Christmas Open House Brings Dividends

My friend Ellen is pretty good at using her PR acumen to make friends and influence people. Every year she has a PR Open House Christmas Party at KLRN, San Antonio’s public television station.

Due to the nature of her job, she gets a lot of promotional stuff every year, great things like a Roy Underhill bobblehead doll, a Mona Lisa CelebriDuck (which now swims in my tub), and other equally eclectic and interesting stuff.

She invites her co-workers, friends and sponsors to participate. Everyone who shows up gets a prize (though it is not guaranteed to please) and some goodies that Ellen stays up late at night to bake. There is a lot of laughter and fun.

If she doesn’t announce she is having the party, people get restless.

This event is a good example of building expectations and a loyal following. All of this without any direct benefit for Ellen – except for the simple fact that it builds goodwill.

That, I believe is PR at its best and Christmas in its true meaning – giving without expecting anything back, and as a result getting everything that you might have wanted.

Thanks to Ellen for letting me use her story.

Merry Christmas to all!