Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Overview - In March 2007 Yorkshire County Cricket Club held a press conference announcing its new management team of Martyn Moxon and Ian Dawes. The press conference was held at Leeds Met due to the university’s sporting partnership with the cricket club. The announcement coincided with the cricket teams first training after the winter break which was also hosted at the university.
Brief - To assist in the event management of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club press conference and provide pre and post event PR support.
Objective –To make sure the press conference runs smoothly and is well attended in order to maximise potential coverage.
Task – A week prior to the event my role was to telephone sport journalists and invite them to attend the press conference. In the days leading up to the announcement I made follow-up emails and phone calls to ensure attendance. I was bound by a confidentiality agreement and could not reveal the identity of the new management team and this made ‘selling in’ the story slightly difficult and speculation was rife.
On the day of the press conference I helped set-up the hall where the announcement would take place. I also assisted in making sure Leeds Met corporate branding and literature was in place, as well as preparing press packs for the journalists. Before, during and after the press conference I also had to ensure that the speakers and other VIP’s were comfortable.
After the press conference, journalists could book 5 minute time slots with any of the speakers. It was my role was to allocate these slots efficiently and make sure that journalists did not overrun their allotted time.
Evidence – Leeds Met website.
Results – There was a large Communications and Marketing team working on this project, which ensured the press conference ran smoothly and was well attended by journalists. The story received a lot of press coverage the following day and the press conference was considered a success by the Leeds Met and Yorkshire County Cricket Club management teams.
