It’s the age-old chicken and egg question: what comes first, building your business or promoting it? On Monday April 10, 2006, small, innovative firms with a technology base are being offered the chance to find out. In the first of a series of sector-specific half-day seminars being run by Zed PR (www.zedpr.co.uk), technology firms will learn how to put their best foot forward and their sunny sides up. The course will address the needs of businesses whose public relations strategies leave them feeling more chicken-wired in than wired up.

Designed to enable smaller businesses to self-promote without the need for a costly PR consultancy, the half-day seminars are being run in conjunction with The Reading Chronicle. Following the success of last year’s seminars, the courses for 2006 will take place in the stunning Davidson House in Reading’s Forbury. The April session is targeted at small and growing technology companies who need to aim high to compete in a market where the “giants” are inevitably heard loudest.

Claire Thompson, Director of Zed PR, the company behind the seminars, said: “There’s nothing can beat having a PR company to advise you, but there are certain things that companies can do to help themselves.  Technology is a highly competitive but hugely innovative, exciting market, and companies in this field can harness this to their own benefit.”

Attendees will benefit from Claire’s experience in PR for the telecommunications and technology industry, including companies like Apple, Oracle and Kodak, as well as the journalistic wisdom of Alan Bunce, Business Editor at the Reading Chronicle. The seminar will include talks and workshops looking at company identity, when and how to communicate, and the barriers to creating great PR. A key focus of the seminar will be working to make “tech-speak” more layman-friendly.

The seminar runs from 9am to 1pm on April 10 2006 at Davidson House, Reading, and is priced at £100 per delegate (includes VAT and refreshments). The other seminars, running monthly until September, will also target specific sectors, including: children and parents’ services and products; creative companies; retail; and health and wellbeing services. For further information and to book please contact Rosie Kinghorn on 0118 969 8966.

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