Check the Facilities Representatives of the pr department should make at least one on-site inspection, accompanied by a sales representative of the facility, to check for items such as:

• Adequate electrical outlets for audiovisual equipment.

• Sufficient water pitchers and drinking glasses.

• Phone booths outside the room. (If none or too few are avail­able, you can arrange with the phone company to bring in a temporary portable unit.)

• Comfortable seating and, if appropriate, tables for writing or for displaying handouts and brochures.

One sure way to ruin the effect is to rent half of a partitioned room. Rent the entire room. You'll not only assure peace and quiet for your meeting, you can arrange to open or shut partitions as necessary to make your meeting appear well attended but comfortably uncrowded.

And finally, if you determine on your scouting trip that the layout of the conference area is confusing, have your art department prepare plenty of signs pointing the way to the proper outside entrance, the conference room, the phones, and, of course, the restrooms. Keeping re­porters from getting irritated over logistics is part of what Greenfield means by "petting" the press.

We already have noted that offering gifts or lavish entertainment to journalists may constitute a breach of journalistic as well as PR ethics. However, it is never inappropriate to provide coffee and soft drinks, long with donuts and cookies, in recognition of the fact that those at­tending a press conference may have hurried from another assignment without time to stop for refreshments.

Similarly, most news reporters carry their own paper and pencils, but it is useful to have a supply on hand at a press table for the benefit of those who have exhausted or misplaced their supplies.

Anticipate the special needs of journalists. Radio people often wish to record a speech or presentation, and even print journalists use portable tape recorders as a backup note-taking device. Prevent the scramble that occurs when they all try to place microphones around the lectern. Avoid discomfort to your speaker, and leave the view uncluttered for photogra­phers, by arranging to have a single microphone leading not only to the public address system, but also to a box below the platform or on a table to one side where each journalist can "jack in" to the sound source. That way, those who need to pop up and flip cassettes every thirty minutes won't distract the speaker or destroy the decorum.