Working With: the Media at Trade Shows and Events

Wired Island’s top tips for tech companies

13th January 2025 | Written by Gavin Loader

The jam-packed 2025 events calendar kicked off in January with CES, one of the biggest and most bustling tech events of the year, where companies, journalists, and industry leaders all converge.

In the second of our new blog series, ‘Working With’, Mike Sottak, founder and managing director of Wired Island, our tech PR member agency for the US (and pictured here with co-founder, Toni Sottak) offers insights and top tips for Working With the media at trade shows and events like CES. 

Tip 1: Prepare Media Work in Advance

For a show like CES, one of the golden rules is that most of the work happens well before the event even starts. If you haven’t lined up your meetings and interviews in advance, you’re already behind and you are not going to get an efficient return.  

Journalists book their time weeks, even months ahead of CES, so trying to schedule meetings on the fly will be nearly impossible. 

Fortunately, CES offers a registered press list—a key resource for planning.

For our clients, we go through this list carefully, weeks or months in advance. We filter it by geography, industry focus, or other relevant industry criteria. We take time to identify the ones who already have relationships with our clients, and our ‘aspirational’ targets who we don’t often get to meet with in person. This way, we can identify the right journalists with the right pitch to target and start building clients’ outreach strategies early. 

By researching the journalists attending and understanding what they’re covering, we can develop personalised pitches that increase the chances of meaningful interactions and media coverage.

 

Tip 2: Share Your News Early

There is a lot of noise at a show like CES in terms of announcements and press releases, and with companies jockeying for position. Standing out is a challenge. 

The most effective ways to grab media attention is to share news ahead of time. Most journalists will honour embargoes and will appreciate being able to have stories “in the can” and ready to break at the show, before they even arrive.

Announcing a major product launch on the day of CES is tough because everyone’s attention is fragmented by then. Instead, we try getting your news out to journalists two to three weeks before the show. This gives them time to digest the information, pre-write their articles, and schedule embargoed releases for CES.

This tactic helps your news get noticed before it gets lost in the flood of announcements at the event.

 

Tip 3: Big News Gets Big Attention

When deciding what to announce at CES or any other significant event, the focus is really on major innovations or product launches. Smaller updates or tier-two announcements are less likely to get media coverage.

CES is a great venue for showcasing blockbuster products or announcements, but unless you’ve got something truly groundbreaking, extended press coverage is tough to secure.

That said, CES isn’t just for gaining media coverage—it’s also a prime opportunity to build your brand presence. Companies often use the event to be seen, network with customers, analysts and investors, and establish themselves as active participants in the scene.

 

Tip 4: Take the Time to Meet People That Matter

Following my previous point, while media coverage is important, personal connections often make the most lasting impact at CES.

During the year, we’re emailing people or just holding zoom calls, so trade shows like CES are excellent for meeting people face-to-face, whether it’s journalists, potential clients, or business partners.

Even if you don’t have breaking news to share, these interactions are valuable for pitching future stories, building relationships, and generating ideas. And journalists appreciate the relationship building, too, both with us as PR people and also clients’ executives. Offering a key press person a chance for an informal or non-news-driven chat with an exec to discuss trends for the coming year is often a welcome opportunity for a savvy media person.

Face to face interaction is irreplaceable! 

 

Tip 5: Take Expert Help Where You Can

PR agencies are invaluable in helping to prep before, coordinate during, and analysing after the show. You can use a PR team for everything from media outreach to post-event analysis.

Before the show they can help with prepping for whatever announcements you want to make, lining up media interviews, and just kind of scoping out what’s going to happen at the event.

During the show, the PR agency’s role is to be your eyes and ears throughout the event. Even with the media list in advance, journalists ‘turn up’ all the time unannounced, on the fly. The PR team can help schedule meetings, monitor media coverage in real-time, and ensure everything runs smoothly. A PR team might be on the ground for four to five days helping.  

Afterwards, an agency can help you understand what went well and what didn’t, so you’re better prepared for next year, as well as conduct a competitive analysis of what got covered – and what didn’t.

 

Final Thoughts

Navigating CES—or any large-scale trade show—can be a serious undertaking, but with the right preparation and strategy, you can make a significant impact. By planning ahead, sharing news early, focusing on big announcements, building meaningful relationships, and leveraging expert help, you’ll be setting yourself up for success.

 

You can learn more about Wired Island in our 3-minute Coffee With interview. Alternatively, if you need help with international or global tech PR especially in the US, please do get in touch and signup to our newsletter.

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