PR Guide

Healthcare Information Technologies ’98

Hynes Convention Center

Boston, MA

December 8-10, 1998

November 1998

Dear Public Relations Colleague:

Thank you for participating in Healthcare Information Technologies ’98. This first year event will be the largest 100% pure healthcare and information trade show. Based on location and interest we expect the excitement surrounding the show to attract hundreds of working media.

This guide contains many important details about public relations activities at the show. To help you better target those journalists who will pre-register for the show, we have asked them to specify areas of interest and their affiliations’ URLs. We hope this information useful.

HIT ’98 public relations team is always ready to help you in make HIT ’98 a successful event.

Call us anytime. Have a great show!

Designing Your PR Campaign For Healthcare Information Technologies ’98

Establish Your Trade Show Publicity Objectives

First and foremost, establish your campaign objectives. HIT ’98 will be the leading forums for publicizing new products and services, meeting with members of the media to discuss your company’s position, promoting new alliances and announcing company restructuring. Determine your objectives and develop a plan to reach them.

Develop A Targeted Press List

After setting your objectives, decide which media you should target. Review computer, trade and business publications to learn who covers your company’s beat. You may want to purchase an editorial directory or editorial contact management software to develop a comprehensive list of reporters.

Your list of reporters should be continually updated. Establish a good working relationship with them, and ensure they receive your press releases, are familiar with your organization’s top management, and promptly honor their requests for more information or interviews. Find out how each reporter prefers to be contacted (phone, fax, e-mail or postal mail).

As we post the show’s pre-registered press lists to you, determine the press you should target. Many reporters will register on site, so we will not have these names prior to the show. It is usually inappropriate to send your news to the entire press list. Most reporters have specific beats. Please be sure to research the reporters and publications on the list we send you. We have included the media’s URLs to make it easier for you to find out information, and asked journalists to include their specific beats which should help you target them more effectively.

We recommend that you inform other reporters on your targeted media list about Healthcare Information Technologies ’98 and invite them to attend.

Increase Your Visibility Using Key Communications Tools

IMPORTANT: Contact the Media before the Show

To ensure that reporters are aware of your show activities, contact them before the event. Reaching reporters before HIT increases your exposure and makes it easier for the reporter to learn about your product, review your idea, and schedule an on-site meeting.

The Press Kit

A typical press kit contains press releases, a company profile, executive bios, product photos, a business card and even a diskette. Often times, the typical press kit contains too much information.

With 130 exhibitors at HIT ’98, a journalist would have to hire a caddie to cart around the entire contents of every press kit. Reporters need to find the "hard" news quickly and easily. It is imperative your press kits be concise and include the most important information on top.

The foundation of a press kit is a well-written press release, which should include the following:

• Contact name, phone number, e-mail address and booth number.
• An attention-grabbing headline that will encourage the journalist to keep reading.
• Dateline information. For example, a press announcement being released at the show should read, "December 10, 1998, Healthcare Information Technologies ’98, Boston, MA." We encourage the use of the Healthcare Information Technology dateline in your press releases. It makes it easier for editors to identify the event, location and time frame of your press release.

• The most important information should be in the first paragraph.

• Is this "hard news" (breaking stories) or "soft news" (background or position statements)?
• Is your news unique enough to warrant attention in the press?
• What’s your "hook?"
• In the first two paragraphs do you tell the reporters who, what, where, when, how and why?
• Is your news release objective? Based on facts and figures? Focused on one main idea?
• Is it written in the third person, with opinions in quotes and sources identified?
• Is your product ready? Are you pre-releasing information to build market awareness?
• Is this beta or vaporware?
• If you have statistics, have you devised a way to dramatize them?

Make sure that your press kit folder has your company name on the front. Place a sticker on the kit with your booth number.

Business Wire will post Electronic Media Kits (EMKs) on their Healthcare Information Technologies ’98 Trade Show site (www.businesswire.com/tradeshow). These electronic media kits may contain news releases, photos, graphics, audio and more. The Business Wire Trade Show Web site will be bookmarked and promoted to media prior to and during the show in the Press Center (See page 11 for additional information).

HIT ’98 Graphics and Dateline

HIT ’98 logos, ads and other graphic files along with instructions on how to download them are available on our Web site at http://www.hitexpo.com or http://www.pacificdialogue.com. (Go to the press registration page and copy the logos at the top or bottom of the page...if you need directions on how-to, call. The logos are also in the exhibitor only section of hitexpo.com. Again, if you need help, call.)

Press releases should be datelined HIT ’98.

These logos include images with the words "See Us at HIT ’98" that you can display on your Web site, along with banners that can be used in your press kits or other printed material.

Tips From Journalists

Every publicist main objective is to help journalists cover and write about the products of your client/company. The goal is to convince journalists to be your advocate with their organization. Only they can fight their boss for air, space and ink. This comes with long-term relationships and real "news."

Press Releases

Too many press releases are pure advertising. Stick to the basics, remembering the purpose of the press release is to present "news", not to advertise. Journalists are not going to believe that your product is "going to revolutionize the field."

Keep press releases to no more than one page in length. Journalists are always pressed for time. You must get their attention quickly or risk not getting any at all. They want facts, not a short story. E-mail releases are a growing trend, keep them short. Keep your press releases in a simple format, don’t send them as attachments (what you can read on your machine will be computer code on someone else’s, especially when they are on deadline).

Do not send large GIF files that will take forever to download.

When you are announcing a new product for the first time, include a white paper detailing the product. This serves as a reference guide so journalists can understand how it works.

Always provide a name, address, phone number and e-mail address on all your press materials. This will make it easier for journalists to get in contact with you.

Include a bulleted fact sheet, especially, if you are announcing the release of a new product:

• What the product is
• When it was first released
• What platforms it runs on (Windows 95, Windows NT, UNIX, and Macintosh)
• How much it costs
• Contact people for the press
• URLs and other contact information for the general public (They may want to know more about your firm.)
• Who will use your product?
• What’s the market?
• What’s the benefit?

Press Kits

Send press kits to those reporters and freelance writers who request them. It can become very expensive for you to send press kits to every journalist on your list! A press release can be compared to an "appetizer," while the press kits are the "entree." Journalists may not be ready for the main course in the beginning—they need to warm up to it.

Correspondence

Never call journalists to ask if they received your press release. Remember that they receive dozens and one press release can be hard to distinguish from another. You might send an e-mail reminder, but be ready to be tagged for "spamming." Call only if there are errors in your press releases. So far many reporters regard e-mails as friendly, phone calls as intrusive and faxes as acts of war.

Press Conferences

The worst situation is a press conference without any press. Even if you’ve called, faxed and e-mailed all pertinent information to your targeted media, there is so much to see at Healthcare Information Technologies ’98 that journalists will not have the time to attend each and every conference.

Remember the following in deciding whether or not to hold a press conference:

• Is my company a category leader?
• Is my announcement newsworthy?
• Is there another way I can deliver my message?

If, after reviewing the above criteria, you decide to hold a press conference, remember:

• Press conferences should be used to break news.
• Rooms will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. HIT ’98 cannot guarantee exclusivity. Press conferences will be scheduled in overlapping times. Two companies who want to hold press conferences first on Wednesday morning may be scheduled "against" each other.
• Time slots are 45 minutes in length.
• No conferences will be scheduled during the keynote addresses: Tuesday (8:00-9:15 a.m.), Wednesday (11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.), and Thursday (12:30-1:30 p.m.).
• HIT ‘98 provides a schedule and overview of press conferences to the media, so when reserving the room, please include a brief description as to the nature of the announcement.
• Press conferences should be used to break news.

The deadline for reserving press conference rooms for inclusion in the tip sheet is Monday, November 30^th. The tip sheet is sent to all pre-registered press.

Tips for a Successful Press Conference…

Press Conference Facilities

HIT ’98 provides press conference rooms free of charge to HIT ’98 exhibitors. Press conference room is 305.

The rooms are available for press conferences during the entirety of HIT ’98. (Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Thursday when the show closes at 4 p.m.) Press conferences will not be scheduled during keynote sessions. Rehearsal time is also available, call for scheduling.

Banners and Signage

All rooms are decorated with HIT ’98 banners, including a Healthcare Information Technology logo on the podium. These cannot be removed. Individual corporate signage is welcome. The signs must be set up immediately before and taken down immediately after your press conference. Freeman Decorating can make signs for your press conference. Orders should be placed before the show (see Freeman contact information below.)

Room Set-Up

Each press conference room will be set with the front half of the room school room style and rear half in theater style (capacity varies with each room from 40 to 125 seats.) Along the rear walls will be tables for press kit distribution and catering. We will also provide a table immediately outside the room for press registration.

Additional tables are available (i.e., for demonstrations) on request. For assistance in room set-up and specific furniture requests, contact Freeman Decorating in advance of the show. Order forms are in the Exhibitor Service Manual.

Freeman Decorating can accommodate most requests on site (but they need more than 10 minutes before a press conference starts.) Be aware that you are taking a chance not only on timing, but also on supply. Much of Freeman’s furniture and equipment is brought in from outside warehouses and takes a business day to arrive at the show.

Contact Freeman Decorating by November 27^th for decorating and furniture reservations.

Catering

Catering is available from Hynes Center’s house caterer. You must contact them directly with your catering needs. Be aware of the limitations of these press conference rooms and the need to be able to change the room from one company to another. In the 60 minutes we allow for presentations, a full-course dinner might seem like a good idea, but its execution in a press conference room in the time allotted is not possible.

Contact Hynes by December 4th for catering reservations.

The Press Center

The HIT ’98 Public Relations department strives to provide working journalists with all the tools required to obtain, review and disseminate news from the show. The HIT ’98 Press Center will be located in:

Working Press Room

The PressRoom and its facilities are provided exclusively for the working press. This area is used by journalists to review materials and write and file reports from the show. To provide comfortable working conditions with a minimum of distractions, exhibitors and other attendees are not permitted in this area.

To assist the media in filing stories from the show, we provide the following:

• Telephones, Fax Machines, Copier.
• Workstations with word-processing.
• Dedicated T1 Internet access, and phone lines for dial-up access from laptops.

Press Kit Library

Located in the Press Center is the HIT Press Library. It is the resource for working journalists to obtain exhibitors’ press kits. They are arranged alphabetically by company name.

The Library is limited to working press only.

Be prepared to bring 100 plus kits to the show. Do not ship them to the Library. Press kits should be delivered to your booth and carried to the Library Drop-off point (located at the entrance to The Press Kit Library.) Healthcare Information Technology staffers will place your kits in the bins we provide. Deliver 75 kits to the Library. Keep 75 at your booth for journalists who visit you there, and keep 50 kits as a reserve.

Check with Press Kit Library staff regularly to determine if you need to resupply your kits.

Independent Press Centers

Exhibitors may rent an entire room outside the Meeting Rooms Hall to serve as a "nerve center" for media relations, working pressroom, to hold press interviews and staging product demos.

If you are setting up a independent press center, whether it’s in your booth, the Hall set aside for meeting rooms, another room in the Hynes or offsite at your hotel we need to be know in advance about where your location will be for Healthcare Information Technology. Journalists will be caught up in the brisk pace of the show and need to find your space without a hassle or coming back up to the Press Center in confusion. It would not look good for you if journalists miss appointments in a large convention center because they can not find where you are!

Message Boards

Message boards for the exclusive use of exhibiting companies will be available inside the Press Center.

These boards can be used to post information (no larger than 8 1/2" x 11") regarding press conferences, special events and for leaving messages for journalists.

They are not intended for posting press releases.

Media List

The list of pre-registered press for HIT ’98 will be posted on a bi-weekly basis beginning Thursday, November 12th. The final list will be sent on Monday, December 2nd.

The list will be posted as a tab-delimited text file for you to download at www.advanstar.com/eo/. This text file can then be imported into the database or word processing program of your choice. There will be no hard copy of this list available.

Press Parties and Events Tip Sheets

Immediately prior to the opening of the show, a series of HIT ’98 "Tip Sheets" will be sent to all pre-registered press containing a complete listing of press conferences, keynote addresses, special events, and highlights of new products and services being introduced at the show.

The deadline for this information is Friday, December 4^th.

If you are planning a special event (i.e., cocktail party, dinner, reception, etc.) and are planning to invite the press, please notify Bob Miko (see contact information below.) In addition, make sure that invitations are available in the Press Kit Library--deliver these when you deliver your press kits. (See "Press Kit Library" on page 7 for additional information.) Also, you can post invitations on the message boards.

To ensure that we have your information for consideration, please send a brief description (no more than 50 words) of your event or your new product to:

Wire Service Distribution

Business Wire is the official international media relations wire service for HIT ’98. All news, photos, video, audio and spreadsheets issued via Business Wire will be posted to the HIT ’98 news site, available inside the Press Center and on the World Wide Web, at www.tradeshownews.com. Show headlines will also be issued to registered show journalists. (Business Wire's Trade Show and Conference News Site now has its own URL, www.tradeshownews.com instead of www.businesswire.com/tradeshow).

As a service to exhibitors during the show, Business Wire will be located in the Press Center. Business Wire provides the following services in advance of and during Healthcare Information Technology:

Exhibitor Previews - You will be contacted directly by Business Wire, requesting a 100-word profile of your company and/or products by e-mail. All profiles will be sent out over Business Wire's Trade Show Global Circuit, high-tech trades, the IDG World Circuit and NEWSdesk International (5,000 reporters) at no charge, one week prior to the show.

News Dissemination Services - Business Wire's news dissemination services will be available on site in the Press Center to exhibitors at the show. News can be disseminated via fax, modem, e-mail or the Internet. Business Wire will also offer special Trade Show circuits to exhibitors should you want to issue releases, Electronic Media Kit, video, audio or photos before, during and/or after the show.

NEW SHOW PRODUCT INFO:

Smart News Release - For a true multimedia news release, you may include streaming video, streaming audio, photos/graphics and/or spreadsheets with your news release. Smart News Releases are posted to the BW/HIT ’98 news site, with recaps e-mailed to registered show journalists. The text releases are issued on BW's wire circuits to media and posted to more than 400 databases.

PhotoWire - Business Wire is able to issue photos alongside your news releases via the Associated Press photo network. In addition, all photos are posted on the Business Wire Web site, linked to your show news. Photos may be issued prior to or during the show.

NEWSdesk - Included with all Trade Show Global transmissions, this service may be ordered with other circuits. NEWSdesk issues news releases to 5,000 high-tech journalists and provides you with measurement as to which reporters accessed your news for your follow-up.

Electronic Media Kits - Business Wire will post exhibitor press kits on the Business Wire Healthcare Information Technologies ’98 news site (www.tradeshownews.com) for one year. This means reporters can view the kits at the show and follow up once they have returned to their office. Electronic Media Kits should be submitted at least a week prior to the show for proper posting and media notification.

Internet Services - Business Wire will be available to demonstrate the broad range of Internet services they provide, and reporters will have full access to "Today's News On The Net" and "Trade Show News on the Net" to check for show-related news.

Luce Press Clippings

Luce Press Clippings, one of the world's largest clipping services, will provide a unique benefit to HIT ’98 exhibitors. We have arranged for Luce to give you a certificate worth $252 -- one month's reading fee. See the Luce representative in the Press Room to obtain the certificate and also discuss your current and potential needs in media monitoring. Clipping service still is the most efficient means of monitoring the media, including ALL daily newspapers and thousands of weekly newspapers and consumer, business, trade and professional magazines and other publications, as well as radio and TV stations. You can obtain clippings about your company and products and also information about your competitors and other subjects of interest to you.

Press Access

Press Access will be providing a special program for HIT ’98.

Event Marketing Opportunities

HIT ’98 offers a diverse array of important promotional opportunities developed to assist you in maximizing your exposure at the event. From print advertising, display banners and event sponsorship, you have the opportunity to attract thousands of attendees to your exhibit space and make a strong corporate statement about your value to the industry. This is an unprecedented opportunity to reach thousands of influential attendees. An abbreviated list of the sponsorship items follow:

For a complete events marketing kit or for rates on various sponsorships, contact:

HIT ’98 Contacts

If, after reviewing the contents of this PR Guide, you find that you have additional questions or need further information, please feel free to direct your inquiries to any of the HIT ’98 Public Relations contacts below.

We look forward to assisting you in your public relations efforts, and wish you the best of luck at HIT ’98.