As any good journalist knows, the lead sentence of any story is meant for covering at least a few of the W's: who, what, when, where. The why and how can make up the rest of the article, but that first sentence is for cramming in those W's and catching a reader/viewer's attention.
With media placements as a primary goal of public relations, it is good sense to give members of the media as many interesting W's as you can manage. For press conferences or events, chances are that your Who and What are already decided. The formula would be something like this:
Who: Your client
What: Your client's announcement
When: ?Where: ?
The When, of course, can be limiting. This is based on your client's timelines and the preexisting schedules of all the people involved.
But as for the Where? Well, that's fair game.
Fountain Square is quintessential Cincinnati. In the heart of downtown, this space has run the gamut of event-hosting e
ven in just the past few months, from big-screen election night results to winter ice skating to salsa dance. Fountain Square is home base for the annual coney-eating contest, Taste of Cincinnati and Oktoberfest, and is positioned near Fifth Third and The Arnoff Center, just a stone's throw from the stadium and the river. The only way that Fountain Square could be more "Cincinnati" would be if Nick Lachey opened up a combination Skyline and LaRosa's franchise on The Square [with financial backing from P&G and Kroger]. Nick would then host a special brunch for Flying Pig runners, complete with a dish he invented called "Who Dey Waffles." [Nick Lachey, if you're reading this, you may act on this idea... call me]Our agency chose Fountain Square as the intuitive Where for a major announcement from the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitor's Bureau. In 2012, Cincinnati will be the host city for the World Choir Games, which includes tens of thousands of vocal competitors from over 90 countries. The World Choir Games is major-- the choral Olympics, as it is often called- and 2012 marks the first time that the competition is hosted in the US.
For many competitors, this may be the first they are seeing of the US- and what they will see is the Queen City.
So it is only fitting that this announcement was celebrated in Fountain Square, center of Cincinnati goings-on. Complete with appearances from the mayor Mark Mallory, various Cincinnati team mascots and several local choral groups, the event was a Cincy celebration. We hope that the 2012 World Choir Games will feel the same.
So PR gurus, how do you choose your Wheres?
Cincinnati professionals, name your favorite Wheres!
