Your Event Invitation To The Press (and Others)

Planning a special event is typically a laborious task and every detail counts. One thing people may overlook is their invitation copy. Whether it’s sent snail mail or e-mail, there are some essential elements that should be included, otherwise you create more work by receiving phone calls and e-mails that could’ve been answered in the invite, or even worse, you don’t receive a response.

When sending out your invites, the basic who, what, when, where, why and how apply. Below is the context of how this information is relevant:

• Who is the point of contact if the media person/reporter/writer wants to contact someone quickly? Who can provide her/him with more information?

• What is the purpose of the event? What is going to be interesting and/or newsworthy?

• When is it being held? This includes the date and time for the event.

• Where is the event being held? (For obvious reasons, this is important, but I’ve seen invites where this information is eliminated.)

• Why should a media person attend? Will there be something for media attendee to see or experience? What is newsworthy about the event? This should answer the reason “why” a media person would attend, as opposed to just having the media attendee receive the information in an e-mail or via phone.

• How does the person RSVP? You may or may not receive an RSVP, but it’s good to let people know whom they may contact to confirm their attendance.

Be sure to include other pertinent details like whether food and/or refreshments will be served, dress attire, if applicable (which may be ignored by media attendees as they are often dressed appropriately for work), etc. Also, proofread and spell check. Sloppy invite can mean sloppy event to some, so look again!

Finally, your invite should not be too lengthy. Think succinct…yet enticing – after all, you want them to attend!