Author: Chris Dolnack, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

The following article was written by public relations pro, Sherry Kerr, from Outdoor Media Resources. OMR represents several companies that exhibit at the SHOT Show.

For many manufacturers, meeting with the press is one of the most important reasons to attend the SHOT Show. Do it right, and it will pay dividends all year with editorial coverage and ongoing press relationships. Enter the show unprepared, however, and it will be a missed opportunity you can't get back.

The SHOT Show presents many opportunities to meet with, demonstrate your wares to, entertain, host and inform writers and editors. None is more important than meetings you hold in the booth. Here are some ways you can prepare for press meetings in your SHOT Show booth:

• Have a designated person to meet with the press. If you don't have a public relations person, either in-house or an agency, designate a marketing person or executive who knows your products intimately and can present them. That person must also know your company's policies regarding product samples for review by the press. Make sure everyone working in the booth knows who the press contact is and refers writers and editors to him or her.

• Have a designated space in the booth for press meetings. Ideally, this would be a conference room reserved for media, but if your booth won't accommodate that, a small table and chairs in a corner work well. Make writers comfortable; they're more likely to have a favorable visit and want to stay for your presentation.

• Prepare a concise new-product presentation, and have a set of new product samples handy for demonstration. Remember, the press is primarily at the show to see what's new. Expand as time allows and concentrate on their areas of interest. Expect to talk about specific projects and possibly product samples. Remember that not every product is applicable to every writer. Learn what you can about their publications and subject matter, then focus on what they need to know, not necessarily on what you had wanted to talk about.

• Have electronic press kits ready to hand to those who want to take one with them, but offer to mail them (or provide download information) to those who don't. Given a choice, most writers and editors will prefer that you mail them or e-mail a link for download.

• Respect their time. If anything is harder to manage at the SHOT Show than footwear that will help your feet hold out, it's time. Working press will need to cover every possible square inch of the show, and they won't likely have much time to spend with you. Be available and be prepared. Don't waste their time by showing them your hunting photos unless they ask.

• Contact writers in advance to invite them to visit your booth. Offer to set appointments but understand if they prefer to stop by when they're in the neighborhood. Give them a preview of what you have to show them.

• Be understanding if writers don't meet appointments or are late. Most take their appointments seriously, but sometimes they simply get stuck somewhere else and can't get to the next meeting on time. The SHOT Show is, by necessity, held in a huge facility, and traveling from Point A to Point B can be like driving across the city during rush hour. When I set appointments, I provide my cell phone number in case they need to make changes or are running late.

• Approach writer meetings with the right attitude. Writers and editors are not intruders in your booth, nor are they there with their hands out. They are professionals with a job to do; your job is to help them do it.

• Before the meeting is over, prepare for the next step. Are you the ongoing contact for follow-up calls? Whether you exchange business cards or bump iPhones, make sure they know whom to contact afterward and how to reach that person. Ask for permission to add them to your contact list for press-release distribution. Take notes on what interests them, and follow up after the show.

One final bit of advice: Some of the writers you'll meet at the SHOT Show will likely be bloggers and Web site owners. Don't know what to do with them? Show interest, learn what you can from them and check out their blogs and sites afterward. If you don't know how to evaluate digital media, use online tools to learn. The days of all writers and editors representing print magazines or newspapers are over.

Regardless of what other writer events you may be hosting, nothing is more important than the one-on-one time you spend with writers in your booth. Be prepared, and your business will benefit all year.

Sherry Kerr, the author of this article, has been the name and face of Outdoor Media Resources for 20 years. OMR provides public relations and marketing communications for the outdoor industry. She represents several companies that exhibit at the SHOT Show. To learn more about the services of Outdoor Media Resources, visit www.outdoormediaresources.com, or e-mail SherryOMR@cs.com.