Writing an article for a PR magazine about such a simple topic as creating press releases for events initially seemed a bit silly. When you type “event press release example” into Google, it spits out 730,000,000 results, including endless templates, examples, and samples. What else is there to add? This is the most elementary knowledge, and here I’m addressing professionals in their field of expertise.

Wanting to write something new, I decided to enlist some friendly journalists in the process. What have I learned? First of all, if you’re reading this because you don’t know how to write press releases^[1], don’t feel special. According to them, at least 60 percent of PR professionals feel your pain.

Event press release format

Writing a press release for an event is just like any other press release. Whether you’re using a press release template or creating your own, make sure it has the following:

1. Title – telling what the news will be about.
2. Lead – a summary of the entire communique, including the answers to the 5 Ws
3. Body – elaborating on and specifying the info provided in the lead to explain the background of the story, starting with the most relevant
4. Date of publishing – ensuring the release is on time
5. Boilerplate – a short description that allows to convey the essence of the business and hence makes it easier to write about
6. Contact information – contact info to the author, company and/or the agency.

If we would like to host a journalist at our event, besides the press release, we should also send them an invitation clearly stating the date, time, venue and the reason for the event.

4 types of event press releases you should remember about:

1. Information about upcoming closed events where we invite journalists or to simply announce they will take place
2. Information about closed events that have already taken place
3. Information about upcoming open events with the intention of using the media to invite their audience
4. Information about open events that have already taken place

Find journalists and media influencers interested in your specific event

A key factor in getting your press release picked up by the media is pitching to relevant journalists and bloggers—people that are interested in writing about your event.