We have a hotel opening up in the Dulles Airport area of Virginia. It is a Hilton Garden Inn which is part of the Hilton Family of brands. I need creative ideas on how to show our rooms, meeting rooms, fitness center etc. Also, I am sort of stumped on the theme of this party. The Hilton Garden Inn is unique in that is caters to business travelers.

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Jay’s Answer: (I’m assuming that the party will be for local government, larger businesses, and the Chamber of Commerce)

Given you’re a Garden Inn, you could focus on business/garden. For example, in each of the rooms you’re showing, have fresh flowers everywhere (being sensitive to people with allergies!). Provide guests with a “treasure hunt” game card. On the card, ask them to identify some key aspects of the rooms on the “tour”. For example:

1. How many meeting rooms do you have
2. How many rowing machines
3. How many sq ft was the guest room
4. What was the size of the bed in the guest room
5. Where were the high-speed internet cables located
6. Which room had Hawaiian flowers, etc

The point is to highlight your new features by having them fill in the blanks visually. Each contest entry (with correct answers) is eligible for a weekend’s free stay at your new hotel. Grand prize might be a free weekend at any of the HGI properties.

Realize that your bigger goal is getting new guests, not throwing a party. That’s why each entry form should have not only a phone number, but full contact information so you can contact them after the event to get feedback on the property, their business travel needs, etc.

My company (an architectural/engineering firm) has doubled in size in 3 years, reached the over 1k employee mark, completed 2 acquisitions with cash, hasn’t drawn on credit, is designing the only 3 auto plants in the US, over 50% of our work is in the renewable energy market (although our clients are very confidential and won’t let us talk about the projects specifically), our 3 yr old China office is now our 3rd largest – soon to be our 2nd. Our HQ is in the rust belt. It’s our 60th anniversary. I have to believe that in this economy this is newsworthy on a national level. I’m just not sure what the best way is to go about finding the angle or the hook and I’m quite certain reporters at that level don’t want a weak pitch, or have the time to figure out how to stitch this all together. I feel the quotes from PR firms to make this happen are unreasonable. Any suggestions on how to flush the story out and make something happen?

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Jay’s Answer: Many PR people earn their salary by developing relationships with the media resulting in pitches that are heard. You’ve no doubt been quoted a higher fee to access the ears of a select group of reporters/editors who are deluged with pitches. A great PR person would also help you spin your story for specific reporter needs.

If you want to go at it alone, you have a few options:

• A press release. The release would focus on a hook. For example, 60-year anniversary, 3 recessions, and still going strong.
• Leveraging your vertical reporter connections. Ask them for who they are connected with nationally.
• Leveraging your clients’ connections. If one of your clients is doing something PR-worthy, offer to write a press release for them, featuring how your relationship has made it happen.

Here are some companies that offer pay-for-performance PR:

• http://www.payperclippr.com
• http://www.matrixmarketinggroup.com/payforperformance.htm
• http://www.sandiegopublicrelations.com/pay-by-performance.html