How to Get Published in Meetings + Events

Why Planners Should Care About Being Published:
•  ISES CSEP certification:  requires 35 points to qualify for the exam; authoring articles for industry pubs can get you as many as 15 of those points.

•  MPI CMP certification: requires 90 points to qualify for exam; authoring articles can get you as many as 30 of those points.

•  Increases visibility for your company.

•  Promotes exchange of ideas, which strengthens the industry. In other words, what can you do to contribute to the overall health of your industry?

•  Everybody is a client. You don’t know where you’re going to get your next client, so get your brand out there as much as possible.

•  One published article may lead to a speaking gig or other requests for articles.

•  That accumulation of exposure builds credibility.

•  Published articles are essentially free advertising; magazines can charge upwards of $5,000 per page for advertisements—if your article appears on a page or more you’ve just netted yourself $5K+ worth of free advertising.

•  Even if you work as a corporate or association planner inside a private company, you may not want to be there forever; getting published gets your name out there so if you ever do decide to strike out on your own, you have name recognition.

How to Go About Getting Published:
•  Answer the call! The most important thing to do is simply reply if an editor asks you to contribute an article or even just contribute an anecdote or case study to a larger article. If you are cooperative and helpful and have good information, the editor will definitely remember you when it comes time to ask again.

•  Invite editors to your key events; if it’s appropriate, send an e-mail or press release to local editors and ask them to stop by so they can see the unique elements of your event in person—they will be more likely to want to do a profile of your work if they’ve seen it first-hand.

•  Check industry pubs websites—you will often find a call for submissions of articles. If so, answer the call!

•  Be opinionated and well informed. Editors LOVE contributors who are willing to take a stand and express an informed opinion about an industry topic, whether it’s new legislation, new certification requirements, unfair industry practices, responding to common criticisms…if you are willing to get on your soapbox, you are likely to reach a wider audience with your message and your brand.

•  Be funny. Everyone likes to lighten up once in awhile. Do you have crazy stories of events or meetings gone horribly wrong? A cache of weird requests? A “Day in the Life” that chronicles a really bad day that other planners can relate to? Offer to write something, or contribute to existing columns.

•  Even when you can’t answer the call, answer the call: let editors know that you appreciate being asked, that your schedule is too crazy right now but that you would love to be asked again.

Nuts and Bolts of Getting Published:
•  You don’t have to write the story—just submit your meeting or event to be used as a case study and offer to make yourself and other key suppliers on the team available for interviews.

•  Have photos of your meeting or event available. Keep in mind that photographers sell either first-time or complete rights to images. When possible, get complete rights; then you are free to submit those photos to any magazine or to multiple publications and websites.

•  Talk to your photographer up front and let him/her know that you plan to submit the photos and would be sure that he/she receives a photo credit. Then be sure to follow up with the publication to make sure your photographer receives credit.

•  Submit your idea first, not a complete article. Editors have long-range editorial calendars and they will cover particular topics in specific issues. They will also want to give you direction, talk to you about the style and tone of their publication, give you a word count, etc.

•  Submit your idea via e-mail, not as a phone call or in snail mail.

•  If you’re including sample photos of your event or meeting in the e-mail, make the photos are low-rez, otherwise they will clog up the editors e-mail box and download at a snail’s pace.

•  Submit any attachments that include your notes or outline in a Word document saved as a dot-doc. I recently received a submission from a local planner in an Illustrator document!!

•  Be patient. Depending on the frequency of the publication (MN M+E is just quarterly), editors may have planned 4, 5 or even 6 months out. But just when you think they will never publish, they may call saying they are doing a feature on tents, and your event had a great tent and they want to include it. Editors, like planners, come in all shapes and sizes—some very responsive, some not. Check in, but not too often.

•  Don’t submit the same story idea to multiple publications at the same time unless you inform each pub that you have done so.

•  Avoid being obviously self-promotional in your copy if you are writing the article. If you’re asked to write about your best tips for streamlining event registration, don’t constantly say “we do this well” or “we provide this service to the client.” Readers are turned off by obviously self-promotional articles and tend to dismiss them quickly. Instead, try to provide very useful info and tips and try to include tips from your peers as well when appropriate. You will get your self-promotion from the byline and the author’s bio that accompanies the article, which will include your company name and contact.

Different Opportunities for Getting Published:
•  News about you, your company, your events or your meetings can fit in the industry news sections of magazines. These are short blurbs about promotions, awards, new hires, etc., that editors compile largely from press releases or first-hand knowledge. So develop a press release template (sample press releases available on many sites online—Google “press release template”).

•  Author a Best Practices column or other specific column as requested by a magazine editor.

•  Get your meeting or event profiled. Keep in mind that even small aspects of the meeting or event will be newsworthy if there is something unique, groundbreaking or particularly effective about them.

•  Participate in editorial advisory boards; the magazine will likely publish your name, company affiliation, contact info and/or photo in the magazine.

•  Write a commentary or opinion piece for a magazine’s Opinion Page.

•  Write a Letter to the Editor. Readers read these pages religiously and editors love to run letters—they just don’t get many. If you take 5 minutes to write a letter to the editor, and somehow mention your own company or upcoming event or offer a different viewpoint to an article published previously by referring to your own work, you’ll get a good promotional bump.

•  Submit your tabletop to MN M+E “Tablescapes” section.

•  Submit photos of your industry event to MN M+E “Snapshots” section.

On the Web:
•  Blogging. Most magazines would be happy to give you a blogging forum, some may even pay you a small sum to contribute. Also, comment on blogs—that leads to additional conversation/exchange of info and your name gets out there as someone who is plugged in to the industry.

•  Submit photos of your event/meeting to the Web editor; most magazine sites have photo galleries of industry events; unique events designed by planners; etc.

Is there a Downside to Getting Published?
•  Not really. Common concerns would be: someone is going to steal my idea/why should I give away my secrets?

Where Can You Get Published?•  Minnesota Meetings + Events (or any of our sister pubs in Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Colorado, Southern California, Northern California, the Northwest or the Southwest)•  PCMA Convene
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