As I am sure you are aware, MediaConnect's annual journalist forum Kickstart Asia, is just around the corner.

The event will bring together 40 or more of the leading technology journalists and provide any vendor who attends with a fantastic opportunity to as we say Educate/Network/Pitch/Learn.

While many vendors come to our event with great 'news' stories and subsequently receive substantial coverage, we very strongly position the event as your opportunity to lay the foundations for a successful PR

I want to take a little time to focus on the 'Learn' part of the event.

When I first started in tech journalism some 14 years ago, I was very green and while I knew about computers from my mis-spent youth, I had no idea about the subject matter on which I was writing – Networking.

A few months after I joined I was invited by 3Com to spend a Friday afternoon with their MD Nick Jackson drinking a couple of beers in the boardroom and going through the basics of networking. Let’s call it Networking 101.

I left that afternoon feeling really good about the fact that some of these acronyms finally started to make sense and with the hope that some of my conversations and stories might also start making sense.

I also left there feeling very good about 3Com. Here was the boss of a rather large company taking a couple of hours out of his day to educate a junior journalist on some basic’s that to be honest I should have been taught by my employer.

I spent the next 3 years in different journalism/editing positions and while I prided myself on the fact that I wrote about vendors who had news worthy stories, I can tell you that every time a 3Com media release or pitch came across my desk I gave it extra consideration. I did this for two main reasons.
Firstly in appreciation of the time and effort they put in to training me.
Secondly because I felt I had developed a good relationship with them, and I knew that if I had any questions, needed comments or quick answers to turn around a story that they would get back to me in the time frame needed. This is even more critical these days. Back in my day I was talking about a monthly magazine, media today are increasingly working with immediate deadlines due to the pressures of online publishing.

Our upcoming Kickstart Asia Forum really gives you the opportunity to lay foundations to a similarly successful PR campaign.

The media who attend our events consistently tell us the main reason they come is for education. They know and appreciate that many of the leading vendors in IT attend the event and send down some of their key personnel to take the time to meet and network with them.

I truly believe the vendors who utilize this event and take this approach see the best returns out of their investment and involvement with the Forum.

To find out more about our Forums and how your company can take advantage of them please contact me at glen@mediaconnectasia.com or checkout the link here