Tag Archives: media relations

Kicking Off the Summer: What Barbecuing Can Teach Us About Pitch Letter Writing

Thinkstock Single Image SetMemorial Day is a time to remember our fallen heroes. What is a solemn occasion has also marked the unofficial start of summer. Yay! This means many of you (majority in the New York City area) are still cleaning off that grill from this weekend’s festivities.

Since moving to Austin about a year ago from New York City, I learned that barbecuing isn’t simply throwing meat on a grill. My barbecue knowledge increased when I landed Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q as a client. They’ve even trademarked the tagline, Real Texas Bar-B-Q®.  What I found out from their Bar-B-Q Insiders is that grilling isn’t really barbecuing.

So here’s my attempt to tie in real Texas barbecuing with pitch letter writing:  Continue reading

Christina’s Coffee Talk with Alex Aizenberg

For this week’s Coffee Talk I had the opportunity to chat with Alex Aizenberg, a successful PR professional, avid coffee drinker (just make sure it’s regular coffee with 2% milk), beard enthusiast and musician. I have gotten to know Alex through his rather entertaining Twitter stream, a nice blend of business and pleasure. I’m always learning something new from Alex as he is a savvy professional, currently working with one of the leading global public relations agencies, Weber Shandwick for 5+ years. I guess you could say he knows what he’s doing ;). In addition to PR, you can find Alex relaxing with his supportive wifeadorable dog, and playing on one of his eight guitars. Bet you didn’t know that A) Weber Shandwick has a house band named “Webster’s Sandwich” for an annual event called Agency Idol and B) that Alex has been the lead guitarist since the start! I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did and learn something new along the way. Continue reading

Yes, Virginia, Your E-Mail Pitches Do Still Make a Difference

Global MarketI’ve written before about my belief that the near constant bashing of media relations has to stop, and how yes, despite how much I love social media and how much I believe in the true good of what it is doing in the PR and marketing business, there still is a time, place and relevancy to traditional PR tactics, such as developing strong relationships. Today, I’m going to give kudos to another one those of traditional tactics that the “gurus” love to bash, but if done right, can still have a major impact in our business: the e-mail pitch. Continue reading

From Sports to Tech PR: Finding New Career Passions

Football players in press conference

As a former sports PR guy, a career I immensely loved and was extremely passionate about, but also grew out of for many reasons (to understand a majority of those reasons, check out my friend Jeff Esposito’s excellent PRBC post about working in sports PR from Friday here), I have both fond memories of that profession, and a sense of understanding now that moving on from it nine months ago was the right thing for me to do.

Jeff gave an excellent rundown of what it is like to work in PR in the sports world. Yes, it can be incredibly exciting, and yes, you do get to work around some amazing athletes. And there are many other benefits and fantastic qualities to working in that profession. But it has its downsides— Continue reading

Stop Bashing Media Relations—More Important Than Ever

Elevated view of reporter holding microphoneI’ve been thinking a lot lately about how, somewhere along the line, the term “media relations” became such a derisive and reviled term within the public relations business. In the world of PR 2.0, Web 2.0 and everything 2.0, why have we suddenly come to the conclusion—seemingly as an entire industry—that media relations (i.e. the act of actually understanding and trying to help the media as a key function of PR professional’s job) is dead?  That now it’s all about bloggers, or reaching the hottest social media “influencers” and anyone else who can who has an online portal that has high enough uniques according to Compete or Quantcast. Continue reading

Not Mine. Not Yours. Ours.

Couple shaking hands with businessmanIt’s no secret that clients hire us for our contacts.  That our relationships are often the bait that gets them to sign on the dotted line.  But at the end of the contract, the course the agency’s relationship with the media has taken while representing said client has lasting benefits or consequences for both parties. Continue reading

Letter To The Editor

Quill pen and ink well

We’ve got another one folks — a letter to the editor, oddly enough in the (oh so dear to my heart) “Dear Editor” format.  The writer?  A “PR Gal” who would prefer to remain nameless.

Dear Editor,

This isn’t working out.  The whole You-Me-Client trio. This fable we  laughingly call a relationship.

I’m done.  Simply put – this is the worst relationship I’ve ever been in and I’ve dated some losers.  I’m sick and tired of living in fear of you, quivering at your number on my caller ID, and getting panic-stricken at the sight of your e-mail address rolling into my inbox. Continue reading