Don’t Upset Those Who Buy Ink by the Barrel: Advice for Pitching the Media
Last week I attended a Chicago Media breakfast at Maggiano’s on Grand Avenue in Chicago – yeah, breakfast at an Italian joint. Publicists from around the city met with and questioned a panel of journalists on a wide range of PR issues and best practices. And although the venue was non sequitur, the three panelists, Chicago media gatekeepers Kathryn Janicek of NBC Chicago, Susanna Negovan, editor of Michigan Avenue Magazine and Kathryn Born, founder of TINC Magazine, showed candor as refreshing as the honeydew melon slices.
And instead of laying their gems of wisdom out in a long-winded blog post, I snatched all the Tweets including the event’s hashtag. It’s amazing how lucid and concise normally wordy PR folks can be when given only 80 characters after the tag and a couple @mentions.
And thanks to Business Wire for coordinating the event.
Selected Tweets from the event:
raschandahall Raschanda Hall
Today’s #bwevents takeways: customize your pitch, respond within 2 hours and the advertising/editorial wall is more like a lace curtain
raschandahall Raschanda Hall
RT @ If u can’t distill it down to a paragraph it’s probably NOT a good pitch @SusannaNegovan #bwevents
iamBolaji Bolaji S.
Voicemail is NO NO via @kathrynjanicek #bwevents
2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
raschandahall Raschanda Hall
Pitching NBC Chicago morning show – they like stories that help save people money. #bwevents they also like new Chicago tech stories and app
LaurenBrush Lauren Brush
“it’s the ugly truth, but advertising and sales are not separate. It can end up being insulting.” -Kathryn Born #BWevents
danielmobrien Dan Obrien
Shocking candor about willingness to write stories for advertisers “there are no rules” #bwevents
Will_WSComm Will Kruisbrink
#bwevents media hates press releases; clients love press releases; publicists are in between on press releases #balance
danielmobrien Dan Obrien
Want to reach journalists? Send a 2 sentence “hook” via Facebook, Twitter, email. #bwevents
Will_WSComm Will Kruisbrink
#bwevents Michigan Avenue mag likes peoplecentric story ideas; who are movers and shakers in #Chicago?
iamBolaji Bolaji S.
Have a response rule for your media within 2hrs; its a must esp when on deadline #bwevent
Will Kruisbrink is an Account Executive with Walker Sands.
Will joined the Walker Sands team with a background in print journalism and public relations for the franchising industry. A news junky, Will received a bachelor's degree in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After graduating, Will worked for Fishman Public Relations in Northbrook as a media relations specialist. At Fishman, Will devised and pitched various story ideas to the media, supporting national and local PR campaigns including business grand openings. His work also involved developing national brand awareness for a range franchised concepts, from junk removal to financial services.
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