invest in scoring 15 minutes of Facetime and fame. When you encounter influential media contacts online or eating, surprise them by buying their food and have the server hand them your card; write a brief ”your lunch was on me” message on the back.
