Press Release - Succesful launch of book 'Friends with Benefits'

PRESS RELEASE 30/11/2009

Diest, Belgium – Very successful launch of book ‘Friends with Benefits - Networking in a new economy’

Saturday 21/11/2009 Geert Conard’s new book ‘Friends with Benefits’ was launched during a special Booklaunch event in the Cultural Centre of his hometown, Diest.

From all over Belgium and even some neighbouring countries, 70 people had found their way to the historical beguinage of Diest. This great group of people enjoyed a unique booklaunch event in three parts :

- Red Carpet Photoshoot
- Official part in the Auditorium with speeches and presentations
- Networking Event + Book signing

The event started with a promo-movie, produced by Cineworks : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bh3D477hgc

Photos of the event, including the Red Carpet photoshoot : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136553&id=560297038&l=fca9a01e7e

Press page including Press Releases and Press Pictures : http://www.friends-with-benefits.eu/presspub.html

This book is available through the official website or through webshops such as Amazon.com

Promo Movie Friends with Benefits

Dear friends,
As many of you know in the past weeks I have been setting up a booklaunch event for the official release of my second book 'Friends" with Benefits'.
One of my contacts (Erwin De Laat) brought me in touch with Johnny and Nick of Cineworks, who produced a very nice promo movie for my book.

I can HIGHLY recommend their services as excellent, tailor made, personal and very professional.
Here is the result of what they have put together for me in just a few days :
(We shot the footage on 18/11 and had the movie in Premiere at the event on 21/11)



(Click on the movie to go to YouTube and watch in original size !)

How to launch a book on a shoestring budget (3)

This is a series of blogposts with a view behind the scenes of the official booklaunch event for my new book 'Friends with Benefits'.
If you haven't read part 1 and part 2, just follow the links.

Tomorrow we are exactly 3 weeks before the official booklaunch event.
In the past few weeks I have ordered the furniture and props for the event, contacted some friends to lend me a hand during the evening of the event, started to prepare for the main presentation and spend LOTS of time in contacting potential sponsors and inviting guests.
By now already +90 people have registered. There are max. 120 seats available in the auditorium.

Because of the financial crisis which has been going on for this entire year, finding sponsors was a very hard job. A first round of mailings and cold calling had zero result.
I created a complete new offer and started all over again ... today we have 6 sponsors who will cover the overhead costs of rent, insurance and logistics. With a minor extra cost I will also be able to offer a free first drink at the networking event, which takes place right after the official part in the auditorium. Of course additional sponsors are still very welcome ;-)

I have seen networking events drop down from +100 attendees to 30 or 40 in the last year, so I already knew it wouldn't be easy to fill up the room. A few weeks ago I started to invite guests, contacts, VIP's and Journalists. I opened meetingpages on my website, on Ecademy and on Facebook. To my surprise the journalists were almost the very first to respond and I'm already sure of some press coverage.

So these are the final 3 weeks before the event. The new book is already available on the Ecademy Press Webshop, on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

My BlackStar colleagues started to spread some noise on Twitter, Facebook and other networks to promote my book and event ... Thank you guys !
Now it's fingers crossed ... and maybe I'll see you on Nov. 21 in Diest. I'll be the short guy on stage doing the main presentation ;-)

How to launch a book on a shoestring budget (2)

This is a series of blogposts with a view behind the scenes of the booklaunch event for my new book 'Friends with Benefits'.
If you haven't read part 1, you'll find it HERE.

The next step in organizing my event was ordering the necessary props for dressing up the venue. I had the bookcover designed by a professional graphics studio and I asked them to also create a rollup banner, picturing me and my books. This rollup banner wouldn't be just for this event, but can also be used on all the speaking opportunities following the launch of this book. This rollup banner will be on stage to bring some colour next to the obvious projection screen and microphone stand.

I have always loved glamorous opening-events where people are having their pictures taken when entering the event, against a background with a logo-wall. Because my budget was nearly non existing, I started looking for the most budget-friendly way to get such a promowall. After receiving a few tips I ended up in the Netherlands, buying something totally different from a large printing company. They indeed could print a large format fabric banner for me, but still it wouldn't be easy to install this at the venue. But then I saw their "promo of the month" for rollup banners which were extremely cheap.

I decided to buy two of these banners and just put them next to each other to form the logo-wall I needed.

Even if this was already 'mission accomplished' for me, I kept thinking on how to maximize the profit from these banners. I decided to have someone move the banners toward the room for the networking event, during the official part with speeches and presentations. The banners will be separated again and they will be placed on each side of the book-stand, completing this stand in a very professional way.

I wanted to share this with you because I think it's a cheap and genius way to use props two times on the same evening, for totally different uses and with a stunning effect.

In the next episode of this series I will share more on how I invited guests and sponsors to the event ...

[to be continued]