#prfail: Scottish Baby Show to bloggers: you’re not welcome
Posted in Blog Entries:, Media, PR Issues, Social Media on March 4th, 2010
By Craig

Q: What has a blog, a twitter account, is on Facebook (great landing page there) and yet doesn’t want bloggers at its event?

A: The Scottish Baby Show at the SECC in Glasgow.

Now, I know many Scottish companies are still sceptical about the power of blogging or online customer engagement, but if there was one area which has easily proven the power of online, it’s the realm of online parenting – mum blogs, dad blogs, mumsnet, Sally Whittle’s wonderful top parent blog list – it’s well established and you would really need to be living in the Event PR/Marketing Stone Age to not think that parent bloggers are quite handy for an event which is basically set up to sell tons to parents (I still shudder at the spend from the first one we went to years ago before Dear Daughter was born).

Total disclaimer, I got in touch with the organisers - QD Events -to see if there was a press day and if so, could I go along as my alter-ego from Scottish Blogger Dad. I was looking forward to grabing the Kodak Zi8, a mike and a stills camera, interviewing everyone, doing blog pieces on them all, filming and interviewing them for the people who read the posts that appear on SDB. After years of seeing others do it, I was looking forward to an event where I had no official involvement and get tore right in and, quite frankly, cover the hell out of it (I’ve been dying to do this since Jon Nagl and others did a wonderful blogging job at the Tesco Enjoy the Taste of Scotland event I invited bloggers to two years ago).

(There’s also a couple of products, like the Stokke, that the wife is keen on and I’m not so the chance to speak to the experts about them would help me make my mind up about buying them (and when you consider a Stokke fully kitted comes in at £800, we’re not talking small drops of change for most parents))

However, I realise that me in full-on journalist/blogger mode isn’t going to be much fun for the wife so I agree to go another day with the wife (to buy stuff) and I drop an email to the organisers asking if there’s a press day and if so, can I head along to cover the stands and so on.

The reply comes back:

“Unfortunately we do not permit Press/Blog passes to The Scottish Baby Show, and the show is public so there isn’t really a quite time for this one.

Obviously if you wanted to come along to the show as a visitor that is fine but again video/photography and interviewing is not permitted at The Scottish Baby show.

There are all sorts of tie ups with press co-ordanaited things at our bigger exhibitions like The Scottish Baby Show, also the SECC itself has a no photography/videography rule as standard.”

I find it quite amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I admit as much as anyone that there’s a lot of nonsense posted about the power of blogging and so on, but it can be good for businesses as well.

But, in an age of traditional media declining (in terms of staff to cover events, readership and influence) to tell the growing group of media not to come or bring the tools of their trade smacks me as astonishing.

Now, I’ll still be going along, but it’s now soured for me and at an event where the primary goal is to get me to spend money – and lots of it – I’m now going grudgingly, which means I’m going to be more reluctant to spend money at it or with exhibitors.

I laughed this morning when I saw a video by Chris Brogan and he was talking about how “the conversation” was so three years ago, now was the time of doing and engaging with customers. Perhaps his speech should have had the subtitle we’re so used to north of the border: “except for viewers in Scotland.”

It’s a double shame because a lot of the exhibitors seem to be spending their time engaging with customers online, so it’s a wallop again that the bloggers can’t go and do these exhibitors justice online.

In fact, I’ve just been looking through the list of exhibitors and yes, most of them have a website, some also have a Twitter presence, even more hilarious, at least two of them are online-only businesses (including More 4 Mums which helped close a government website down through, you guessed it, a blog).

The landing page for the Facebook page is quite funny though. “No upcoming events”. Oh really?

Anyway, in case anyone thinks is all about the snark without some constructive pointers, here’s 25 tips for involving social media and bloggers at events.

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  • Mairi

    PRs beware – the disgruntled journalist is a powerful thing. Did you see what happened when Easyjet cancelled a flight to Barcelona – that was supposed to be filled with PRs going to the Mobile World Congress – it was all over Twitter and Blogs – have a look here http://community.prweek.com/blogs/kittens/archive/2010/02/15/easyjetfail.aspx. So… PRs beware of the unhappy blogger and Tweeter…

  • Ellen A

    Astonishing. I wonder how many of these companies will or have been on to various parent bloggers for a free plug?

  • Crystal Jigsaw

    I guess we need to remember that there’s no point in putting a link to this baby show on our blogs. How strange; they need to open their eyes and realise that blogging is an incredible way to promote.

    CJ xx

  • http://www.contently-managed.com/blog/2010/03/04/social-media-advice-for-event-types-how-i-would-have-done-the-scottish-baby-show/ Social media advice for event types: how I would have done the Scottish Baby Show | Contently Managed – Digital PR, Social Media, Traditional PR Solutions and Strategy

    [...] You might have noticed where I put on my nappy-head and moaned about bloggers being told not to blog/film at the SECC in Glasgow for the Scottish Baby Show. [...]

  • http://www.scottish-blogger-dad.com/2010/03/05/scottish-baby-show/ Scottish Baby Show | Scottish Blogger Dad

    [...] This was meant to be a post about the upcoming Scottish Baby Show and how I was going to cover it and have some fun with the exhibitors, but instead the organisers have said that any bloggers going can’t do pictures or video or interview exhibitors, so that’s that scuppered. You can read more here, where I put on the social media dayjob hat. [...]

  • Joe

    “There are all sorts of tie ups with press co-ordanaited things at our bigger exhibitions like The Scottish Baby Show, also the SECC itself has a no photography/videography rule as standard”

    Apart from this not making a whole lot of sense have you had a word with the SECC?

    I was at the VisitScotland Expo last year and spent a good part of the day doing photography inside the building at a stand.

    It could be that they are telling the truth and I was being cheeky, but the link below says different…

    http://www.secc.co.uk/about-the-secc/media-centre/filming-and-photography-at-secc.aspx

    Seems a little unfair for them to try and make an excuse and pass blame onto the SECC.

    I wonder what the exhibitors would say if you contacted them directly????

  • http://www.craig-mcgill.com Craig

    Joe, I’ve had quite a few emails from exhibitors saying ‘come along, film what you want’ and I will! To be fair, the organisers have also been in touch and I believe they are now offering some tix to bloggers through the British Mummy Bloggers site (can’t link to it direct as no-one there will approve my membership!)

  • Blog Queen

    Its a shame that someone has took the hump over getting the knockback for free tickets.

    i pay to go into all exhibitions, for instance the MCN motorbike show in the Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh. (anyone going??)

    Try buying a ticket and maybe a product or two??? Then you can discuss value for money AND you are supporting the company’s you are typing about.

    Blogging – Microblogging – Social Networks are now moan buckets for those who have learned to use a computer, swapping a pen and paper with a book of stamps for a keyboard and a clear attitude.

    Please keep you moans and chips to yourself OR be happy =]

    It works for me.

    Blog Queen – Happy and Clean*

    *if possible

  • http://www.more4mums.co.uk Lynn@more4mums

    Just found your post and I am furious, as a small business this is my first baby show and I expect professional marketing. I am off to kick some butt.

  • http://www.craig-mcgill.com Craig

    Dear Blog Queen, you know that your IP address links you back to the company that owns the SECC? I’d be more impressed with your comment – which I’ll reply to later in full if you had the conviction of putting your name to the post.

  • http://www.craig-mcgill.com Craig

    Lynn, to be fair, the organisers – and a bunch of exhibitors have been in touch since the original post. I’ve been quite hectic so haven’t had much of a chance to update here until today, but I’ll do a post tonight.

  • http://www.craig-mcgill.com Craig

    At no point did I say I wanted free tix. I didn’t. I wanted to know who I could film and speak with and give exposure to for each of the exhibitors during any potential press day. I’ve put on events with press days and allowed bloggers along. As I said, it didn’t seem fair to drag the wife along (being 8 months pregnant) for all of that (though she is more than welcome).

    And have you ever considered that if people are moaning, they might have something to moan about? After all, this blog is normally about how companies interact with bloggers and press and more often than not, offers pointers on how to do it, so I don’t moan, I make observations and suggestions for improvement. And I don’t even charge for it here.

    Fancy meeting up at the event anyway? Never heard of you before and I always like meeting new bloggers. And if you are The Blog Queen, you must have blogs (that you seem to have forgotten to include a link to)…

  • http://www.more4mums.co.uk Lynn@more4mums

    OK, I got a bit upset earlier. The Baby Show is a big investment for me as I normally do everthing online for a fraction of the cost! I am however disappointed with their facebook page, twitter and blog and have expressed some concern.

    I have since had a reply from their marketing department so will wait to see the outcome in the next week.

  • Cheeky Wipes Helen

    Cheers for letting me know about this. Not how I would have liked it handled at all. Will definitely be getting in touch with them about this…

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