Loader
 

Culture

 

 

Profiles in PR | Linsey Godbey

January 17, 2013
Your Name: Linsey Godbey Your Position: Director of Marketing Your Business: e+CancerCare Company Website: epluscancercare.com Twitter handle: @Linsey_june (personal) Services You Offer: Working in partnership with physicians and hospitals, e+CancerCare operates a growing network of outpatient cancer care centers in markets across the country. Personally, I’m responsible for planning, development and implementation of all marketing strategies, marketing communications, and public relations activities, both internal and external. Your Niche Area of Expertise: Communications Strategy, Branding Development, Public Relations, Jokes (self-proclaimed) How Did You Get Started in This Business? After a brief stint as a pre-med student at West Virginia University, I quickly found a new home in the Journalism School, which was a much more natural fit. I moved to Washington, D.C., right out of college and landed a job as an executive assistant at GolinHarris, a global PR firm. Fast forward down the road four years, and I’m working as a senior account executive on the McDonald’s account. My next stop was the United States Senate, where I worked as a deputy press secretary for Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) for two and a half years. The assorted mix of skills and proficiencies I had to use during those two positions gave me a great communications/marketing/PR foundation – and I’m still learning more every day!

PR Tips | Avoid Beercan Prose

January 15, 2013

Avoid beercan prose, especially if you're writing content intended for publication in the news. Do you know what beercan prose is? Of course not. That's because the word "beercan" tells you...

PR Tips | The Fine Line Between Persistent and Obnoxious

January 2, 2013
In public relations -- and life in general -- there's a fine line between regularly contacting a person and annoying the heck out of someone. I reach out to dozens of reporters and editors every day. So I’m constantly straddling this line. When pitching a story, how many times should I follow up with a journalist? How frequently should I call or email? There is no simple answer to these questions. But here’s what I’ve learned in the course of doing it on a daily basis: The hotter the story, the more aggressive the pitch. If I’m pitching an oped by Joe Biden on how he negotiated the fiscal cliff deal, I’d be doing editors a huge favor by calling them every hour, because I can guarantee that every editor in town would kill to have that piece in today’s paper. Alternatively, if I’m pitching a story about a new flavor of dog food, I’ll be far more selective and careful not to annoy journalists who aren’t interested. Either way, most people don't mind an occasional "follow up." But when they’re busy -- especially editors at top publications -- following up too frequently could put your name on the X-list. And your client's piece in the trash bin.

Advice from the Media | Deroy Murdock

December 19, 2012
Name: Deroy Murdock Title: Nationally syndicated columnist Media Outlet: Scripps Howard News Service Twitter Handle: Real men don't Tweet! Personal Blog: I do not blog. I write articles. 1) Describe your typical workday in 140 characters or less. Woke up. Got out of bed. Dragged a comb across my head. Spent day worrying about the world and thinking up solutions to its problems. 2) What's the best pitch you've ever received? When Stefan Gleason was spokesman for the National Right to Work Committee, he always could get me to write about Big Labor bosses by giving me examples of union violence. He would mention someone who got his tires slashed or face rearranged by some union thugs. Like tossing a Frisbee before a Labrador, I immediately would run in whatever direction Gleason wanted. To mix metaphors, Gleason knew how to push this button, and he did it perfectly and repeatedly. 3) The greatest words of wisdom an editor ever gave you? I once asked Scripps Howard's Jay Ambrose how to handle some situation. He said, "Well, Deroy, as long as we're trying to do the right thing." I always thought that was a worthy and achievable standard that also recognized that we journalists are neither perfect nor saintly. 4) If there were one thing you could tell every PR practitioner, what would it be? Take care of the small things, and the big ones fall into place. If you have an event in New York City, for God's sake, include the cross street in the address. Where on Earth is 350 Fifth Avenue? I have NO idea. Ah. It's at West 34th Street. Thank you for sparing me from having to look that up, which just make me grind my molars. Don't just tell me that an event is on December 10. Tell me it's on Monday, December 10. I may know right away that Mondays are always bad for me. So, I quickly can decline an invitation, without having to stop, grab my calendar, leaf through it, and finally learn that this is on a Monday. Then, in a fit of frustration at the publicist's inexactitude, I must send my regrets, while also grinding my molars into mandibular dust. Also, don't call us commentators "reporters." We all are journalists. But commentators are not reporters, any more than surgeons are dermatologists, although they all are doctors. Yes, refer broadly to all of us as journalists. But some of us specifically are commentators. Some are reporters. You also have editors, producers, bookers, and others. Calling us all reporters is inaccurate, irritating, and indicative of a lack of sophistication among those who make this annoying mistake.

Advice from the Media | Josh Gohlke

December 6, 2012
Name: Josh Gohlke Title: Op-Ed Editor Media Outlet: Philadelphia Inquirer Twitter Handle: @JoshGohlke Website: www.philly.com/philly/opinion 1) Describe your typical workday in 140 characters or less. Respond to e-mails. Budget pages. Respond to e-mails. Edit copy. Respond to e-mails wondering why I haven’t been more responsive. Repeat! 2) What’s the best pitch you’ve ever received? I’m lucky to have so much commentary to choose from, but sheer math forces me to decline (politely, I hope) most of the submissions I get, including some perfectly good ones. So I think my sentimental favorites are from the people who become enraged when I say no, demand explanations, urge me to reconsider, and, best of all, tell me something like, “Well, I think it’s really good!” I have yet to meet someone who agrees that I should not publish his submission. 3) The greatest words of wisdom an editor ever gave you? My best editor in college told me to remember the acronym “KISS: Keep it simple — smart!” He was being nice; it really stands for “Keep it simple, stupid!” Most good editing comes down to this admonition. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch famously put it another way: “Murder your darlings.” That is, if you’re madly in love with the beauty or wit of a passage you wrote, you should probably delete it. 4) If there was one thing you could tell every PR practitioner, what would it be? Many PR people are very conscientious about the submissions they handle. But others seem to be acting as mere conduits for whatever their clients give them — and then blaming editors for failing to publish it. I think many clients could be done an immense service by a representative who edits them or encourages them to rewrite, and who is honest about what is and isn’t likely to be published and why.

PR Tips | Social Media Drives the News

November 21, 2012
Can you run an effective PR campaign today without a social media component? A quick look at the numbers suggests that the answer is “no.” Roughly 25% of all Americans now have a Twitter account. Facebook has more than a billion users -- and about half of all Americans have accounts. Meanwhile, 82 million American consumers are constantly connected to the social media pulse, accessing their social profiles from their phones. It used to be that people took blogs less seriously than traditional news reporting. But that’s changing. Sixty-five percent of people now find the information they see posted online trustworthy, according to ING's new Impact of social media 2012. Look at any recent news event -- from the election to Superstorm Sandy to the Patraeus scandal. It’s obvious that social media is driving the news and shaping public opinion.

Profiles in PR | Tara Curtis

November 19, 2012
Your Name: Tara Curtis Your Position: Director, Communications Your Business: West Virginia University Alumni Association Company Website: alumni.wvu.edu Twitter: @WVUAlumniAssoc (business) @WVUGal93 (personal) Services You Offer: The WVU Alumni Association represents West Virginia University's largest constituency - more than 185,000 alumni worldwide. We provide outreach opportunities throughout the country, develop opportunities for social and professional networking, and engage our alumni through communications, including web, social media and printed communication. Your Niche Area of Expertise: Communications, strategic messaging and media relations. How Did You Get Started in this Business? My first real "communications" job was working for an energy company where I had an opportunity to develop great skills in the areas of crisis communications, media relations and internal/external relations. The experiences I gained with this company really helped me enhance my professional skills and developed my work ethic. I have always enjoyed working with nonprofit agencies, so when the opportunity was presented to work for my alma mater, I jumped at the chance. Working with alumni who are passionate about their university makes my job fun, challenging and wonderful.