Deskside
An in-person meeting with a journalist at their workplace to build relationships.
Definition
A deskside is an in-person meeting between a PR professional (often with their client) and a journalist at the reporter's office. These relationship-building meetings provide opportunities to pitch stories, share background information, and establish rapport outside of news deadlines.
While email pitching dominates modern PR, desksides remain valuable for key media relationships, particularly for complex stories or when introducing new clients to important journalists.
Why It Matters
Desksides build deeper relationships than digital communication allows. Face-to-face meetings create memorable impressions and facilitate nuanced conversations.
Strategic deskside programs can transform transactional media relationships into genuine professional partnerships.
Examples in Practice
A deskside tour introducing a new CEO to key business journalists before their first earnings call.
A product demo deskside where journalists can experience a new technology hands-on.
Annual deskside programs maintaining relationships with priority media contacts.