Pitchin' Ain't Easy

I'm starting to get involved with writing and pitching national media for a local Iraq and Afghanistan memorial, and I'm facing the same issues I've faced with my last few pitching adventures...

1. Who gets this?

2. How can I get you to read it?

3. Please, please run it? Please?

While running the press release through a syndicate would help ensure plenty of coverage and help with credibility, the price (over $400) breaks the bank for a group of locals who care about properly memorializing veterans and those we lost in Afghanistan and Iraq. On the other hand, it would take hours upon hours to personally call the editors of newspapers nationwide, asking them to pretty please run this release. It's a catch-22; either you spend a lot of time, or a lot of money; and neither features a guaranteed outcome.

Has anyone else run into this problem? How did you overcome it?

Interview: @DoItInPublic AKA Joy Donnell of 720 PR

Professionals I Love: Interview with Joy Donnell

Twitter, being the great connector tool that it is, helped me find Ms. Joy Donnell of 720 PR one afternoon. Joy's tweets included some very interesting articles, as well as RTs of other resources I began to follow as well. Joy's digital citizenship, that is, her retweeting of helpful resources and pertinent information, contributes to the #pr community on Twitter. Since she's in a field I'm very interested in, I wanted to ask her more. She very graciously answered a few questions for me, which I thought I would share here...

Besides agency experience, what do you look for in a candidate?
Job continuity is always fantastic to see. I also love to read about publishing; such as articles that the candidate has had published, blog writing that has acquired a following, great association memberships and volunteerism. [Before an interview,] I like to review a portfolio with the resume and cover letter (as well as see it during the sit down interview).

How have you found are good ways to get contacts in the media?
Get as many contacts as possible by face to face interaction. So, going to journalist mixers like those held by MediaBistro, LA Press Club, and PR Newswire can be great ways to meet journos. Another great way to build contacts and end up with things to add to your portfolio is doing pro-bono PR for a nonprofit, especially if it's a celebrity-heavy event. It gives you something great to talk about, you build connections with talent managers and other publicists and you work closely with producers and journalists. After you obtain that connection, don't forget to send a nice thank-you, like cookies or chocolates.

What are your favorite parts about working in celebrity branding? The biggest drawbacks?
Every day is different and you're constantly challenged to think outside of the box. Branding is a broad term for almost anything commercial that extends the client's image, so you really get to stretch out and try new things. There are virtually no rules.
The biggest frustration can be when you approach a brand that the talent had previously expressed a desire to work with, only to find that the talent or management have changed their minds about working with that brand.

Does a good grasp of social media mean a lot to you as someone working in entertainment, or are there other skills you'd rather see in a candidate?
Social media is lovely, but it means nothing without the fundamentals. I mostly like to see that a candidate knows how to form a strategy then craft a story, pitch it, and land it in a way that all parties walk away happy.

For more insights, good articles and advice, follow Joy at her handle, @DoItInPublic or visit her website that includes articles, speaking engagements and more: http://www.doitinpublic.com/

Reflecting on the National Student Advertising Competition

Getting the campaign book last year was a very surreal moment. When I first got the Tio book and held it in my hands, it was so strange thinking that all of the work we had done had culminated in this small, 30-page book. It was phenomenal to see some of my work put into print and distributed in a classroom. The feeling wasn't as exciting this year when I got Feel Free book, but not because I was less excited about the campaign. There was a different feeling this time - one of satisfaction and pride, when I flipped through it and saw how much we all have grown since last year. We keep setting the bar higher and higher as a team to do better, reach further, and perform as impressively as possible. I also felt so grateful, that I was able to work with so many bright people. There are amazing minds on our Chapman PR team: it never fails to amaze me how talented and brilliant my fellow students are. It can be intimidating at times, thinking that we'll all be joining the job market and competing for those jobs; however, in some cases we'll be working alongside one another. To be able to work with these people again one day - that's something I would love to see happen.

The PR department, itself, is a very static element of the team. Last year, it was very uncertain as to what we were needed to do, since the campaign was for a nonprofit organization. This year, it was easier because it was a corporation. We developed a social media cause marketing campaign and I'm so proud to have lead my team. They are wonderful - driven, intelligent, and resilient. It was strange to be on the PR team two years in a row with two completely different groups of people, but not a bad experience in any way. I love both the teams for what they were, and appreciate every person I worked with because of what they brought to the table: passion and compatibility. Even the times we weren't working as efficiently as possible, we were learning and we got to a place we needed to be. That in itself was a great experience to have.

Because things often need to be tweaked to strengthen a campaign, it was bittersweet to see that many of our social media ideas had to be reworked in order to fit as cohesively as possible with the campaign. Timing wasn't on our side, as it rarely is, but I am pleased with how everything turned out. The core of what our department believed in is present. I printed out a copy of the original plan and stuck it in the book for interviews, to show how well we can work with other members of the team and our directors to change ideas but keep the integrity of the inspiration.

I can't wait to go on my next interview, so that I can bring in both books with me and show them to the representative.