Tag Archives: Steve Garvey

How to get more punch out of an event

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Miss CA 2015

Miss CA 2015

Steve Garvey

Steve Garvey–LA Dodgers

Eric Dickerson

Eric Dickerson, NFL Hall of Famer

As pr professionals we are given the task of promoting a pr clients event, but then sometimes asked how can we get more people to attend the event from previous years. This year we worked on a local RV Show that is sponsored by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA. As in the past few years working with this consumer event, we looked at having some sports legends meet and greet visitors. Knowing that many RVers enjoy different sports, and a lot of them will park their RV at the stadiums the night before, we decided to bring some of the greats in Baseball and Football. Our local publicity plan for the 63rd RVIA California RV Show included having the opening weekend (Oct.9) of the 10-day be kicked off with Miss California USA doing the opening. Then on Saturday and Sunday we had Steve Garvey (LA Dodgers), Jim Abbott (Angels) with sports host Roger Lodge, and an NFL Hall Famer, Eric Dickerson draw a large crowd for the first three days. Also, we had lots of media cover the event a couple of days prior to the opening. This week we had other media attend that included a Chinese TV station. The coming weekend we are having another local TV station plus two radio stations (including Vic the Brick) doing live broadcast. And to make the final weekend of the show be successful, we have Rick Harrison (TV reality star on Pawn Stars) do a meet and greet. We did keep the focus on the introduction of the 2016 model RVs from over 45 manufacturers so visitors who attended the show would know what new features they can expect to see at the show. The sports legends gave people another reason to see their favorite athlete while shopping for their new RV.

There are many ways to give some “punch” to an event, and if you understand the audience that will be attending, it is best to tie-in something that will attract them to the show. Publicity is more than sending out press releases, or having a press conference, we look at publicity as a means to communicate a message to a client’s customer. Keeping this in mind should open your creative juices to find that “hook” to give your next event the punch it needs.

If your company is planning an event, give George Carson a call. There’s a good chance you will be pleased to see what he can do to make it more exciting and eventful for your customers. Call him at 949-477-9400

Creating a Successful 10-day Event

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How do you make the 62nd California RV Show successful?

Being the 62nd annual show makes it a real challenge to get existing customers excited about something they have known about for this many years. And finding new customers isn’t easy.

First you need to understand the audience, what it is that will create their interest to attend the RV Show and what can you do to make it more of an event than just a typical RV show. After knowing these critical facts youLogo--CA Show then build around these findings to create a successful California RV Show. It is important for the media and publicity teams to work together by exchanging information to develop a campaign that will have the greatest impact. The PR Client in this particular case is the RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industry Association). Unlike other RV shows, this is produced by the manufacturers association, not the dealers. The RV dealers are represented by displaying the manufacturers new RVs for 2015. Interested customers can talk directly to the manufacturers representatives to learn about the RVs, while the purchasing must go through the dealers.

This year’s show had several challenges. Among them was the size: over 1200 new RVs with 21 dealers that counted for 800,000 sq ft of space. To create some excitement we wanted the customers to know more about

Gayle Anderson and George Carson

Gayle Anderson and George Carson

what to expect at the show to create the “desire” to attend. To do this we worked with Gayle Anderson at KTLA, channel 5. Her solid following of viewers and her personality to make things interesting gave the show the needed publicity exposure prior to the opening. We presented to Gayle what is different. Things like Genesis Supreme RV building a 19 foot Toy Hauler at the show, a slalom challenge by Airstream, retro RVs like Winnebago’s Brave, and how roomy a Mercedes Class B Van is with a murphy bed. The local publicity helped many RV companies create the interest among potential RV buyers as well as those who might not have considered RVing but now see how much fun it can be.

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Tom Gaither and Josh

A few days later we had KCAL 9/CBS chief meteorologist Josh Rubenstein report the weather live from the California RV Show. Josh was great. He interviewed Tom Gaither, director of the show and many different manufacturers from Fleetwood, Leisure Travel Vans, to 5th wheel manufacturers. Josh even went inside a custom class A motor home built by Show Hauler.

AC Green and George Carson

AC Green and George Carson

To give the show added enjoyment we had former baseball greats like Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Chuck Finley and Randy Jones do a meet and greet sessions on different days. AC Green, former Lakers player, also known as Iron Man was there on Sunday to sign autographs with fans. And to rock the show, Bret Michaels the lead rock star in the band Poison gave the crowd a fun time signing his name on most anything his fans handed him.

This is one way to create a publicity campaign and make it successful.