As autumn settled in, the staff at Marx Layne could finally take a breath. Once again, it’s been an active special events season for our agency. While other public relations firms slow down during summer months, we amp up and make sure the special events that make Michigan great get the spotlight they deserve.

Successful events require a team of nimble communications professionals with a complimentary range of skills. Our experts, all under one roof, lead the industry for seamless event marketing including: media relations, social media, digital marketing, photo and video journalism, media training and crisis communications.

We began summer leading the media relations efforts for the biggest high school festival in the nation — St. Mary’s Polish Country Fair, a four-day event managed by our communications staff.

On the heels of that, we moved on to the Ann Arbor Art Fair — one of the most widely attended art events in the nation, featuring more than 1,000 artists and attended by over 400,000 people.

Then we took to the water, promoting one of the longest and most highly regarded freshwater sailing races in the country, the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race — a Pure Michigan tradition.

During all these events, our large team worked on our 24/7 communications efforts for the Ford Arts, Beats & Eats Festival, an extravaganza that attracts a half million guests with 200 popular national and local acts. On its heels, a week later, we handled all communications for the beautiful Art & Apples fair, ranked by Sunshine Magazineas a top 10 juried art fair nationwide.

In between our extensive work for outdoor festivals this past summer, we handled galas for nonprofit organizations, managing media and sponsors, writing the speeches and creating the run-of-shows; and we guided smaller events into success including media preview parties, grand openings of restaurants and more.

All of the events we manage make top headlines across major media outlets and create major buzz on social media, maximizing crowds.

Marx Layne has the institutional knowledge and in-house skill set to manage special event communications, including:

Media Relations— Securing top media sponsorships to expand brand awareness of the event; securing and arranging media segments with every necessary print, digital, social influencer, blogger, radio and TV news outlet needed to spread the word; training interviewees to give a fantastic interview; handling national and local entertainers at the media interviews, and being onsite with media as early as 5 a.m. and continuing all day until 11 p.m., our teams are there, bright-eyed, with coffee in hand for our clients.

Social Media— We develop compelling written and video content for all digital platforms to keep brand messaging consistent. We manage social media engagement. It’s not just about “likes” — we know how to engage audiences.

Web Development— We create beautiful content, capture still images, design, execute and manage and refresh event websites that elevate brands. From start to finish, we can manage and populate your site.

Digital Marketing— If your event doesn’t have a digital media strategy, it won’t get noticed. At Marx Layne, we understand that a successful digital media strategy requires a strategic direction and clear goals to attract clients to your events, and grab the attention of corporate sponsors. We also know how to measure your digital influence, which will serve to your benefit for your future events.

Video— It should be one of your top marketing tactics. In a sea of digital content online, we create video that will make your event stand out from the rest, and is great for Search Engine Optimization.

Crisis Communications— Unfortunately, when you have any event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people, things can and do happen. Our seasoned professionals who manage crisis communications for Fortune 500 companies, are on-hand to handle this 24/7. A crisis can be anything from physical disputes, theft, food-borne illness, extreme weather, and more. Whatever the scenario, we have been there, done that and managed it. Successfully.

So we took a short breath and watched as the leaves began to turn color. We moved on to promoting special events and attracting media for America Haunts, the national Halloween industry organization composed of the largest and most elaborate haunted attractions nationwide. After that, we will have just a few days to relax — maybe visit a Michigan cider mill — before switching to high gear in preparation for Black Friday and Cyber Monday events for the holiday season. We will then move on to winter festivals, cocoa in hand.

A great PR firm enjoys a fast pace, and our clients enjoy the results.

Here is a glimpse at some of our earned media coverage:

Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race

Ann Arbor Art Fair

Arts Beats and Eats

Art & Apples Festival

America Haunts

For more information about how Marx Layne can assist you with your upcoming event, visit our special events page here.