The press release was sent out last week, the big day has finally arrived and now photographers are showing up to cover your news event. Here are eight tips to help guarantee failure:
1) Hold the event in the darkest location possible. Why waste money on lighting? Photographers can always use a flash or they can do something with Photoshop.
Another money-saving tip: use the smallest room possible.
2) When photographers arrive at your event, make them wait awhile. Sure, the press release said that it would happen at 1:00 pm but we all know these things never start on time. Besides, photographers have nothing else to do except cover your event.
3) Tell the photographers how to do their job. Tell them where to stand and who to photograph. Insist that they get your logo in the background. Put a time limit on the photography, for example two minutes, so that photographers don’t waste time by shooting a variety of pictures. For bonus points, insist on a big group photo because photographers love group photos.
4) If your event includes celebrities, don’t let the photographers talk to them. They might ask the celebrities to pose in various ways and that could confuse the talent.
5) Don’t bother providing any names for the people at your event. This information is probably available somewhere on the Internet. No point in taking business away from Google.
6) Demand to see all the pictures on the camera LCD screen and demand to pre-approve any picture before publication. Thank goodness you’re both a photo editor and a news editor and you can assist the photographer in their job.
7) Demand free copies of all the pictures. Photographers love nothing more than giving away their work.
8) Demand that you own all rights to all the pictures. Photographers are always happy to give away the copyrights to their work just so you can have free content.
When doing public relations, press conferences or other corporate events, if you follow the above tips, it’s guaranteed that photographers will be talking about you.
On the other hand, here are some tips for working with a press photographer who comes to your event.
