Wall Street folk love this expression, used to describe an overreaction (read: massive sell-off) to negative news. They couldn’t figure out a less gruesome cliche to use?
That’s Silicon Valley’s recent term of choice for a quick shift in strategy. I guess it sounds cooler than “we messed up.”
Me: Answers phone
Excited voice PR lady: Hi Willem, I’d just like to flag somethign with you. Just about to send you and email to invite you to our new event coming up which…. *(I tuned out a little here, started continuing my work, waiting for her to breath so my accuracy is bit dodgy here) … its about brands and how they can use branding to be awesome. Its at some place and we were wondering if you would be interested in coming.
Me: Uhhh.. sorry in what role is this in regards to. Is this related to me being the editor of Digital Media?
Excited voice PR lady: Umm, let me check, yes it is! We think your publication would be a great fit for this event!
Me: Well I haven’t worked on that for nearly two years now, and the website just redirects to our sister brand.
No longer excited voice PR lady: Oh, well umm, sorry about that maybe we should take you off our lists.
Me: Yes thats probably a good idea.
I’ve seen and experienced PR folks getting in the way of reporters looking to interview key executives, but this is ridiculous. I’m glad the reporter is pressing charges for false imprisonment.
Offering news to several publications on embargo, but giving one publication a much earlier “exclusive” isn’t the best way to ingratiate yourself with all of the other reporters. Even worse? Expressing the hope that all of the other publications stick to the original embargo time, despite the fact that the story is out.
Tip: When a story is out, embargoes mean squat. This is yet another reason why I hate embargoes.
These kinds of exclusives happen all the time. I’ve both enjoyed them and been the one left out in the cold, and it’s the part of what reporters deal with. But insisting that publications hold their stories despite the exclusive already being out is the kind of amateur hour act that gets PR firms banned in newsrooms. Yes, we talk.
Pitching a meeting to a reporter at a conference that starts that very day is not a good idea. Tip of the hat to PC Mag’s Sascha Segan.
Yes, a confirmation email a little before a meeting is acceptable, and actually appreciated. But a stream of confirmation emails — one or two a day for several days — is not. You just come off sounding desperate.
Pitching an announcement, research report, or study is fine. Asking for an embargo that comes after the news is announced isn’t. Embargoes are bad enough, but if they’re set for after the news breaks, they’re intolerable.
To PR folks looking to send story ideas: no thanks. We’ll come up with our own stories, thank you very much. Adding “story idea” to the subject line of an email is a quick way to get it sent to the trash bin.
