Getting Ink

Why do we care about PR spam?

Oh, such a lot of hoo-ha this week about the latest journalist to publish a list of PR spammers. It’s not the first time someone’s published this kind of list, it won’t be the last. Remember Gina Trapani? Or Chris Anderson? Or even Systeme-D?

Really, why do we care?

After 10 years of journalism, I find it hard to get worked up about this stuff. When I was new to freelancing, I couldn’t understand why I got 200 emails a day about stuff I’d never cover. It irritated me that PR agencies couldn’t do decent data cleansing so I got three copies of random emails to various email addresses, or that they couldn’t seem to remove me from mailing lists when I asked.

Over time though, this stuff just becomes background noise. An experienced eye can spot a rubbish press release in 5 seconds, and thanks to the ‘block delete’ function that these new-fangled computers have, spam PR emails probably waste, ooh, about a minute of my time each day. Let’s face it, if I wasn’t deleting emails, it’s a minute I’d spend pratting around on Twitter or Facebook.

I’m not sure PRs should worry too much about ending up on this sort of list, either. After all, you might as well just publish a list called, “Anyone who’s ever been an account exec”. I can’t think of any agency that hasn’t been guilty of sending an irrelevant press release at some point. And as a PR, surely, you can always blame either the account director or the client, right?

Besides, there are bigger issues to worry about. Like the disingenuous and borderline dishonest use of social media by some quarters of the PR community.

And attachments. Dear God, why are we still having this bloody conversation? Only today, I got a 5MB attachment attached to a random press release – twice, because the PR agency hasn’t cleaned its data lately. If you’re using WiFi on a public hotspot or you’re using a 3G dongle or BlackBerry, downloading huge chunks of data is not fun. HUGE waste of time. Don’t do it.

I could go on – the agencies that offer to pay journalists to cover their clients. The executives who won’t respond to queries from publications that aren’t important enough. The PRs who pitch me news stories that turn out to be two weeks old. Follow-up phone calls. Ugh.

All of these things waste my time (and presumably the PR’s time, too), and they’re all a far bigger hassle than a press release that doesn’t hit the spot. Or am I missing something?

Best New Year's Resolution Ever. Fact.

Well, it was a lot less hard work than going to the gym 151 times in a year!

As both my regular readers will know, a year ago, I made a resolution to see 100 new movies in 2009. And by the end of 2009, I had watched 102 new movies, although December was almost entirely dictated by the viewing preferences of a four-year-old and therefore included such gems as Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakwel (ye Gods), Aliens in the Attic and Where the Wild Things Are. I’m still undecided about that last one, actually. I thought it was beautiful but it seems a shame Jonze couldn’t make a movie that would be more accessible to children who love the book right now (I’d argue it’s a movie for nostalgic adults). 

Regardless, thanks to everyone for recommendations and I think it was the most successful New Year's Resolution I ever made. I've seen lots of great films and I think having regular cinema breaks was a great form of stress relief during an interesting year!

Of the 102, my top 10 would be:

1. Slumdog Millionaire – I’m a sucker for a good fairy-tale, and I thought this was visually stunning and made me think a lot. I’m still not sure whether it’s trying to tell us that the kid’s awful suffering was all worth it in the end, or not. I suspect not.
2. I’ve Loved You So Long – if you’re not a fan of sub-titled movies, this is the one that will convert you. Spare, atmospheric and impossibly well-acted by the two young leads.
3. Into the Wild – takes what could be quite an unsympathetic story (over-privileged middle-class kid goes on self-indulgent voyage) and makes it really thought-provoking, and even though you might know how this true story ends, it’s still a gripping piece of cinema. Plus Eddie Vedder did the soundtrack, which is awesome. 
4. Thirteen – possibly one of the best representations of teenage girls I’ve seen on screen, combining the verve of Lords of Dogtown (director Catherine Hardwicke’s previous film) with a real edge of violence. The scene where the two girls punch each other in the face just reminds me (in tone, not reality) of so many of the teenage girls I knew.
5. Coraline – just amazing, and one of the few book to film translations for kids that I really think captured the spirit of the original text although it’s too scary for little kids! It’s also one of those films that’s so technically brilliant you spent a lot of time just thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe they did that!”
6.  
7. Star Trek – I know, it’s popcorn fluff. but really, it was so much fun I can’t think of anything bad to say about it. I love watching it again just for all the JJ Abrams Easter Eggs, too.
8. Avatar – another movie that’s not got an amazing script (to say the least) but it’s really entertaining and technically just breath-taking. one of the few films I’ve seen this year where I would absolutely say you can’t do it justice without seeing it at the cinema, and possibly it’s also the only one that makes proper use of 3D.
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – oh, just because. I love the attention to detail in the Potter movies. there’s almost always something that makes me want to squeak with appreciation. this time it was the pensieve and the way the memories were visualised – how cool was that?
10. Man on Wire – the first film in years that made me shout “HOLY MOLY” out loud. Several times. It’s just amazing.

Of course, where the sun shines, some rain must fall. and where the movie project is concerned, the 5 most annoying films of the year were:

1. Knowing – did the writer have an aneurism half-way through? Ugh.
2. Monsters versus Aliens – the film that forgot to be funny.
3. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – 2 hours of waiting for the most miserable ending EVER.
4. March of the Penguins – watch small, cute animals die. If you like that sort of thing.
5. Bride Wars – When historians want to pinpoint the end of civilisation, this film will be revealed as the tipping point. although, to be fair, I couldn’t make myself watch more than the first half hour.

So, all I need now is a 2010 project. I think 100 books might be a bit ambitious, and I’m not sure whether I could do 100 swimming sessions without actually killing myself. I’m going to give it some thought and decide next week, I reckon. It doesn't pay to rush into these things.

"We will pay you to write about our client". Yes, really.

I don't know about you, but there's nothing that makes me feel warm and glowy inside like a PR person who thinks I'll write about any old client if they offer me the possibility of a bit of cash.

That's why I was so delighted to receive a PR pitch for my parenting blog recently that offered me a share of an unspecified budget if I was prepared to post a video about their client's new service. And I was even more delighted to receive a virtually identical pitch from the same agency a week later, making EXACTLY the same offer on behalf of another client.

Let me share the pitch with you [identifying details removed]: 

Re: Introducing the XXXXXXXXX: We'll pay you to  post this content.

Hi there,

I'm getting in touch today to see if you'd be interested in posting some new video content on your website.

We are distributing a video which features [chief executive of company] introducing the new [company’s service]. You can view the video here: [link]

If you'd be interested in posting this content, we can pay you for the views your site generates. Please let me know if you'd like to be involved asap, so we can distribute the budget.

Best regards,

[PR exec]

Literally, the only difference between pitch 1 and pitch 2 was that in pitch 2 the PR exec made the extra effort of including "your parenting website" in the opening sentence. Way to go the extra mile. 

When I got the first pitch, I wasn't sure quite how to respond. I felt uncomfortable about it. The second pitch just confirmed every reservation I had in the first place - not only is the agency treating all bloggers and writers as a single entity, they're presumably treating clients in the same way. That can't be good. 

What's so horrible about this particular pitch?

First, there's no effort at personalisation or research, not even a perfunctory "love the blog". It's an example of the worst kind of spam pitch that journalists have being receiving for years - the only difference is that bloggers aren't even being paid to read this nonsense.

Second, it's not the most flattering offer. The PR doesn't tell me anything about the service or why it would be of interest to my readers. She doesn't even tell me what's in the video. It sort of feels like she thinks I'd post any old nonsense on the site in return for a couple of quid. Wow, I feel all warm and glowy inside just thinking about that.

Third, it's not even a guaranteed payment - I have to post this random content then receive unspecifed share of unspecified budget IF I generate enough page views. Bloggers who followed up on this were told the agency will pay EUR 0.04 per video view. Tempting. 

Fourth, I've watched the video. And honestly? It's terrible. I can't imagine anyone with any credibility putting this on their blog. It's the kind of video that makes me think I missed my calling because I could do a better job in my sleep. Hey, my video would definitely include a sentence or two about what the service the client has launched actually does. If you're going to spend money on a video with a view to getting that video online, though, it should be useful, or funny, or really interesting.

Finally, and this is a small point, perhaps - there are no instructions on how to post the video. Clicking on the link takes you to a page with a Windows Media video in the middle. If you're going to do something like this, I'd suggest spending the extra hour it'll take to create some easy YouTube style HTML that bloggers can copy/paste into a post to embed the video on their sites - many, many parent bloggers wouldn't have a clue where to start otherwise, and even though I know how to do it, I'm not sure I could be bothered.

I've had a quick browse online and I can't see the video in the first pitch has been picked up yet - but it's a recession, I'm sure someone will take the opportunity to make a few quid sooner or later. But I can't help thinking it's a missed opportunity. The client in the first email is a big, household name - and the service being launched is pretty nifty. I can see some bloggers might have written about it just because it's interesting, had the pitch and the content been better. 

The real missed opportunity, though, was not inviting bloggers to test the service for themselves - it addresses an issue that many, many bloggers regularly write about, and by offering them a free taster, you could have generated lots of coverage on these blogs without having to pay for the posts - or am I being too harsh?

The Christmas Quiz. Except, not about Christmas.

*UPDATE: Apologies to those of you who did this - I enabled comment moderation and forgot to publish the entries. Ahem. But well done to AJB who scored 18, I'll post the full answers tomorrow*

As you may or may not remember, way back in February of this year I made a New Year’s resolution to watch 100 new movies.

It’s actually been pretty great – I’ve been going to the cinema regularly, I've discovered Lovefilm and I've seen a good mixture of indie, foreign language and mainstream movies. I love going to the cinema in the afternoons, now my daughter is in school. I've seen some really amazing films - although I should warn the parents among you that Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel is most decidedly NOT an amazing movie.

So, as a thanks to everyone who’s given me their recommendations this year, I’ve put together an end of year movie quiz.  Here are 20 quotes from films I’ve seen this year as part of my movie project – the challenge is to fill in the blank word (just identifying quotes makes it too easy to cheat!) and, for a bonus point, name the film. Eternal glory, boasting rights and perhaps even a box of Fuzzy Felt to the first person to get all 20 correct: 

1. "_____ love pepper. They hate cinammon." 
2. "So we're not getting married but I have to get rid of my ______?" 
3. "A few hours ago, you were getting chai for the phone ______" 
4. "What a happy surprise! ______ is alive after all!"
5. "I can't believe it. You and Dad get paid to write about _____ and you hate dirt."
6. "I've got a ______ the size of a honeydew."
7. "Tracy was playing with _______ before she met Evie" 
8. "You're a young girl. You should be at ____. You should be dressed up, going out with boys, going to school." 
9. "What did you expect? Coffins and ______ and moats?" 
10. "I found _____." "What?" "I found _____. He's much taller in person."
11. "The good news is the engine has exploded and we're all going to ____."
12. "Big mountains, rivers, sky. Just be out there in it. In the ____."
13. "I'm letting you off easy. I was going to ask for the whole ___."
14. "Years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. He seemed a student like any other. His name was _______."  
15. "I am a death dealer, sworn to destroy all those known as the _____"
16. "Just because she likes the same bizarro crap you do doesn't mean she's your _______."
17. "We think the new _____ is the cat's Me-Wow."
18. "Are you now or have you ever been a Norse God, Vampire, or Time Traveling ______"
19. "You stay under water for three minutes. If you can do it, I'll just nick you. But if you can't, I'll poke one of your ____ out."
20. "His salary's 300 quid a week? You can't pay a ______ that!"

Are PRs going to come to their senses in 2010?

If you’ve never read Dan Hughes’ blog, All That Comes With It, I recommend you do – Dan is one of the UK’s best parent bloggers, and he’s also organising a fantastic charity walk along Hadrian's Wall for 2010 that could use some support from the PR and media community.

In recent months, Dan and I have had a few conversations about the relationship between blogging and PR. Dan, like many bloggers, feels on some level that PR is ‘polluting’ blogs and robbing them of their grassroots appeal, while I tend to make references to it being 2009 and not 1969 in Haight Ashbury.

This week, both Dan and I have written about what we think will happen to parent blogs in 2010 – if you're interested, click to read Dan’s post and my own post. One of our points of disagreement is how big a role PR will play in blogs in 2010 – Dan thinks PR agencies are going to come to their senses, realise blogs are one big self-referential circle jerk and stop pitching them; while I think PR agencies will continue to work with blogs even more although I suspect smart agencies will begin targeting their efforts towards a smaller number of perceived ‘premium’ blogs.

Dan reckons my view is tainted by the fact that I have an interest in perpetuating a PR/blogger relationship – which is sort of a fair point.  After all, I provide training workshops to PRs in working with bloggers.

But here’s the thing. As a journalist, at least, I’d rather not have to worry about blogs. I’d rather not know that when I pitch for an online commission I’m up against bloggers who will charge a 10th of my usual rates. I’d rather not know that major publishers are (frankly) pissing all over professional writers by paying £75 for online features or £25 per post. On that level, I’d rather believe that blogs are just a passing phase and in another year or so, we’ll all get back to reading professionally produced content, paid for at professional rates.

I just don’t think it’s going to happen.

So, given that I see the future being online content, I don't expect PRs to stop reaching out to online content producers (bloggers) who offer them a cheap, effective route to reach consumers.  I am not a PR expert so please correct me if I'm wrong, but in terms of search engine marketing and reaching a targeted audience, I suspect blogs are a pretty cost-effective part of the media mix. Yes, measuring the return on any social media campaign is tricky at best, but I think it is being done, by most people.

But I’m really interested in the perspective of other journalists and PRs on this issue - do you agree that smart journalists should be trying to get hands-on experience of blogs and online publishing? Do you think PRs are right to pitch blogs? Or will we all come to our senses in 2010?

How long before we start paying you?

Twitter's depressing sometimes, isn't it?

This week, I've noticed an increasing number of bloggers on Twitter, debating what to charge PR companies for writing features on their client's websites. Today, I read about a blogger celebrating - and being congratulated by other bloggers - because she had negotiated the PR executive up to £35 for a 600 word post. Jesus. I dread to think what the opening offer was.

It's not a criticism of the bloggers - it's just another example of how devalued professional writing has become in some circles. Why pay a journalist £500 for a feature if a blogger will make a reasonable fist of it for thirty or forty quid?

Of course, we journalists comfort ourselves with the idea that our years of experience and specialist knowledge mean we can continue to justify our price premium.

For example, I've written about enterprise technology, HR, business and the public sector for 10 years now. I've done proper training and stuff that means I can interview people, do shorthand, and hopefully not write anything that will end up with someone being sued for libel. And during my career, I've built up a really great network of contacts and lots  a smattering of technical understanding - that's got to be worth something, right?

Well, sure, unless you're Intel. Which this week made the horrible error of sending out a blanket email to seemingly every journalist in the "IT journo" phone book. So I got an email saying that "as one of the leading authorities on all things technological" with an "interesting blog" I am a "credible influencer" in the industry. Cripes!

On this basis, intel really hopes I'll want to contribute to their new online encyclopaedia of technology which will have interactive timelines and all sorts of whizzy features. It'll be a really amazing resource (on Intel's website, of course) and I can submit articles on anything I like, so long as it's technology-related. Oh, and they're not paying. Of course.

Who could resist? 

Four months and counting...

Back in mid-August, I was invited to an event by a chirpy PR exec working for a consumer PR agency. It was to launch a new toy range, and as I edit a toy review website, the PR agency thought I’d like to come along, see the new range, and take away a sample to review for the site.

I replied explaining that I couldn’t attend the event (which was in London) and neither could any of our team, but I was interested in the product and could we please get a sample to review for the website. Five days later, the PR replies: “no problem, I’ll get the sample sent over”. I send the reviewer’s details, let them know to expect the product, and promptly forget about it.

September 4th, I get another invite to the toy launch. Hmm. I email the PR back saying I’d already declined the invite but asked for the review sample – has it been sent? Are we still okay to do the review?

Five days later, the PR replies. “Of course. What publication is this for?”

Refraining from saying anything sarcastic about how unusual it is to invite someone to your client’s event without having the first clue who they write for, I reply, reminding her of the website and again providing the address for the sample.

We then don’t hear anything until almost six weeks later. Then, on 26th October, I get an email from the PR. “I noticed I haven’t spoken to you about this. Are you still interested in doing the review?”

This time, I allow myself a little sarcasm. I reply to the PR saying: “Wow, you’re alive. Yes, once again, we’d love to do the review, here are the details, thanks very much.”

The PR replies two days later. “Great. I’ll get these sent out right away. Sorry for the delay!”

November comes and goes.

So on December 3rd, I email the PR because we’re finishing up the reviews for Christmas and most of the companies we’re dealing with are anxious to get reviews up as quickly as possible. So I drop the PR a quick email saying, “Just concerned these might have gone astray in the post. Can you let me know if they were sent?”

A week later, and I’ve had no reply. Nothing.

Here’s the thing. I get that there’s a pecking order in media and new websites are quite low down in the pile. And I get that a website written by a team of bloggers isn’t exactly GMTV or the Daily Mail. So sometimes we wait for stuff, or we might only get to borrow stuff for a few days. I’ve no problem with any of that.

But I do have a real issue with a lack of professional courtesy. Taking five days to reply to emails? Isn’t okay. Inviting someone to an event and then forgetting who they write for when they reply to you? Isn’t okay. Promising a sample in August and still not having sent it by the middle of December? Isn’t okay. And not replying at all to an email asking if the sample might have got lost in the post? Is just bloody rude, frankly and a big, fat waste of my time. Which I don't have a lot of.

This is a big consumer PR agency. It won some Agency of the Year award last year. So one presumes it's pretty successful. But my over-riding impression is that it employs idiots. And the chances of me wanting to get involved in the next thing they pitch me are pretty slim, I have to say.