Blogging an event. How many of you have heard of this? Probably not many. We’re pioneering a whole new concept in journalism. What do we call it? Online journalism? What do you call it when I attend an event and post numerous pictures, audio and even video files which are usually posted while the event is happening or immediately after it’s over?
To get an idea of how extensive this coverage can be check out the posts I did at the recent Syngenta Media Day in Raleigh, NC. Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., through their public relations agency, Gibbs & Soell, sponsored my trip. That is, they paid me to attend and write about what I saw and heard. I took photos, used some they supplied me and interviewed some of their people. This event started around 8am and was finished around 3pm. I posted 20 times including over 20 pictures and 5 audio interviews and they were all on AgWired before the end of the day (same day). Many of the posts were done during the actual presentations.
I just did a Google search for the words, Syngenta Media Day. Of 256,000 results, AgWired was the #1 result above Syngenta’s own website! Not too shabby for a little old “new media” outlet, eh?
Syngenta can now point anyone they want, including customers or media representatives who didn’t attend, to go to AgWired and view the content and download audio or images. If someone needs hi-res pictures all they have to do is email me and I’ll return one to them immediately.
At the end of the event I burned all the pictures and audio to a CD and left it with them. They can post them onto their own website and it’s my understanding that is exactly what they plan to do. Their investment in this is minimal and yet they have immediate multimedia content that’s online before the other media attending even get home to their offices.
