Elaine Crosse, Bord Bia’s Communications Team
Those smashing photos of kids romping around lovely gardens to accompany the Blom launch didn’t happen by accident. Elaine Crosse works in Bord Bia’s press office and making sure photos like that are snapped and then appear across the media is one of her many jobs.
This is going to be the University of Limerick graduate’s seventh Bloom and she considers it to be the best part of her job. “It has everything – colour, personality and fun. It really allows us to be creative.”
A lot of her work before Bloom involves finding out the story behind the gardens and exhibits to know how to sell them to the media. “What appeals to the everyman is the human interest story. For example, if someone gave up a career in finance to take up landscaping design, we want to know where they’re come from and where that passion has come from.”
Bloom has many attractions and that’s certainly reflected in those who cover the show for the media. “Usually, we deal with journalists who cover farming and agribusiness. At Bloom, you have everyone looking to come along, from beauty and fashion and health to the news desk and picture desk. 600 journalists apply to come to Bloom and we get about 400 up in the Park.”
Elaine and her colleagues manage all of this media activity from a temporary media office in a corner of Bloom. “There were three or four of us in 2011 and now we’ll have 18 people in the press office up there.”
Elaine’s day at Bloom stretches from early morning to late at night. “We’re a jack of all trades! You’re showing journalists around the site and helping them with queries. Then you’re writing up press releases about the winning gardens or working on the visit of the president or other VIPs. Social media is a big part of what we do – it’s gone from putting up a tweet once or twice a day to requiring two people full-time onsite just to manage it. It’s a very important customer service tool.
“Thursday and Friday are the key days for us and you’d never have enough people to help out. You still have the news wheel turning on Saturday and Sunday but it does slacken a little. By Monday, it’s all Bloom by numbers, how many ice creams were sold and all of that.”
One of the big news stories every year is the president’s visit to Bloom. “It is a big deal”, says Elaine of the visitor with the shortest journey of all to the show. “They always say that he’ll be there just for a few hours and he then spends the whole day on the site. He loves it and people obviously love him and he’s our patron as well.”
Does she have a favourite part of Bloom? “I love the show gardens. A few years ago, I would have said the food, but I’ve got to know the designers and I see the work they put in.
“I never would have thought you could use gardens to tell a story and communicate things like Dogs Trust are doing this year or Barry Kavanagh did last year. He’d a great story about how social farming is helping rural Ireland and people’s mental and physical health, a story which is instantly understandable to everyone from my granny to my 20 year old brother. The story is key to everything.”
