JENNINGS STROUSS VC PANEL
Jennings Strouss, a large, Phoenix-area law firm, was looking to promote its newly formed biotechnology and life sciences practice area and had planned participation in Bio Expo 2003, Phoenix’s annual bioindustry event. The chair of the Jennings Strouss biotechnology and life sciences area was assembling a panel of top bioindustry venture capitalists that the firm was flying in from around the country and wanted to get press exposure for the VC session. We were engaged and challenged to create a compelling enough reason to get local biotech reporters to attend this session, versus the other sessions that would be occurring in the same time slot.
We created a targeted press list and supporting materials needed (bios, etc.) to pitch the story. We wrote a distributed a press release a month prior to the event as a “save the date” piece, followed by a one-page media advisory that encapsulated the key points (funding for Arizona biotech companies, investment trends, etc.) for the press. We emailed and phoned all press and really pitched the session, offering them interviews with the firm’s chair as the official spokesperson.
Jennings Strouss let us know they would find the effort to be successful if even one key reporter covered it. We landed several key reporters from the following news organizations: Arizona Republic (major daily paper in this market), The Tribune, Business Journal and Arizona Business Magazine and bizAZ Magazine. We gave them press kits/presentation packets and coordinated follow-up interviews. bizAZ posted the entire transcript from the session on its website. The others wrote stories right after the event, in every case quoting the Jennings Strouss department chair as the spokesperson. Furthermore, at our recommendation, the chair had lunch with the Arizona Republic biotech reporter, which resulted in a huge business section story (with her photo) on her expert opinion on the new Arizona State University’s new biotech law program. She got dozens of calls from colleagues, clients and prospective clients who saw the piece, which created great positive word of mouth and helped put her department on the map in Phoenix. Additionally, as a result of the recent article, she has been asked to teach ASU’s “Genetics & Law” class and is being interviewed by the National Law Journal and by bizAZ.