Key takeaways
- Being present matters. An SE10 perspective on why face-to-face engagement continues to shape stronger communications.
- The best stories rarely appear in the briefing document. Being on site reveals the conversations, personalities and moments that turn technical projects into compelling communications.
- Strong PR is built on results and relationships. Small acts of collaboration and trust often have as much impact as the campaign itself.
- Even in the most industrial sectors, people are the story. Behind every machine, facility
Earlier this year, I found myself standing by the side of a road in northern Italy. It was around 11 pm and mildly toasty. My smartphone was pressed to my ear. I half-listened to Vivaldi’s Spring on hold while trying, unsuccessfully, to book a taxi.
“Aspetti, per favore,” came the instruction, followed by the handover to the Baroque master. I duly waited.
Behind me stood a beautifully restored monastery, now used as an art gallery and event venue, where our client had just hosted an evening dinner beneath centuries-old tapestries. My belly was full of bread and semifreddo. The company had been even better than the food. Although most of the guests at my table spoke English as a second language, some not at all, every diner made sure I was part of every conversation, for which I was grateful.
Once the grappa began to appear, I decided it was time to call it a night. My hotel was only ten minutes away by car, but close to two hours on foot along largely unlit roads. Spring kept playing. After another unsuccessful attempt to book a taxi that stretched my already limited Italian to its limits, I resigned myself to another rendition. I needed a different season.
Then I heard a voice from across the road. A face appeared from behind the wheel of a Fiat.
“Ciao Jack – I can take you!”
One of the guests from the evening had spotted my predicament and offered me a lift back to the hotel. I couldn’t hang up on Vivaldi quickly enough. Instead of holding out for a cab, or worse, scuffing my brogues on pavements that made liberal use of the word paved, I’d be back in my room within fifteen minutes, after a welcome extension of the evening’s conversations, a soundtrack of Måneskin on the car radio, and a few extra shared jokes that somehow managed to transcend the language barrier.
The kicker? The same thing had happened the previous night with someone else attending the event.
(Looking back, I probably should have hired a car.)
These were small acts of kindness, but they reflected something I’ve experienced time and again while supporting clients at events. As a PR agency, our success hasn’t come solely from building professional relationships. It’s also been shaped by appreciating the people we already know and by collaborating in the small, often overlooked moments that exist within our industry, regardless of whether there’s a press release waiting at the end of them.
We may have all the tools for climbing the cliffside, but that hand waiting at the top is always welcome to help you over the edge. Our own sector at SE10 is often one of heavy equipment, complex logistics, and powerful machinery. Yet much of our work lies in prising open the cracks to uncover the human stories hidden beneath the steel.
But every so often, those moments of humanity don’t need uncovering at all. They emerge naturally, reminding us that even in the most industrial of environments, it’s people who make the greatest difference. We work with cranes, trucks, and telehandlers. We know the value of a lift.
The value of being there
Since 2020, much of modern communications has moved online. Interviews commonly take place over Teams, campaigns are planned in shared documents, and requests and approvals fly between inboxes in different countries. While remote working has made collaboration easier than ever, there is still enormous value in being on the ground.
This year alone, I’ve supported client events and content projects across the UK, Italy, and Finland. Every location has had its own character, and each has required me to draw on different parts of my skillset. Yet despite arriving confident in my ability to overcome challenges, the best outcomes have almost always come through shared experience and collaboration with the people around me.
On site, in a pavilion, on an apron, or getting the steps in at a exhibition hall, there are always moments that never appear in a briefing document. You hear conversations between colleagues before a presentation or the words of encouragement exchanged before an interview. You see the pride someone takes in showing visitors around their facility. You notice which demonstrations capture attention and which stories audiences respond to most. Those observations often become the strongest pieces of content because they reveal something genuine.
Every event depends on people
Early this summer, our creative designer Ben Poulten and I supported a long-standing international client as it launched its maintenance business into the UK market. It was a significant milestone.
To get there, British trains did what British trains do, but we eventually arrived in a quiet corner of rural England ready to spend the day interviewing employees, capturing video, and documenting the relaunch of the newly branded facility, trying to bottle a little of the day’s enthusiasm to share with a wider audience.
It was one of the hottest days of an already hot summer. Office fans spun like they were racing in the Tour de France. There was a constant queue for the water cooler. But despite the heat, everyone on site made time for us. Engineers paused their work to explain what they did. Interviewees happily recorded multiple takes until we had exactly what we needed. Even the contractors applying the new vehicle branding became part of the story. By the end of the day, we were sharing the client’s celebratory barbecue with the wider team.
Those interactions made the content feel authentic because they reflected the atmosphere everyone was experiencing rather than simply documenting the event itself.
The familiar becomes invaluable
Returning to the same locations also changes the experience. On one trip back to Italy, I checked into the same hotel I’d stayed in before. The receptionist looked up from his desk, smiled, paused for a moment and then recognised me from previous visits. The breakfast staff knew my coffee order. Small moments of familiarity gradually replaced the uncertainty that comes with working somewhere different.
The same happens with clients and their teams. As relationships develop, people become more comfortable giving interviews and sharing their expertise. Conversations become less scripted. Personalities emerge. The stories become richer because people feel able to be themselves.
Trust ultimately produces stronger communications than any single, sterile transaction ever could. That has been just as true in Finland, where we worked with a new video production team to capture a customer case study around an innovative waste heat recovery project near Helsinki.
Like every assignment, success depended not only on understanding the technology but also on understanding the people responsible for delivering it. The engineering achievement was impressive, but what made the story compelling was hearing directly from those who had helped make it happen. And that story was only possible because the production team embraced a sector that was entirely new to them and collaborated closely with everyone involved.
Drive on, but don't drive by
Looking back on this year’s travel, the moments that stay with me aren’t the delayed trains, unfamiliar roads or classical music on loop.
They’re the people who offered a lift without hesitation. The receptionist who remembered a returning guest. The engineers who interrupted busy days to explain complex projects. The clients who welcomed us as part of their team for a few days, or even a few hours. The interviewees who offer us a few minutes of enthusiasm.
Supporting PR events on the ground certainly involves managing logistics, capturing photographs, coordinating interviews, and making sure everyone keeps smiling. But beneath all of that, it’s really about appreciating relationships, never taking trust, or the occasional favour, for granted, and recognising the moments that make communications feel authentic.
Because, sooner or later, we’ll all be the stranger standing at the side of the road, and when that moment comes, it’s the people, not the process, who get us where we’re going.
Jack Porter
Account Manager
About the author
Jack is an account manager based in London, UK, who joined SE10 in 2022, assisting with media coverage and campaign management for European accounts. Arriving from a background in sports writing and video content production, thoughtfulness and consideration in presentation, and networking and building strong client relationships are key skills that have transitioned easily into PR. Jack has extensive experience in interviewing knowledgeable subjects and conveying received information to a wider readership in an understandable, relatable tone.
