Blog

ANPR client Pacific Standard trekked cross-country from Santa Barbara last week to introduce their new, pioneering magazine to the East. Sipping down the best California wines at the lovely Corkbuzz Wine Studio and snacking on canapés over conversation, Corkbuzz was very much abuzz (no pun intended!) with chatter about the magazine and where it’s headed under the direction of Editor-in-Chief Maria Streshinky, formerly the managing editor at The Atlantic, and President/Publisher P. Steven Ainsley.

Not surprisingly, New Yorkers, among them—Jim Ledbetter, Keach Hagey, Felix Salmon, Glynnis MacNichol, Charlotte Morgan, Rachel Sklar, Jeff Bercovici —were intrigued by Pacific Standard and the role it’s carving out within the national media conversation.  Kenneth Prewitt of Columbia University and SIPA, David Andelman of the World Policy Institute, and writers from ProPublica also chatted about the western perspective, why Obama is looking West, and a fascinating look into the psychology of the superhero.

From left: Geane DeLima, Maria Streshinsky, P. Steven Ainsley

We know it’s been a while since our last posting—but we figured it be best to re-enter the blogosphere with a bang. That is, on behalf of our clients Slate, The Week and mental_floss, we are on our way to this year’s SXSW Interactive Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas.

With three-out-of-three panel submissions accepted on behalf of our clients, we’re thrilled at the opportunity to head down to Austin to mingle with the brightest minds and most innovative entrepreneurs in the biz. As SXSW rookies, we’re just slightly (!) anxious about the whirlwind that will soon begin down south. But as always, we’re prepared: with itineraries printed and luggage already packed, the big hurdle now will be narrowing down which of the many panels to attend. There are, after all, hundreds of events to choose from during the Interactive portion of SXSW.

Not to brush dirt off our own shoulders, but our clients have some pretty spectacular panels and core conversations coming up over the next week, all of which we are looking forward to:

•The Week’s Bill Falk, Slate’s Julia Turner, AdAge’s Simon Dumeno and Reuters’ Felix Salmon will converge to discuss the topic, “Is Aggregation Theft?” on Tuesday, March 13 (Note: Panel will take place in the Sheraton Austin, Capitol ABCD). Join these top media trailblazers for a conversation about the art of filtering and curating other organizations’ content, and where this editorial model fits into the new media landscape. Decide for yourself: aggregation—friend or foe? #CURATE
LINK TO PANEL INFO

•In the age of shortened attention spans and journalism that exists in 140 characters or less, how does long-form journalism not only compete but prevail in the digital space? Slate Editor David Plotz and Founder and Editor of The Atavist Evan Ratliff, will discuss how to move us to the next phase of the medium, helping to transform long-form journalism pieces into traffic success stories, and a boon for advertisers as well. “140 characters v. 14,000 words” will take place at the Sheraton Austin, Capitol ABCD at 11 AM. #LONGFORM
LINK TO PANEL INFO

•Mental Floss magazine founders Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur will discuss in a Core Conversation entitled “From Dorm Room to Board Room” how to shepherd a brand through new mediums and formats, the digitization of traditional media platforms, and building successful & meaningful e-commerce ventures… all while staying true to your brand. These two media-savvy entrepreneurs launched the mag back in 2001, and today have a brand that includes books, board games, a thriving t-shirt line, and a website that attracts over 2.5 million unique visitors per month. (Note: Panel will take place at the Courtyard Marriott, Rio Grande Ballroom on Sunday, March 11 at 5 PM). #DORM2BOARD
LINK TO CORE CONVERSATION INFO

As we prepare our clients (and ourselves!) for what is going to be an amazing four days, we solicit any advice from seasoned SXSW-attendees. What should we be most excited for? What are some must-go-to networking events? And most importantly… where can we get the best BBQ offered down south!?

How ANPR feels about its clients, colleagues and friends.

Happy holidays! We hope this next year gives you cause to celebrate at the level seen above.

Wishing you joy and celebration,
Alissa, Jocelyn and Lauren

P.S. Just for kicks, (hint, hint), let us know if you can recall what news event the woman above is celebrating.

P.P.S. We’re going for 211 likes on Facebook by the close of 2011, so if you’re so inclined that would be the best gift ever!

Don Draper hates PR fails. So do I. (We have so much in common!)

I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO FEEL LIKE MY GIG IS A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

I don’t want to turn this into a bash-the-industry party, but Alissa is right about how publicists have a bad rap, (see her last post; see also Slate‘s brilliant press critic, Jack Shafer). When I tell people I work for Slate, GOOD, etc., they light up. When I tell them I’m the publicist, they retreat. I get it! PR people can be way annoying. Many overlook simple social cues! Some pitch the wrong people repeatedly, and some are mindlessly dogged about pushing their angle on journalists. But, I promise, we’re not all that way.

PR can be extremely valuable to a brand; critical to its growth. And publicists, when pitching thoughtfully, can be incredibly helpful to journalists in crafting a story. Consider this my cheat sheet for good PR habits, in an effort to stop the dumb dumbs from making us all look bad.

If you send a PR pitch by email, actually be cognizant of who is on the receiving end of that email.

As publicist for Slate, my email address is one of the only personal addresses listed on Slate’s “Contact Us” page. It’s clearly noted that I’m to be contacted with media inquiries, but despite the disclaimer, I’m pitched all. day. long. by publicists asking if I’d be interested in writing about their client for Slate. These publicists are aggressively pitching another publicist. This is silly! Sometimes, when I’m feeling especially ornery, I’ll write back saying they have the wrong contact but usually I just sigh a little sigh of sadness, pour one out for the lack of intellect within our industry and ignore it. And, as every publicist knows, your clients don’t exactly love when your pitches on their behalf go completely ignored.

Are you serious with these blast press releases? “Really!?” — Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, and ME. I know, I know, press releases are the old standard or whatever, but in today’s news cycle, press releases help good journalists distinguish news from non news. (Press release = non news.) Of course, there are exceptions. When you have business news to announce, for example, sometimes it’s convenient for reporters to have the numbers all hashed out in a nicely formed press release. But this is something that should be sent to a reporter in addition to a smartly crafted pitch that showcases why the release is newsworthy and how they could weave it into a story that would be appropriate for them to tell. When someone gets a press release from you, they assume it’s been sent to a slew of other outlets, and it probably has. Give a reporter something real, something that’s only theirs to report. Then, you’re doing your job well.

Stop calling journalists on the phone. Not cool, you guys! Journalists are often, if not always, writing on deadline. Calling and interrupting them to ask if they’ve received your pitch is one of the easiest ways to get you and your client blacklisted. If you pitched and you haven’t heard back but you’re certain you’re offering up a compelling story that’s exactly right for this journalist, then fine, ping them again on it — via email or on Twitter. Calling just makes you seem socially inept, totally annoying, and it makes your client look desperate for coverage.

Okay! End rant. Sorry for going on but it kills me that some publicists don’t know better. I hate that when I send pitches to my most favorite bloggers and reporters, I feel as though I first have to prove myself as not an imbecile. We’re in the business of connecting with people, right? Let’s connect the right way, so that we’re not so loathed, mmkay?

Oops – I mean, “You Don’t Know Flack.”  I have a long history of despising the term “flack,” dating back to when I was just starting out in PR as the PR manager for The Village Voice.  Every now and again, I’d hear the term flack and it always put a pit in my stomach.   Note to self:  I think they’re referring to people who do what I do, and knocking them. Great! And, then at The Industry Standard, where I was the PR director, the reporters tossed the word flack around like it was a four letter word, all the while with me in their presence.  I’d call up a colleague about a story he was working on that I wanted to publicize and would be greeted by the following message:  “Hi. This is reporter X and if you’re a flack, no need to leave a message.  You can hang up now!”.

“Um, hi,” I’d respond. “This is Alissa; I’m YOUR flack, and if you want me to publicize your story, call me back!”  There was another time, when in the midst of a heated work crisis, a fellow colleague who was then a reporter said in response to the editor-in-chief’s question about socializing with some account execs from a PR agency, “I would never have a drink with those flacks.”  Today, said reporter is a flack (and we’ve gone out socially many times!).

So, we’re calling our blog “You Don’t Know Flack” in an effort to bring some respect back to the profession and demonstrate that communications efforts can be worthy, when done in a meaningful way with thought, integrity, creativity and passion.  In coming posts, you’ll hear from Jocelyn, Lauren and me about what we do for our clients, (especially when it’s really good), and we’ll deconstruct everyday events as they relate to the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of PR and publicists (not FLACKS, thank you very much!).

Oh, and by the way, please read every word on our brand new, IMHO amazing, website.  We launched this week to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. (We’d have a party but have no money left because we spent it all on the website.)  We promise to get a celebration on the calendar soon and invite all of you wonderful ANPR supporters, but in the meantime, we hope you’ll drink the limeade!