The Story Conference

Whether the television message will be produced in-house or contracted out, the planning process begins with a story conference—a meeting where the public relations managers and their clients decide what kind of message they want. (Even in-house operations refer to the depart­ments for which they prepare television messages as their "clients," be­cause their working relationship is much the same as if they were an outside agency.)

Here are some of the considerations that must be worked out in the story conference process:

Objectives for the Television Message Why is television the medium to use to reach the target publics for this program? What behavioral out-comes are desired, and are they likely to happen as the result of receiv­ing a television message? Will there be print support for the television campaign? Is it cost-effective?

Budget Even within a corporation, the client department must pay for the cost of the television message, which means the production depart­ment must be prepared to figure out its costs and present a budget.

Style and Format Will the message be short or long, serious or hu­morous, in documentary style or entertainment format? Will there be an on-screen host or only the voice of a narrator? Will we use dramatic storytelling devices, or model the message after a broadcast news story? Will all footage be original for this production, or will file footage, historical material, or clips from other sources be used? Will we need special graphics and titles?

Writing Can we produce the script, including visuals and audio, our­selves, or should we hire a specialized freelancer to translate our ideas into a workable concept?