3 Upsides of the Zoom Press Conference

The tried-and-true press conference as we know it has all but vanished during the Covid-19 crisis. 

Other than Governor-led social-distanced affairs, and whatever the White House may cook up on any given day, in-person press conferences aren’t happening right now. 

In their stead, organizations are turning to playing host to virtual press conferences.

I recently had the opportunity to coordinate my first virtual news conference to support the effort to get a community college established in Erie County, Pa. – and the result was surprisingly positive.

In fact, I might even dare say virtual news conferences have several clear advantages over traditional, in-person affairs. 

Here are three advantages:

Logistics: On-site press conferences have always been labor-intensive, with the need to find the right location and proper supporting visuals, as well as making sure key players and the media get there in time. Then, of course, there are always weather considerations if the event is scheduled outside. 

Conversely, the logistics for a Zoom news conference are simple. We simply set up the meeting through our Zoom account, and sent the log-on link and call-in info as part of the press alert. We also did a quick run-of-show beforehand to make sure all participants knew the plan, looked good on-screen, and were comfortable with the technology.

Media participation: Right now, at least, virtual news conferences are a great way to get the media to pay attention to an important announcement. It was easy for two local television stations to simply log-on to the meeting and video-record the action. At one station, it looked like a producer just set the camera up, and went about some other business throughout the conference. Still, we ended up with a strong story on the 6 pm news. 

Another key advantage regarding participation -- we were easily able to expand our reach. While the participants in the conference were in Erie Pa., this was a story with potential statewide interest. To that end, we were able to get a reporter from the state capital in Harrisburg to log onto the conference and give us coverage. That is something that would have been all but impossible at an in-person conference. 

Easier, more substantial follow-up: We simply hit ‘record’ at the start of the press conference, and, voila, we had the complete session video-recorded and ready to share. The local newspaper didn’t have a reporter available to cover the virtual conference in real time, but we sent them the recording and they were able to produce a complete story on their own timeline. 

Here are two quick lessons learned from my maiden virtual news conference experience that are worth considering:

1. Make sure you spend ample time to prepare the visual presentation. You want to make sure all of your spokespeople look good on camera. I advise doing a run through before you go live – mostly to ensure everyone is properly lit and positioned at an ideal distance from their screen. 

2. Remind participants that everything is being captured on video, including times when they are not talking. Some of the B-roll shots used by one station showed a few images that weren’t overly flattering, including one of yours truly gazing distractedly off into space. 

I certainly don’t think the virtual press conference will fully replace the on-site version once things start returning to normal. There are clear benefits to being ‘live’, particularly in instances where background visuals play a key role in telling your story. 

But based on this experience and the ever-shrinking staffs at newspapers and television stations, there will be times in the post-Covid-19 world in which a virtual press conference makes a lot of sense. Consider it an emerging new tool for your media relations toolkit.