How to Convince Writers/Editors to Meet You in Person

8 Specific Tips for How to Get Writers Excited About an Event/Meeting

Hi everyone!

After 2.5 weeks of traveling all over Wisconsin (which I’ve already written about in an upcoming Midwest Living piece), I’m finally back home in New York. I attended one multi-brand wellness showcase and one single destination event the week I left and attended two outdoor product showcases when I got back last week. I already have one destination dinner on the books for December and requests for destination meetings as far out as January. Whew!

As a New Yorker, I’m blessed with the opportunity to meet with anyone and everyone, as pretty much every brand and destination in the world eventually makes their way through New York to meet up with the huge number of writers, editors, and product testers based here.

Here’s the thing, it’s also a curse, as I’m invited to numerous of these events every single week and I spend considerable time going back and forth about these invites. Whether it’s a massive wellness product showcase, a meet-up with an individual small outdoor gear brand, dinner with a destination, or drinks with a PR agency repping multiple destinations and brands, I carefully weigh whether it’s worth my time.

Sometimes, these events are really fun and productive. Sometimes, they’re not, and I go home annoyed that I just wasted an entire evening. Either way, we writers are not paid for the time we spend attending them (which is usually 2-3 hours, plus travel time), we’re not paid for the time we spend corresponding with the publicists who unfailingly follow up after the event, and we’re not paid for the time spent crafting and sending pitches regarding what we learned at the event.

As such, we need to be very, very selective with which events we attend and who we schedule meetings with. Several writers and editors I know in and around NYC have told me that they almost never go to these events because it is simply not worth the time investment. It may not be anything personal, but we need to make choices about how we spend our time and many of us need to prioritize work that pays our rent, vs unpaid meetings and events that may or may not pan out to anything. Why do you think pretty much every writer in the world is scheduling private consults and coaching these days (myself included, get at me if you’re interested!)?

The pic above is from the lovely Rendezvous Showroom that I attended last week. Not pictured is the bike that I always ride there and that they always let me safely stash behind the check-in table. I left with three panniers bags full of products that I’ve already begun testing. I’ve attended at least three of their events and they’re always worth my time. Shout out to Kristan Burba of Rendevous Events for putting on a great show.

Cassandra

---

How to Get Writers/Editors Excited to Attend

Whether you’re a massive agency trying to recruit writers for an upcoming product/destination showcase, or you’re a tiny brand that can only afford to invite someone for drinks, there are a handful of tried-and-true tips that can get writers excited about meeting with you, including several examples of how creative destinations and brand managers have convinced me to attend meetings and events.

From offering valuable incentives and introductions to how to handle food and transportation, here are eight specific tips on how to get writers excited to meet you.