At Jesson we are sticklers on details. I recently had to speak to one of our newer employees about the importance of proof-reading boring as it is. Nothing makes a bad impression faster than typos. Ditto inconsistencies in layout. But it just starts there. Not long ago, one of the team came back huffing about an event that our client shared with another organization. The other group had their own agency organizing the event — and it was pretty amateur. It made everyone’s job harder and in leaving our client remarked, “If that was my agency we’d fire them.” Whew — glad she could see and understand the difference. Then there was the launch event we supported this summer where the basics weren’t even in place and our team actually had to pitch in with the cleaning before we felt the place was ready to be seen by media. In PR first impressions count and there are rarely second chances.

I read a story in the Wall Street Journal a week or so ago that featured a profile on a leading fashion show producer. In it she was quoted talking about the subtle shifts that lighting alone can make in creating image moving a look from romantic to “sultry” simply by lengthening the shadows. We do a lot of events assuming responsibility for everything from booking venues, technical support, building booths and displays, sound production, hiring models, make-up artists, photographers and shot lists and run-of-shows not to mention media outreach and onsite support. It is a complicated business and we had better be all over the minutia because this is what will make all the difference.

Next month we will be doing the booths at Whisky Live for our clients at Glenfiddich and The Balvenie. Last year for The Balvenie we built a mini distillery. This year we will utilize this as a base and improve on it. Not that there is a lot of room for improvement. This is what our client had to say to us last year: “Everyone from our company, our exec, our customers, the consumers, and our team were BLOWN away by both Glenfiddich and The Balvenie 5 Rare Crafts exhibit! You should all be so proud…I could not be happier!” You can imagine how gratified I was by our team’s effort. But to get to that place, people had to be all over a myriad of small detail that contributed to this success. In PR you have to sweat the small stuff. There are no short-cuts.