Johnny Dangerously said:
I should point out I don't transact all business by email, nor do I endorse doing so. It's good to have an email trail, but there is no substitute for a conversation with someone. If the game had been our highest priority, we'd have made a phone call or two. As time went on, it was obvious two games would be higher on our pecking order, and we put our energy into those. It's also obvious we weren't a speck of dust on the radar when the team was in the hunt for the national championship, but a key loss and a tumble in the polls later, with far less interest in the rivalry game than in many years, they found an empty chair.
Thing is, as she stated, they wouldn't have been able to give us an answer until the week of the game even if we had called. And as it turned out, we got our answer 23 hours before kickoff. So "plan accordingly" means wait until the day before the game, and maybe we'll squeeze you in. For the record, our reporter covered their games for a few years and said he knew of no such policy. We also looked and couldn't find it in writing anywhere.
My point is how she worded her email is further evidence that just because you have a job in PR, it doesn't mean you understand PR.
Cue the theme to the "$10,000 Pyramid," since there's your winning graf right there.
You would be amazed at the level of ignorance we deal with from other PR people. Not all, of course, but of what I call -- at the risk of starting a major threadjack here with an SportsJournalists.com buzzword -- "Heathers."
You've all seen them: the blond, 20somethings who got into PR because "they like dealing with people." They have no idea what the media needs, just that they have a message they are going to cram down your throats come hell or high water. Your needs and purpose are secondary to theirs.
It's a bull**** way to handle media relations. Yes, you have a different agenda; that's a given. But you also have a need for content and it's our job to facilitate your job as best we can -- given your parameters and needs.
Even within the PR community, I see the right way and the wrong way of handling matters. Much of the "wrong way" comes from folks who never worked in journalism and have no idea what reporters need or find newsworthy, for that matter.
When we work an event, our priority is to our client AND the media. If you're taken care of, my client will most likely be taken care of -- not only at that event, but later down the line. It need not be an either/or thing and any good PR person understands that.
It's a tactic my bosses have employed for years and it's one major reason why both of them are highly respected: by both clients and reporters.
