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Firebird intern attends first press conference
Student Amy reveals her thoughts about the experience
An intern working at Firebird Public Relations attended her first press conference at the Academy of Medical Sciences to launch a report on Animals Containing Human Material. In this article, Amy Montague, a second year student studying Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Northampton, gives her thoughts and insights into her overall experience of her first press conference publicised by Firebird PR.
When I found out I was going to be given the opportunity to attend and experience a press conference, I was incredibly excited as being a student of Public Relations you are continuously exposed to examples of what a press conference is all about and why it is useful. Consequently, experiencing one first-hand would allow me to put the theoretical side of things I have learnt so far into practice.
As the nature of the report is somewhat of a delicate and contentious issue my first thought was “How are people going to relate to this and will they be able to connect and engage with an issue that they may disagree with?"
My first role at the press conference was to help sign in the press and other visitors to the conference whilst distributing badges, in order for everyone to be aware of who was in attendance. This allowed me to distinguish between who had decided to attend and who had not, based on the attendance list I had previously made; which in turn allowed me to appreciate that all of Jane and Susannah’s hard work targeting the press had paid off.
My second role was to be the point of call for journalists who were dialling into the press conference and engage with them, making a note of any questions that they had in response to the panel, and in some cases arranging an interview with a specific report contributor. I was relatively nervous about this as it was something I had never done before, and was apprehensive of the fact that something could go wrong.
The press conference was an enormous success with 24 journalists in attendance and generated a tremendous amount of coverage; this was down to the meticulous process of planning and organisation from Firebird PR in collaboration with the client team, and the strength of the subject surrounding the report itself.
Things I have learnt
- Sometimes you can work with clients who deal with controversial issues that need to be conveyed clearly to ensure the message is communicated consistently and effectively.
- How hard it is to encourage relevant press to attend a press conference and how satisfying it is for a public relations agency when they turn up.
- Having a strong network is crucial when working in public relations as it makes the process of finding relevant attendees to events such as a press conference a great deal easier.
- Building and maintaining relationships with the media will be very useful in the long run.
My overall experience was thoroughly enjoyable and particularly enlightening to finally understand how a press conference is carried out and why it is an essential tool to publicise a project in this way. It is clear to see that having strong communications with a client is a key factor throughout the development of organising a press conference and in any Public Relations-related endeavours; this was apparent in the relationship that Jane and Susannah had with the Academy of Medical Sciences and was obvious to external visitors at the conference, who understood that they were a strong, dedicated team-based unit, who were able to deliver a flourishing press conference.
The Academy of Medical Sciences report on Animals Containing Human Material