We often times talk (a lot) about the impact of social media on what we’re doing in public relations and how it’s leading the way for the future of communications.  But there are still a lot of cool tools that have been around for a long time that are effective and provide results.  Enter the Media Visit. 

Media visits come in all shapes and sizes, from 5-day tours for 25 people to weekend trips for just one journalist.  We work on media visits on an ongoing basis for tourism and festival clients bringing the media in to tour the entire region, or just to check out one festival performance.  Seeing a location, enjoying its attractions and amenities and just feeling what it’s like to be there can speak volumes about a client’s product that no press release or YouTube video could ever convey.

This week we have a journalist coming in from New York City on a winter tour of Reno-Tahoe.  Her 6-day trip (which includes two travel days) has her dining at two of Tahoe’s finest restaurants, skiing two days at premier Tahoe ski resorts, dog sledding, snowmobiling, touring Reno’s arts and culture scene and getting an exclusive spa treatment at the area’s newest spa.  The trick to a media visit is this: plan it as if it’s your vacation.  If you treat it strictly as a sales opportunity for your product (using site tours, meetings or demonstrations to fill your itinerary) then you’re doing yourself, your product and the media person a disservice.

It’s a whirlwind trip for sure, but the thing is if I could’ve planned a vacation to Reno-Tahoe this is the itinerary I would choose.  And it’s an itinerary full of activities her readers and viewers might choose too.  That means the potential for great coverage and a pleased journalist who’ll remember Reno-Tahoe the next time winter travel enters the discussion.