What is a FAM Tour?
What do all industries have in common?
Jargon!
Jargon is the collective term for the words, acronyms, and other terminology used at your job, within your brand, within your industry, et al. The problem with it, especially if trying to effectively communicate to those outside of the company or industry, is it alienates people. It puts a barrier between you and your communications goals.
In the PR industry, we have tons of jargon. As such, we like to use our blog to define certain words and terms, making them easy to understand to those just getting into the industry as well as those outside of our little communication bubble.
Today, we tackle the term “FAM tour.”
No, it is not a vacation with mom and aunt Diane, nor is it a farm tour spelled incorrectly.
FAM is short for familiarity. A familiarity tour is a public relations tool most often employed by event, travel/tourism, and hospitality communications leaders during which members of the media are hosted or semi-hosted on a visit of a varying length to an event, destination, or even eatery to experience it firsthand.
By way of example, recently our team worked with Discover Flagstaff on a FAM tour of their region, showcasing the sites, sounds, and flavors of the northern Arizona gem to a dozen media across the region. During the up-close-and-personal adventure, more than 30 members of Flagstaff’s attractions and eateries had the chance to share their stories and showcase their spaces in a way that video, story pitches, and even interviews could never capture.
The result? We are working on about 50 stories with media across the region post-tour, with some stories already popping up here, here, and here.
Seeking definitions for other commonly used PR tactics? Check out our PR Toolbox posts below. There is even one on jargon!
The PR Toolbox
What is story mining?
What is a fact sheet?
What is a story pitch?
What is an emergency event box?
What is a contact report?
What is a boilerplate?
What are key messages?
What is a bylined article?
What is a segment sheet?
What is a media advisory?
What is a news release?
What is a photo caption?
What is a deskside media tour?
What is a media list?
What is a press conference?
What is an informal media meeting?
What is media training?
What is a trusted advisor?
What is a brand story?
What is a calendar listing?
What is jargon?
