Tips for Surviving Your First Press Trip: Travel Tips Tuesday

Welcome to another edition of Travel Tips Tuesday~a weekly blog carnival that rounds up the best travel tips in the blogosphere.  Please join us by linking up your travel tips at the bottom of the post.

So, you’ve just landed your first blogger press trip? Awesome!  Amazing!  Go you!

Let me be first person outside your Facebook page to say Congrats!  You’ve worked hard at this blogging thing and it’s finally paying off.  A first press trip is a big deal.  It feels like months (or years) of hard work are finally starting to pay off.  

I hate to be the wet blanket on the outfit planning and social media squee-ing that comes along with landing that first big break, but as much as it looks like you’ve just signed up for a weekend of non -stop party fun, you’ve really just been hired for a job.

And, like any job, they are going to want you to produce some kind of return on investment.

Let’s just get this out in the open: Press trips are hard work. In fact, if it’s not the hardest work you’ve ever done while having the most fun possible, then you aren’t doing it right. 

Don’t let the prospect of hard work turn you off, though.  Even the most experienced bloggers will find that they have so much to learn when they attend their first press trip.  Use these tips to help you survive the first press trip and get your awesome, amazing self invited on many, many more.

Tips for Making a Great Impression on Your First Press Trip

1. Show Up.  It’s simple advice, but it is the most important thing to keep in mind on a press trip.  If the event is on the itinerary, be there with a smile on your face. Yes, you will be tired. Yes, there will be activities that don’t interest you in any way.  Be there anyway.  Don’t think it matters if you sneak out at the end of the tour or don’t show up for breakfast?  Think again.  Much like the professor who claims they don’t have an attendance policy, but docks your final grade, the event planners will notice. It’s just common courtesy, really.  You’ve RSVP’d to the party and they’ve saved you a seat.  You need to show up.  P.S.  If you have a legitimate reason not to attend an event, let the planner know as soon as possible personally. Even if you have to drag your flu ridden body to your phone and send a loopy cold medicine induced text.

2. Be prepared. Do your homework so you know as much as possible about the event/venue/product as you can before you arrive.  Make some notes about thoughtful questions you can ask during the tour, and be sure to ask one or two, if only to show that you are interested and engaged.  Just don’t ask all the questions on your list-nobody wants to be that blogger.

3. Bring some gear. The best way to cope if you aren’t’ sure what you are doing, is to at least look like you know what you are doing. A camera and some kind of note taking device can go a long way to faking your way to success. When in doubt, snap a picture, scribble a note and upload something to Facebook.  You’ll look just like everyone else.

4. Don’t be picky or whiny. In fact, if it even looks like it might be a high maintenance move, don’t do it. Bloggers quickly get a reputation for being annoying on press trips, and in a group that is dominated by women with social media skillz, that reputation is going to spread. Ask any seasoned blogger, and they have stories that would curl your business cards.  Really if you have good manners, this should be a no brainer, but be prepared to try food you don’t actually love and do things that may not be in your range of normal.  If you do have a legitimate complaint, save for after the trip in a personal call or email.  When it comes to weird food, remember what you used to do with your veggies as a kid and do that.

5. Dress the part. Remember that part about this being a job? Dress like it’s an important job that you want to keep. Even though you may be schlepping yourself all over creation, you still need to look put together.  Be comfortable, and especially wear comfortable shoes, but put a little polish in your attire.

6. Find out what’s expected…and then go over and above.  A really good host isn’t going to tell you exactly what they want from you because they want to avoid that whole disclosure/we paid for the endorsement garbage.  You may have to read between the lines to get the idea of what they are looking for from the experience.  Most of the time, they want social media coverage (a good clue would be a hashtag) and posts (if it’s a blogger trip, they want posts on your blog).  Use that hashtag like they are your favorite letters in the alphabet and take time to write a thoughtful (and timely) post about your experience.

7. Use the tricks of the trade. You know that Maven of Social Media who seems to use voodoo to simultaneously rock Instagram/Facebook and Twitter?  She’s not just working harder (although no doubt, she is working hard), she’s working smarter too.  Pre-schedule some Tweets and Facebook updates and write up some outlines for posts so you are ahead of the game before your hit the ground running.

8. Pack light…but bring provisions.  You definitely don’t want to be the chick who has to have a Sherpa  to get her stuff around, so stick with the low maintenance meme and pack light. Consider the unique challenges of a press trip when you pack, though. There is usually a glut of food, but meal times may be at weird hours, so pack a few protein bars or snacks.  Also, make sure you have a basic first aid kit that includes Tylenol (for tired feet) and band-aids (for blistered feet).  See a trend here? Be sure to bring extra batteries or chargers or whatever you need for your electronics.  A dead I-phone in the middle of the site tour is press trip suicide. Don’t worry, I’m just kidding. Kinda.

9. Say thank you. Miss Manners 101, but remember to say thank you to your hosts at the end of the trip-like, in person, not just on Twitter.

10. Follow up. Good follow up is the final step to building bridges to a successful blogger/brand relationship. Send an email (or even a good old fashioned note) to say thank you once again and ask for any resources you might need to do your job. After the posting and writing, be sure to send some kind of link to your work.  If social media savvy is also part of your awesomeness, chronicle your sparkly success with some kind of report and send that along, as well.

11. Bonus: Don’t Sweat It! : Again, press trips can be a real grind, but they really are supposed to be fun. If you find yourself spending more worrying about your Tweet count than you are actually experiencing the product, take a step back and re-evaluate.  Press trips really do make the blogger life worth living, so live it up! Thumb your nose at those suckers working in cubicles and remind yourself why you have the best job in the world.