"We made sure our competitor knew [a bunch of stuff]. We made sure they heard how shocked and upset we were that they were going to beat us to an announcement in our market."
How do you do that? How do you ensure "they" know what you want them to know?
Industries are small and there are lots of people who will be talking with all the competitors -- be they trophy customers, analysts, journalists, investors, whatever.
But the shortest most-sure route in this case: both companies were talking with the same trade show organizers about scheduling at the upcoming event. Grumbling to the organizer that Blank wishes he'd picked (or paid more for) earlier scheduling would be the kind of juicy detail the organizer is certain to share with the competitor, to make the competitor feel better about their scheduling.
How do you do that? How do you ensure "they" know what you want them to know?