I’m a military junkie. I digest books about special ops, movies about D-Day, I’ll even argue over the historical accuracy of a Chuck Norris movie.  When I was a kid I planned to continue a long family tradition of military service, I was going to fly jet fighters.  Well, that plan changed a little when I realized that pilots have to be taller than me and in better shape, and be able to do complex trigonometry while hurtling into battle at speeds exceeding the sound barrier.  While I may have found a way to get into shape under the forced tutelage of a drill instructor, they can’t stretch bones or turn me into Einstein. So, I’m a spectator into a guarded community of heroes much like the rest of our country.

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to give back to the men and women who ensure my and Chuck’s freedoms, even if the bearded-one chooses to squander his on bad one-liners, through a new pro bono project called Portraits of Love.  An initiative from the PhotoImaging Manufacturers and Distribution Association (PMDA), the Portraits of Love project is helping professional photographers connect with local military families to send 10,000 family portraits to their loved ones serving overseas.  Photographers will be hosting free photo sessions in their own studios and some will be coordinating time to visit military bases around the country.  With many military personnel looking at spending their holiday season in a war zone, something as simple as a family portrait can go a long way to bridging such a great divide.

For those courageous men and women who follow the path that the rest of us not dare, our hats are off to you.  I certainly hope that our tiny contribution can help make their holidays away from their parents, children and friends just a little more bearable.  Afterall, even Major Scott McCoy needs to remember who’s waiting back home.

First Matt writes about Matter Fun and now I am writing about vacation. I promise – we do work hard at Matter Communications. But nonetheless, today – Friday, I’d like to share some thoughts about time off. Back in May, I got married and took a glorious 12-day honeymoon. Five days in Puerto Rico followed by a seven day Caribbean cruise. During those first five days in Puerto Rico, I posted to Facebook, kept an eye on message boards, read blogs and emailed friends and the occasional colleague. It wasn’t until we boarded the cruise ship that I finally left it all behind and started to relax and recharge.

With our smart phones giving us access to work, anywhere, everywhere, anytime, it has become increasingly more challenging to “leave” the office. The benefits of taking vacation and time off are evident – we come back with renewed focus, passion and excitement for our jobs. This is especially important for PR professionals whose job is to deliver smart, creative ideas to our clients and the media. Being fully present is a requirement, so balancing time off with demands of the job is often a delicate act.

For me, to really get away and recharge, I had to get on a ship and on weekends, I clean (really!), amongst other activities, of course. Many of my colleagues enjoy sports like long-distance running or throw themselves in family activities. With the weekend upon us, I ask: what do you do to “leave the office”?

Have a great and relaxing weekend!

Here at Matter, we definitely recognize the importance of fun – whether that means injecting personality and creativity into our pitches and campaigns, or even just grabbing a drink together after a long day. A sense of “fun” is critical to success over the long term…because if you’re not enthusiastic about something, why should anyone else be?

Sure, most of the time clients expect our press releases, pitches and reports to be formal, buttoned-up, fact-based…impactful but not necessarily fun. Yet knowing exactly when to be a bit more fun can also make a difference in the kind of relationships we develop with clients and media. Demonstrating humor, brainstorming creative ideas, grabbing lunch…all of these things helps us relate to one another and bounce ideas around, which makes for generally happier, more energetic PR professionals…and that happiness and energy is reflected in everything we write, say or do on behalf of our clients.

Today, a few of us took a break from end of the month reports and writing to enjoy a farewell lunch, in honor of our summer intern Erin, who has been a delight around the office these past few months. We spent an hour laughing, eating and taking silly photos at Michael’s Harborside, taking in the gorgeous view of all the boats on the Merrimack and just enjoying time together.

Boats on the Merrimack in Newburyport

Erin, our summer intern, was a rockstar

Another Erin, who took a minute to stop and smell the flowers

Our Newburyport office manager Ellen always reminds us that Fun Matters!

It became a running joke in the newsroom, but it worked every time. When things got slow around The MetroWest Daily News, where I used to be a full-time town beat reporter and part-time editor, we would turn to the tried-and-true “man on the street” interviews. Pick a topic, any current event topic, head to your local coffee shop or other applicable location, and ask “real” people what they thought. Most people actually were glad to share their opinions, and before long, you had researched a story based on public opinion.

I turned back to the old “man on the street” format this week. After last week’s Brody PR faux pas, the old PR vs. journalism debate got some digital ink in the same way that the working moms vs. stay-a-home moms debate dusts up every year or so. It got me thinking, can’t we all just get along? And, I turned to some former colleagues for their “real” do’s and don’ts for forging a healthy PR / journalist working relationship. Here’s a sample of what they said (with names cloaked to protect the innocent!).

DO
Overall, my former co-workers see the value of a good PR professional. “Believe me, us editors have a vested interest in filling our pages. If we have interest in something you’re plugging you’ll generally hear back from us PROMPTLY… PR is an invaluable resource that I would have a hard time doing without. And there’s the sordid truth of it all.” – Editor of metropolitan travel and lifestyle magazine

“The key for a good release is similar to a good news story – ABC, baby: accuracy, brevity and clarity. Since I’m only using the facts, flowery prose ain’t going to cut it. Just stick to the basics, and if there’s a news hook somewhere in the release, make it obvious. Most of us don’t have the time to read a three-page release so if the good stuff is buried, it might get missed. Sadly, for people like me, you’re just going to have to dumb everything down.” – Daily newspaper business reporter and features writer

One of the top requests on any list is to know your publication. “If your email isn’t about my coverage area, why are you sending it to me?” asks the education reporter at a suburban Boston daily newspaper. One writer at a construction trade publication shared this real example, “I just got two emails about Suicide Prevention Week. Unless these people can tell me how suicides are a problem in the architecture and engineering field, I’m probably going to be turned off on future emails from you or your firm.”

Another word of advice my friends shared: Tone it down. This goes for the relentless follow-up and coming on too strong with fake positive-ness. One or two calls or e-mails as follow up, then take the hint. “I like it when PR people can actually help me when I initiate the contact and ask them for information about a story I’m working on,” said a usually grumpy technology trade staffer.

DON’T
My education writer friend shares these PR potholes:

“Misleading pitches – Spend three graphs talking about the need for childhood literacy development, then we find out your pitch is for some god-awful kids book.

Availability – If you send a pitch, I assume you are ready to turn it around immediately. So if I call back to follow on your pitch, and you don’t have time to respond or no one is available to talk to me, oh boy!, have you just made an enemy for life.

Bad grammar – Recently, someone sent me a release about Sarah Palin’s resignation from ‘pubic life.’ Just. Don’t. Bother.”

And, don’t both trying to buddy-up to journalists in “creepy” ways, says my tech writer pal. “One lady sent me an e-mail after my company’s massive layoffs giving her condolences and asking if she could help in any way; and I’ve never met her in person!…(Another) wished me a ‘Happy Easter’ and then turned out to be Jewish. One PR guy asked me a ridiculously complicated question about some obscure market, as if it were the most natural question in the world.”

In general, these guidelines boil down to being a good person, not a sleestack, as one of our clients calls it, and taking pride in your work. If I were in Brody PR’s shoes, I might have admitted the goof sooner and pledged to walk the straight and narrow from then on. But isn’t it a whole lot easier to do that from the start?

At any given moment, there is an overflow of information streaming into our lives. From magazines and the Internet, to TV stations and billboards, it seems as though we can’t make a turn without the news hitting us smack dab in the face.

In the PR world, staying informed is key to reaching success. Not only is it important to be knowledgeable about our clients, but it is imperative that we are aware of what’s happening throughout their industries. We must know about the conferences and tradeshows that are happening, relevant awards and of course, what the competition is up to.

We could spend all day scanning the Web and reading and watching the news, so how can you stay informed efficiently? For me, it isn’t about reading one magazine or following a set of analysts on Twitter. In order to stay abreast of what’s happening, I use a combination of different tools and software.

Each morning I start my day with a large cup of green tea. From there, I dive into my day. I open up TweetDeck, which allows me to closely track Twitterers and tweets relevant to my clients, and immediately see what’s happening on the Web. While my TweetDeck loads, I head over to a series of core trade publications’ Web sites. Since blogs have become a key source of information, I am regularly checking my Google Reader account for up-to-the-minute blog updates. Having one place to check for new entries, rather than going to each and every blog, saves me countless minutes (and hours) throughout the day.

This is what’s working for me right now. In a few weeks or months from now, I may have a different routine. We all use different resources to stay informed. So, how do you stay informed about your clients and their industries in an efficient way? What tools are you using? What works best for you?

This is my very first blog post. Anywhere. I ghost write blogs for clients. I pitch bloggers. But a blog of my own, with my name on it?…not my style. My own personal thoughts – well, I still like to capture those the old fashioned way …on paper, with a pen, in a journal that nobody else will ever see.

So you can imagine my dismay this morning, when I stumbled downstairs in the steamy summer pre-dawn hours, tied my running shoes, and clicked on my Treo. There it was, staring up at me from between a team meeting and a client call on my calendar: WRITE BLOG/Matter Chatter. OK, I thought – no big deal, I don’t blog, but I write all the time – love it, in fact – so, I’ll write a blog post. Just have to think of a topic.

I thought about it on my run. I thought about it while walking the dog, throwing in laundry, emptying the dishwasher and changing a diaper (and the crib sheets). I thought about it while negotiating the fine balancing act of the breakfast table with my three kids (imagine a round table, food mostly getting into mouths, a dog barking at a passing car, the general din punctuated by rapid-fire commentary: ‘cookies for breakfast, mommy?’ ‘wait, I don’t want banana bread!’ ‘where’s the milk?’ ‘can I come with you to work today?’ ‘I don’t want to go to tennis’ ‘can Ollie come over to play?’ ‘where’s Lucky?’). As I pulled my coffee cup out of the trajectory of an airborne Apple Jack, I realized: what I was experiencing is what we in the business call WRITER’S BLOCK.

Which hit me two ways: one, why did it take me so long to recognize this as writer’s block? And two, in an ironic, neat and tidy plot twist, I realized that this was the topic for my very first blog.

Relevant to our everyday life in PR, writer’s block is an affliction that can strike at any time, with any project, whether it’s your first blog or your hundredth bylined article – and a good agency person has to have a way to get through it and produce a final piece that is by turns creative, smart, simple and on-message.

So, I did what I always do when seeking inspiration– I asked other people for ideas. At Matter, my colleagues are creative, smart, funny and unfailingly willing to help. This morning was no exception – within two minutes of sending an informal polling question about how to deal with writer’s block, I had 24 pieces of great advice.

The most popular was some variation on “walk away for a while” (take a break, change gears). How to take a break in a way that gets the mind ready to write? Try reading something unrelated to the topic you’re writing about, like a highlight of David Ortiz’ homerun last night. Stand up, breathe deeply, or take a walk outside the office to get away from the blank screen – this has the physical benefit of actually getting your blood pumping too (hopefully to the left side of your brain). Have a cup of coffee, or a snack (or wine, if you’re working after hours – and will have time tomorrow to go back and edit), to rejuvenate yourself and get that blood sugar back up. Throw a ball against a wall, try to catch a glimpse of something that makes you relax and helps your brain re-focus – whether that’s water, the wind moving through the trees, a child playing, a bird flying, or a really great store window.

One intrepid soul told me he finds an article at random, picks five words and forces himself to use those words in the release/pitch/article he’s working on. The words might not always stay in the finished piece, but that technique gets points for just forcing you to start writing. Which is a good segue into the second most popular piece of advice, which was: just start writing. Erasing, moving things around and editing is easy – staring at a blank page is frustrating and unproductive; just the act of putting something on paper can start the writing flow.  Which reminds me of the advice my dad used to cite for conquering writer’s block: you’ll never finish until you start.

Other advice for getting around the Block? Give Google a go: search similar topics, start brainstorming from there; find a good quote on the topic, and use that as inspiration; fire up the thesaurus and find some words that could be inspiring, tap into your music library for some background noise (one writer prefers jazz, another country).

But by far, the funniest advice I got this morning for dealing with writer’s block was “ask someone else to write it” – now why didn’t I think of that?

As newsrooms at print newspapers continue to shrink, we’re seeing an increased use of syndicated content in place of locally-written coverage. In addition, there are some topics that simply no longer have a reporter devoted to them, or have one reporter as opposed to two or three. For example, the Providence Journal no longer has a reporter assigned to reviewing consumer electronics. If, as a PR practitioner, you’re focused on getting that big hit in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, this isn’t as big a problem, but for those clients whose needs include substantial regional coverage, it presents a challenge.

Or is it an opportunity?

Too often, when we’re conducting outreach around “cool” products, particularly gadgets such as the latest smart phone, we’re lulled into a repetitive pattern: pitch to technology reporter. Send reporter device for review. Receive coverage. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. But when met with the reply, “I’m sorry. We no longer have a reporter who reviews devices,” we need to rearrange our thinking and tap into our creativity. This is where what you learned in that communications/journalism/marketing class comes into play, the classic Who? What? When? Where? Why? Who is going to be affected by this device hitting the market? When and where will they find it most useful to their daily lives? Why should this be of interest to them?

This means moving beyond straight-forward coverage of the technology and into coverage of the end-user’s experience with that technology. Using mobile phones as an example: Pitching a virtually indestructible cell phone? Why not reach out to that Mommy blogger (particularly those affiliated with major regional publications)), letting her know there’s a cell phone that can survive her 3 year-old’s curiosity? Recently read a regional columnist’s musing about his generation’s wanting to stick to a “vanilla” phone but acknowledging the convenience of texting? What about offering him a “step up” from his basic phone, while not entering full-on phone-that-can-make-you-breakfast territory?

The products and services our clients provide almost always have an impact on someone beyond their core audience. Think about the end-user, or the customers of the end-user. Then find a reporter who writes for that audience. State your case clearly and concisely, referencing relevant past work by the reporter to better peak their interest and to let them know you’re not employing the ‘spray and pray’ approach Melissa referred to in her August 12 post. Employ some of that creativity Colleen referred to on July 23. Secure coverage. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I tell you because, well, I love my birthday! I love celebrating and, quite frankly, I like being the center of attention every once in a while. I also like to use this annually joyous occasion to look back on the year and to think about what’s to come. Because tomorrow marks a new decade, I’ve found I’ve been doing this internal reflecting even more than I usually do come mid-August. Have I accomplished what I wanted to over the last 10 years? Where will I be and what will I be doing 10 years from now? Interestingly (to me), this milestone birthday also marks my 10 year anniversary in PR and marketing. It’s true, 10 years ago I started out as an intern at a small PR agency – nervous and broke and scared and, then, completely in love with the business! In 1999 things were different in the PR world – we used printed databases to look up contacts, now we’re Tweeting with editors. As an intern, I scarcely used email to communicate with my friends and coworkers, now I send and receive hundreds of emails every single day. Through the wonders of social media tools like Facebook I know minute details of the lives of mere acquaintances (today I learned that the son of someone I had one class with at UNH accidently ate a rock on the playground).

So, what will change in the next 10 years in the PR industry? What will be the same? While I’m confident that advances in technology will have things in the PR world looking differently, I’m also sure the core will remain the same – building relationships. Which is why earlier today I commented on the rock-eating-child status because, who knows, this acquaintance could be a future mommy blogger.

What do you think will change over the next 10 years? Talk amongst yourselves – I have to get my birthday groove on…

The Wall Street Journal modified its editorial policy last week and will no longer participate in embargoed news herds, only holding news when dealing with an exclusive. This policy change might sound familiar – in December 2008 TechCrunch also declared that it would no longer honor embargoes.

Online media outlets continue to push the boundaries of traditional journalism, rapidly releasing news with no respect to embargoes and leaving well-respected news sources like The Wall Street Journal to take matters into their own hands to compete.

The loss of the sacred embargo is frightening to PR professionals, but it also makes us stop to think about the importance of quality hits over quantity. When you distribute an embargoed story to your entire media list, can you really expect the best results? Can we blame the outlets that have taken a stance against this approach? Probably not.

The Bad Pitch Blog is full of examples on how the ‘spray and pray’ approach has repeatedly gotten PR professionals in hot water. A skilled PR professional knows quality results come from establishing strong media relationships through strategic pitching and exclusive opportunities give you the most bang for your buck. In the end, those who didn’t get the exclusive will probably still run the news because an outlet as esteemed as The Wall Street Journal ran it.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the world of media. The new policy could have a positive effect on The Wall Street Journal with an increased the number of breaking news exclusives coming their way. And I don’t know a client that wouldn’t give up a few mediocre hits for some ink in The Wall Street Journal, do you? Is this move the beginning of a trend? Will the embargo on embargoes really filter down through to other print publications?

“So do washing machines.”

Aside from giving me an opportunity to quote one of the all-time classics, this exchange also provides a cautionary tale for PR agency pros…or anybody in a client service business, really.

With overflowing to-do lists, greater client pressures (both on and by clients), instant news cycles and myriad options for staying updated / getting distracted, some days it seems like just getting stuff done is a win. It’s easy to fall into the “we’ve been really busy for client X, so they must be happy” mindset.

While it is true that checking off action items and giving clients a lot of attention are cornerstones of effective day-to-day PR programs, they are merely the minimum requirements in a client relationship. The trickier part is to consistently do the things that deliver real business value to clients (read: the things they are willing to pay for over a sustained period of time). These things are actually much harder, even if they are less time consuming. Further complicating the issue is the fact that the answer varies from client to client. And clients don’t always know what the answer is. (Oh, and sometimes they know they don’t know and sometimes they don’t know that they don’t know…).

So, what’s my point? It is simply this: if you work at a PR agency today, you need to hit the brakes (a phrase I’ve stolen from our CEO) far more often to make sure you aren’t letting “doing stuff” get in the way of the things that really make a difference to your clients (and your ability to keep them as happy clients).

Clients use agencies that can get coverage, write case studies and win awards. Clients rely on agencies that can do all that and deliver competitive insight, inform and challenge their overall marketing strategy, create differentiated and defensible positions in the market. This stuff is rarely urgent (which is why it can easily get lost in the shuffle), but it always important. Make time for it.