When the Republican Party chose Madison Square Garden as the location for its 2004 convention, LVM recognized it as a prime opportunity for our client, the New Yorker Hotel. Not only was the hotel very close to the Garden, but it had planned to significantly strengthen its security during the event.

We believed we could garner good exposure for the hotel from reporters covering the convention, by focusing attention on what the hotel was doing about security: to wit, hiring extra staff during the convention, working closely with police and intelligence agencies, designing special ID cards for guests, staffing the outside (as well as inside) with security guards, and running security infomercials on lobby and guestroom television screens. To help insure that the news coverage would be as positive as possible, we worked closely with our client, reviewing effective interviewing techniques and developing talking points and key messages. We also were in the hotel every day leading up to the convention, helping prepare the client for interviews and potential crises.

Our efforts produced dramatic results. The hotel was included in a front page story in The New York Times, and our client was quoted in Newsday and other local papers, as well as the city's key business publication, Crain's New York Business. Broadcast coverage of our client included Time Warner's NY-1, MSNBC, Nightly Business Report and Noticias. And after telling us how draining all of the preparations had been, our client grew so comfortable during interviews that he said afterward that he actually missed the excitement of the convention!

When the New Yorker Hotel asked us to generate media attention for a special event, LVM took the task to heart. The New Yorker invited a New Jersey couple to spend their 50th anniversary at the hotel, where they had honeymooned in 1950. The couple had kept the original bill, totaling $22.12, and the hotel offered them a suite for that same rate.

LVM had the original bill enlarged and enhanced. We also ordered a special anniversary cake, with The New Yorker's image superimposed. And we arranged for the couple to renew their vows in a special ceremony at the hotel.

Four television crews and a radio station from the New York City area came out to cover the event, which showcased the hotel lobby, in-room suites and outdoor terraces. The client — and the couple — were thrilled.