All Items Tagged as

Amy’s Book Reviews—On Writing, Racism & Working Freedom

by Amy Rosenberg | Sep 11, 2017 | Amy Talk, General, Posts, Resources

I read every night, no matter what.

It doesn’t matter if it is a work of fiction, a business book, or a personal self-improvement compilation. The act of reading helps me fall asleep but it’s so much more.

On the deepest level a good book affects my dreams. My dream-thoughts are influenced and structured the way in which the writer structures their prose. I’m literally writing in my dreams—heavily copying my current read’s style, pulling out lines for press releases and emails in the most mundane sense but if I’m really lucky I’ll dream a line from out of nowhere in the early morning hours that could be used in a different sort of piece. If I’m even luckier, I’ll remember it. Twice the lines have jolted me awake and I had to write them down.

On a more fundamental level I believe that reading helps us become better writers. It is through reading that we learn how to structure a phrase, move to new ideas, deliver a quote. Since this is a business blog I will introduce a few of the business books that I’ve read but I can’t do that without mentioning the book I simply could not put down, finished last night.

It was one of those books that I am happy to be done with because it was consuming my thoughts, affecting my sleep, not only because I couldn’t put it down but because when I did I was wondering what would happen next, upset about the injustice of it all.The book was “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult, said to be the most important novel she has ever written by the Washington Post. If you are a human living on this earth, you simply must read it. It explores racism in America through a fictional setting in which an African American nurse cares for the baby of white supremacists. What’s even more shocking than what happens next is getting a peek into the minds of each character, representing varying points-of-view in America, from the white supremacist to the middle class African American to the privileged white defense lawyer—who’s unrecognized, hidden racism is the most surprising of all. Something we need to examine deep within ourselves if we are also white and believe we are not racist.

And on that uplifting note, I’m moving on to the business books. I am loving Tim Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Workweek.” I purchased it on my iPad and devoured it, realizing I needed to hold it in my hands so I could dissect it further. So I bought it again in hardback and am writing notes in the margins.

I’d already done half of the book’s suggestions years before reading it. And I mean that in the most elemental way. About 10 years ago I quit my desk job to work as a PR freelancer — grasping at the freedom Ferriss promises in his book. This grew into my company, Veracity.

While having my own business offers flexibly, I still must answer to bosses in the form of clients. This is where the more advanced part of Ferriss’ book comes in. His book is giving me the courage to move our business in a different direction—creating products we can sell in our sleep rather than offering services we manually fulfill. I’m currently following his book’s advice in launching a product which I’ve discovered is turning into a book about PR. Who says a book isn’t a product that you can sell in your sleep? Also to Ferriss’ point: the book brings credibility to any future products we might develop.

The product may have merged into a book when I started reading Stephen King’s “On Writing,” which could give business owners a different kind of courage. The courage to take seemingly hard business endeavors one day at a time, as King advises we write. The schedule I put myself on to build the product has inadvertently turned into a writing schedule (one of King’s tips).

Another key point in King’s book is to forgo book outlines to maintain creativity and flow. I think the same could go with building a business. We work on the business one day at a time. We don’t always need to embark on setting down a huge plan, which could be intimidating as you can overthink yourself out of great ideas. I’ve learned how to spend that precious time actually making things happen for my business rather than plotting and planning.

Featured image courtesy of Clem Onojeghuo

DJ Wilson, Leader of KGW Media Group, Right in Time for Women’s Equality Day [Podcast]

by Amy Rosenberg | Aug 23, 2017 | Podcast, Public Relations, Resources

DJ Wilson, Leader of KGW Media Group, Right in Time for Women’s Equality Day

DJ Wilson always wanted to run things. And run things she does as the head of KGW Media Group. We’re honored to bring you this episode — which we recorded in the middle of the craziness that the eclipse was supposed to bring to Oregon — in time for Women’s Equality Day this Saturday.

DJ truly is a “badass,” as Connor calls her, so there couldn’t be a better person to highlight in this capacity. This July marked DJ’s tenth year as President/General Manager of KGW Media Group, which represents more than just the revered NBC affiliate, KGW, in Portland. The publically-traded, multi-media platform runs multiple stations throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Google Play

From Playing with Barbie to Studying Barbie’s Business Model

When asked how she took a sledge-hammer to the formidable glass ceiling, on the surface it appears that the ceiling didn’t really exist for her. But of course this is untrue since the ceiling exists for all women. We still make less on the dollar than men — facing barriers to leading organizations, opening companies or breaking into certain industries.

However, the ceiling didn’t keep DJ at bay. Never one to be labeled as shy, DJ put herself in front of many opportunities, holding on like a prize-winning rodeo rider. But she brings the way in which she was raised into this discussion about her rise to the top. She was fortunate to have parents who presented everything to her as if it was given that she’d have equal opportunity. Her Dad played a major role, telling her that in addition to playing with Barbie, she could study up on how Barbie became a business enterprise.

While she has worked in news her whole life, DJ “came up on the the sales and marketing side” because she “always wanted to run things,” she says.

Acting “As-If” and Participating in the World

DJ said she always put herself in situations where others could see her filling the role she wanted. This is a little more than just being in the right place at the right time. It’s about always being prepared to jump in whenever needed, ready to tackle whatever the day throws your way — whether that is through dress or a mental attitude stemming from an inherent belief in yourself.

She secured her first job in a Seattle elevator. Freshly graduated from Washington State University’s (WSU) Edward R Murrow College of Communication — where she worked with a group to start the Murrow Symposium for budding communication professionals, which is now morphing into its 43rd year — she bumped into a friend she’d served with on the committee. DJ must have really impressed this woman because she called her friend who was working at KIRO TV that very day to open the employment door for DJ. “I had a job by that Friday,” she recalls.

We move the conversation along to the important point that simply getting out of the office or house might be all that is needed. You never know who you’ll bump into or what opportunities will arise by simply setting foot out the door. “Just showing up is half the battle,” DJ says.

KGW in Portland

KGW’s Shifting Employment & News Model

Securing a television position in a larger market like Portland or Seattle used to be an arduous process. After graduating with a journalism or communication degree, candidates were expected to cut their teeth in a small market before being welcomed into the larger pond. But the integration of digital reporting that’s now expected to be packaged with traditional reporting is causing KGW to consider candidates coming directly out of colleges that have top-notch programs, like WSU.

“We know who has the most potential,” DJ says. Solid digital skills mean candidates could take the fast track to larger markets, bypassing small town U.S.A.

“Cassidy Quinn [our first PR Talk media guest] is the poster child for this, we found her on YouTube,” DJ says. While apparently a few “legacy journalists,” as DJ calls them, raised their eyebrows at this development, Cassidy continues to prove herself. An example of a multi-skilled journalist (MSJ), DJ recalls a time this winter when Cassidy went out alone to film herself snowboarding. Reporting and snowboarding at the same time without any help from a photographer makes me tired just thinking about it. Needless to say, KGW is sending Cassidy to cover the Olympics this year.

Today the station highly values additional content created alongside a reporter’s traditional content. Of course stations expect reporters to fill all roles, however I’m thinking this is another avenue for PR professionals to explore — a testament to the significant need to maintain our social and digital media skills to offer alongside traditional earned media placements.

Getting it Out Bypasses the Stagnation of Quality Control

How does one stop a camera from shaking when filming yourself snowboarding? It doesn’t really matter anymore. Apparently getting the news out is more important than production value, depending on what type of story is being highlighted. If it’s a fun, silly piece, perfect production can wipe out any emotional appeal or real-time reporting effects.

Of course there is a time and place for causal reporting. When spotlighting news that can only be taken very seriously, such as human trafficking, there is no place for gimmicks, DJ strictly adds.

“But there are times when we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously. When we can have fun,” DJ says.

And fun is definitely in DJ’s repertoire. This warm woman doesn’t hold the stiff briskness expected from most high-powered executives. She was happy to lend her time, touring us through the newsroom on our way out the door, offering hugs as parting gifts.

My last question, unfortunately off-air, was in response to her nonchalant mention of weekend eclipse work. I wanted to know if she worked all the time. “I know how to play hard too,” she comforted. I have no doubt that this is true, which is why I’ll be keeping this mentor’s contact information in my back pocket.

About the guest: DJ Wilson

DJ Wilson is president and general manager of the KGW Media Group in Portland, Oregon, a position she has held since July 2007. Previously, she served as vice president and assistant general manager of the Belo Media Group in Seattle; KING-TV (NBC), KONG-TV (IND) and NorthWest Cable News in Seattle/Tacoma and president and general manager of the Belo Media Group in Spokane, Washington; KREM-TV (CBS) and KSKN-TV (CW). Read more from the Portland Business Journal Bizwomen bio.

Connect and follow DJ on social media:

Support our partners

PR Talk is sponsored by dapulse

In such a fast-paced, multi-faceted work environment, it can be tough to stay on top of everything. dapulse is the collaboration tool trusted by businesses of all kinds to help cut down the clutter and streamline productivity. Learn more at dapulse.com and signup for a free trial. You’ll see in no time why so many teams around the world are choosing dapulse for their project management needs.

PR Talk listeners can use the coupon code BetterExecute for a 15% discount.

PR Talk is brought to you by PRSA Oregon

Throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, PRSA provides members with networking, mentorship, skill building and professional development opportunities – whether you are a new professional fresh out of college or a skilled expert with 20 years in the industry. Check out PRSAoregon.org for more information on how membership can help you grow and connect.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise with KPTV’s “On the Go with Joe” [Podcast]

by Connor Laubenstein | Aug 4, 2017 | Industry News, Podcast, Public Relations, Social Media

It’s hot. Sweltering, really. But despite the heat wave rolling through Portland and the army of newscasters it takes to tell us all how to cope, KPTV’s “man-about-town,” Joe V (short for Vithayathil) made the time to sit down with us and run our show.

This was actually my first time meeting Joe but we instantly hit it off. This was largely thanks to Joe’s feels-like-I’ve-known-him-for-years demeanor — whether that’s just who he is, or it was the heat breaking down our internal defense mechanisms, I don’t know — I guess I’ll find out when I see him next in more temperate weather. Regardless, Joe and your favorite PR-podcasting duo had a lively chat in a comfy KPTV green room after (almost) walking in on somebody getting changed. It’s a good thing we don’t have cameras rolling for these podcasts!

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Google Play

Joe immediately took us through his foray into broadcast journalism. To the aspiring broadcasters at Washington State University, feel proud — Joe gave your program a whole lotta’ love throughout this episode. After wrapping up at school, Joe took an unpaid internship at a local station in Yakima, Wash. Thanks to Wazzu’s broadcast journalism program with hands-on courses, Joe flew right through his “trial period” and quickly became a full-fledged reporter. Joe couldn’t help from throwing a few shots at collegiate rivals, University of Washington.

After three years in Yakima, Joe landed himself in “market-37,” otherwise known as San Antonio, Texas. This was a huge jump for Joe, in terms of market size, and he stayed five years before returning to his Pacific Northwest home. Joe didn’t come back alone though — during his stint in San Antonio, Joe began dating, and would later marry his coworker, Jenny. Plot twist: Joe’s wife is Jenny Hansson, KOIN’s morning show anchor!

Joe has served as KPTV’s features reporter since 2006, getting up at 3 a.m. every day to walk his four-hour beat on “Good Day Oregon.” In this role, Joe will cover live shots ranging anywhere from chilling at the Rose Festival to climbing up the Fremont Bridge.

The Pitch Opportunity

Joe produces and arranges all of his own segments, so pitching him is going right to the source. When you’re pitching Joe, make sure you include the following:

Visual element — Just “talking to somebody” isn’t going to be enough for Joe. He reminds us that TV is a visual element and he needs to point the camera at something other than an interview.
Something new — This is difficult because Joe has been at KPTV for over ten years, so he’s pretty much done everything, but even if it’s something he’s done before, give him a new angle or a fresh visual. Sell your story!
Details!!! — We’d like to think this is a given, but just to restate: make sure EVERYTHING that Joe would need to cover your event is in there. Theoretically, you should be able to send a pitch and not even have to be at the event for the coverage to run smoothly.
Brevity… — Yes, you need details. But you don’t need to write The Odyssey. Save your “epic” writing for your free time.

It’s clear that Joe has a lot of things on his plate. He’s got multiple segments to cover every morning, so his calendar is his bible. Joe’s currently stacked through the entire month of August, so if you want to get something on his radar it better be well before the event. Joe says it’s never too early to pitch him an event — just remind him closer to the date!

Keep in mind that when you’re working with Joe, you will likely get multiple segments out of it. Good Day Oregon throws to Joe three to six times over the course of the morning. This means your pitch should outline three to six different segment ideas to fill out his schedule. Don’t just suggest four interviews for him to do — get creative and visualize the shots they’d want.

Amy and I had a great time speaking with Joe, hearing about his schedule, his love for his wife and kids and his “try anything once” mentality. Just don’t put Joe around heights.

About the guest: Joe V

Broadcaster, model citizen and guy who once got a retweet from @TheRock. “On the Go with Joe”- weekdays on Good Day Oregon and @fox12oregon (via Joe’s Twitter profile).

Connect and follow Joe on social media:

This episode of PR Talk is brought to you by PRSA Oregon

Gary Stein: An Editor for the People [Podcast]

by Connor Laubenstein | Jul 21, 2017 | Industry News, Podcast, Public Relations

What enters my mind when trying to describe Gary Stein, Editor of the Lake Oswego Review, is unmatched candor and positivity. Amy and I recently witnessed first-hand how dedicated Gary is to the community he works in. Beyond his affable and witty demeanor, you can feel Gary’s passion cutting through your headphones in this interview.

The Lake Oswego Review is a weekly newspaper, falling under the parental umbrella of Pamplin Media Group, which oversees 25 community newspapers throughout the Portland Metro area. Gary has served as Editor for three years.

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Google Play

Falling in love with journalism at the impressionable age of 16, Gary cut his teeth in southern California, where he was raised, and in Dallas, Texas, where he witnessed just how competitive local journalism can be. From Dallas, Gary made the leap up to Portland, where he would work for The Oregonian for 26 years in various roles.

Much of Gary’s tenure at the Portland daily was spent as Managing Editor of the Custom Publications section, where he worked with reporters and freelancers covering special events, homes and gardens, the growing beer culture and nonprofit organizations in the community. Custom Pubs was dropped from The Oregonian during their major overhaul, shifting to a ‘digital-first’ model and making around 100 layoffs in the process. Gary admits that times were tough for the newspaper, himself and his colleagues, but he still values his time spent there, the connections he made and The Oregonian’s editorial direction.

Gary has made it his mission to fully integrate into the Lake Oswego community his paper covers, setting up a series of monthly “Meet the Editor” meetings. But he doesn’t stop there — once a week he has coffee, lunch or happy hour with different people around town. While these meetings often help the newspaper with leads, the real goal for Gary is to ensure the community can fully trust the paper and that the community is accurately represented.

The Pitch Opportunity

Gary is a huge proponent of Pamplin Media’s news-sharing model between its 25 community newspapers. Information travels fast among the Pamplin network of papers. So, if the story you’re pitching the LO Review could be of interest to any other communities where there’s a Pamplin paper, chances are you’ll get more than one hit just by sending one pitch!

Gary notes the high volume of PR pitches he gets every day and gives industry pros tips to sharpen their skills before sending them along. Especially in community news, you have to be extremely targeted with your pitches — these publications won’t bite on the shotgun-style, press release trigger-finger approach. Instead, make sure your news, or at least your take on it, is geared towards Lake Oswego.

Further, Gary says that he doesn’t remember the last time the LO Review ran a press release verbatim. Instead, they want to do their own reporting and tell their own story. This might inspire you to spend more time on your pitch than the actual press release, since they won’t run it as it stands. Give them all of the details and save your fluffy writing for blog posts or your journal.

PR Pet Peeves

We didn’t get a ton of PR Pet Peeves out of Gary — having worked in both journalism and PR, he understands the give and take of both industries. To Gary, it all comes down to storytelling.

“I want there to be a surprise for the reader on every page,” he says. “If I can give people something on every page, then I think I’ve done what I want to do with the newspaper.”

Gary’s biggest pet peeve, other than sending him pitches that have nothing to do with Lake Oswego, is when your information lacks the actual context he needs to pursue a story. If you’re pitching an event to cover and you leave things out, such as the date (really?!?), Gary won’t be too pleased. Of course, because of his commitment to digging into stories that matter to his audience, he’ll do the research and get the information, but as a PR pro, you should ALWAYS include critical contextual information like that.

Another thing you should note are the paper’s deadline days. Thrown on doorsteps every Thursday, the paper hits the press on Wednesday. This makes Mondays and Tuesdays the big crunch days for the staff, so keep that in mind and give the Lake Oswego Review some time to write your news. Gary did say that he likes phone calls and he’ll give them more attention than the laundry list of press releases he receives via email.

Amy and I really enjoyed our open and positive conversation with Gary — and we’re excited to continue working with this figurehead of local journalism. But we really ought to thank our pal and recent PR Talk guest, Byron Beck, for insisting we speak with Gary.

About the guest: Gary Stein

As editor, Gary is responsible for all facets of production for the largest weekly newspaper in the Pamplin Media Group, from story conception and assignment to writing, editing and design. He supervises a group of six editors, reporters and photographers and works closely with a central design desk as they work to inform, educate and entertain their readers.

Gary is also the public face of The Review, engaging every day with elected officials, business owners, civic leaders and community members to make sure they understand that The Review truly is their community newspaper.

Connect and follow Gary on social media:

Photo Credit for featured image: REVIEW PHOTO: J. BRIAN MONIHAN - Gary M. Stein, editor of The Lake Oswego Review

Rick Turoczy: Our Own Slice of PIE [Podcast]

by Connor Laubenstein | Jun 29, 2017 | Digital Marketing, Industry News, Podcast, Public Relations, Social Media

Our Own Slice of PIE: Rick Turoczy

If you run a Portland startup rooted in tech, there’s a pretty good chance Rick Turoczy knows who you are. Rick’s blog, Silicon Florist, has been around for over a decade, and is at the epicenter of the startup bloom in Portland. Amy and I chatted with Rick for an hour in a Pacific Northwest chic conference room inside the co-working space, CENTRL Office’s, eastside location. But our talk with Rick had less to do with his blog and was more focused on his startup accelerator project, Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE). Although this episode of PR Talk digs into the Portland startup scene and PIE’s hand in it, Rick provided us with some great PR tips for small businesses looking to garner media coverage.

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Google Play

What is PIE?

According to Rick, PIE is an ongoing experiment to see how corporations, governments and established entities can work with startups to best suit one another. Rick says that those groups don’t typically speak the same language, so PIE acts as the diplomat between them. Founded eight years ago, the business has changed along the way. What started as a co-working space later transitioned into a consultancy, and most recently, into an accelerator.

As for what PIE’s clientele or member-base looks like, they primarily work with tech companies at the founder level. This means companies that haven’t hired anyone yet, but the ‘honeymoon phase’ is over and they’re realizing they could use mentorship to help move their company forward. However, Rick is excited to report that PIE is starting a new accelerator that focusses on companies with physical products.

Rick also explained the PIE Cookbook to us. Anyone can add to the open-source book of knowledge. He opened it up to everyone because he admits there isn’t one recipe for success. We love the tongue-in-cheek title of the book, but its community knowledge-sharing aspect really has our hearts thumping.

How does PIE work?

Startups are unpredictable, so Rick will regularly sit down with each to discuss the problems they’re experiencing. Family dinners with all eight startups set the stage for peer-mentorship. Startups experience similar problems at different junctures, so family dinners give everyone a solid opportunity to crowd-source solutions.

First Month: Everyone is working on the actual product or service at this stage, culminating in presentations to the rest of the group, no matter what shape the work is in. Each team gets critiqued on their process, but it’s a great place for the program to start because most of the founders are confident about their product as they’re usually developers who start with this first. So, this provides a gentle handshake into the PIE experience with a lot of positive build-up.

Second Month: Here, the teams work on the actual business. Rick says that founders are least comfortable at this stage. Strap in and get ready to be humbled.

Third Month: This month is all about story. You have the product and business model, but you need to learn how to make a crowd care. At the end of this month, on ‘demo-day,’ each group presents their collective of work. This is the end of the intensive program and from here everyone starts working more independently, with PIE’s resources and mentorship still available.

“We’re an accelerator. If we accelerate their failure, that’s as valuable as accelerating their success because they’re not wasting time on something that’s never going to go anywhere,” Rick says.

After the third month, graduate companies are encouraged to act as mentors for incoming classes by providing resources, making suggestions and generally enforcing the community aspect of the program.

How do you get in PIE?

Your startup has to pass the thorough application process. PIE uses a rating scale heavily favoring the people in the company over the idea. Rick would clearly rather invest his time and money in a company with an A+ team with a B+ product than a B+ team with an A+ product.

First, you have to tackle a written application with fairly straightforward questions, followed by a more in-depth questionnaire after that, dealing with more substantive market and competition questions. Finally, you’ll meet face-to-face for a process that’s like hiring a job candidate. PIE accepts 400 applications for every cycle — whether it takes one week or one month to go through them!

PIE and a Scoop of PR

Malia Spencer and Mike Rogoway: we hope you listen to this episode because Rick clearly adores the work both of you do. In classic PR Talk guest form, Rick waves a PR warning flag at startups trying to garner coverage: don’t just throw out press releases and expect the PR results to pile up in the publications. Take the time to research who you’re pitching, see exactly what they are writing about and develop relationships with them ahead of time. Even just following them on social, retweeting their stories and productively commenting on stories show that you are interested in their work.

Further, dig deeper into the story you are trying to tell. Unless your company just landed $30 million in funding, a journalist isn’t going to write about you just for the sake of writing about you — they have too many irons in the fire as it is! Instead, take note of some broader market themes and make a substantive comment about it — tell them how your company aligns or goes against that trend.

Here’s a new piece of advice: don’t be afraid to talk about your competition! Rick keenly points out that addressing your competition validates that there is actually a market for your company.

Rick cops that at the beginning of his career in marketing, PR responsibilities often fell into his lap, but it is the first service he would hire out due to the time it takes to build relationships and hone the specific skill-set. PIE does help compile media lists for each startup that fits their industry verticals, though, so something tells us that Rick hasn’t fully kicked PR out of his system just yet.

About the guest: Rick Turoczy

Rick states that he is “More than mildly obsessed with the Portland, Oregon, startup community.” In addition to being cofounder of PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment), he’s the founder of Silicon Florist (blog covering the Portland tech startup and open source community), cofounder & advisor at Oregon Story Board, Cofounder & advisor at TechfestNW and a board member at Oregon Games Organization and Technology Association of Oregon.

Connect and follow Rick on social media:

The Original Influencer, Byron Beck [Podcast]

by Amy Rosenberg | Jun 15, 2017 | Digital Marketing, Industry News, Podcast, Public Relations, Social Media

Byron Beck: Influencing the Influencers in the “Karaoke Age of Journalism”

You could say that Byron Beck was an “influencer” before social media influencers were a thing. Today they are all the rage, especially known to those of us who are trying to sell or market something. Companies will send products to people with large followings and ask them to endorse them on their blogs or through social media. Mission-focused organizations will try to sway these influencers into becoming loudspeakers for their cause.

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Google Play

Byron Beck was around before that marketing strategy became common knowledge in households across America. He’s always been a media darling — having had regular appearances in outlets like KPTV (FOX TV) and KXL, KINK and KPAM radio stations. Never been paid to pitch anything specific, he’s been invited back for recurring segments because he’s a trusted source among the local “it” crowd. And I don’t mean IT.

The man-about-town built up a reputation for knowing the best up-and-coming nightspots, where to be seen and frequently spotting A-List celebrities. When asked about how his infamous “star-dar” has remained infallible, Byron says that success in anything is inevitable when your eyeballs aren’t constantly glued to your iPhone. However, we’re sure that a curious nature and anything-goes attitude has also served him well in this arena.

His influencer status began as The Downtowner’s social columnist, an occasional columnist at The Oregonian and Willamette Week’s “Queer Window” columnist — where according to Byron, he was “paid to be gay.” Later a blog and social profiles that would track celebrity sightings, events and Portland hot-spots. became Byron’s realm. Savvy PR people with hip and happening clients know that it’s more beneficial to get Byron Beck to say something about what you’re slinging than having a traditional media figure do it for you (snooze altet!).

Even without a currently working website, which Byron jokes has been “hacked by the Russians,” he shows up regularly to media appearances today to tell us where to eat, drink and party! Nontraditional media are taking notice as well, with Byron playing a part in a locally-produced short about Portland’s food cart scene, called Food Cart no less, to be released in late September. Oh, and he hosts his own podcast PDXISH.

Again, Byron’s influencer status occurred organically, before “regular” people were ever paid to parade things before the public. However, the notion that Byron is a “regular” guy is laughable. He had us so entertained throughout this podcast, you really have to listen yourself.

He frequently turns the tables on us during the interview — asking multiple questions which we try answering, only to be diverted by Byron’s ever-present change of direction. We learn that Byron grew up in The Dalles and even spent a few years living in a trailer as a kid. This past experience kept him humble while interviewing Portland socialites and leading a glamorous life. He eventually made his way to Portland, by way of Seattle, with aspirations of being a dancer. He still gets to sporadically fulfill this dream during his recreational Go-Go dancing pursuits as a recent “Daddy Bear” at Tonic Lounge for Daddybone.

Byron sprinkles PR tips and journalism commentary throughout the interview. I’ve condensed the main points below for those of you who operate with just the facts. However, where is the fun in that? If you are a local PR professional, you’ve probably got your head down all day. Give yourself a break and let Byron amuse you with notions of how Portland has changed, a bit of political banter and an upcoming move to Paris. You may even learn what Connor wanted to be when he grew up.

“The Karaoke Age of Journalism”

Byron warns that we’re seeing the end of independent and investigative journalism. The dwindling amount of journalists who can actually make a living today among steadily declining resources is causing a slow dismissal of the journalist’s current standing. Byron believes this is because everyone thinks they are journalists now, hence Byron’s phrase “Karaoke Journalism.”

Byron’s Pet Peeves

Coming from a guy who still “gets 3 million PR pitches a day,” this is important.

PRs can often come across as thinking they are better than ‘us’ with phrases such as:
- “When can I expect to see this?” Byron feels that this holds them accountable to something they never asked for. I did politely explain why we might ask this but this qualm is good for us to know so we can ask more tactfully in the future.
- “And how many followers do you have?” It should be quite obvious how rude this question could appear. I think you can easily discover this on the sly.
Some press releases & pitches give off the vibe that PRs are writing the story for the journalist, essentially saying “here is how I want it to look.”
PRs can also come across as viewing journalists as a conduit to getting what they want. As the ultimate “people person” field, it seems that the manners our mothers taught us may need refreshing.
PR is a relationship business. Byron advises against always starting with a pitch and tells us to make connections first. According to Byron, the world needs content and there’s enough of it to go around so relationships will win you coverage in the end.

How to Send a Press Release

Include a name and contact info within the correspondence because journalists are comforted in knowing they can talk with a human involved if need be.
If you must send your press release as an attachment, please also paste the PR copy in the email message as well. Byron argues that people don’t like to read their email, so opening an attachment is the last thing journalists will want to do.
Bcc’ing all the journalists in your database through a group email is like saying each journalist in that group doesn’t matter. Duh.
Supply art or a photo that illustrates what you are trying to say.

Somewhere in the discussion, Byron mentioned that he doesn’t think people look at blogs anymore. I said that I think people see what their friends are commenting on and sharing on social media and then go to the blog from there, possibly resulting in a follow or like on Facebook. Byron disagreed. What do you think? Do you go to blogs? Let us know in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or via your favorite podcasting app:

Listen on SoundCloud

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Stitcher

Listen on Google Play

About the guest: Byron Beck

Byron Beck is a celebrated journalist, commentator, radio host and television personality. He is deeply connected to multiple communities across Oregon, including entertainers, entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, political leaders, media executives and civil rights groups. “Byron is a classic connector in the Malcolm Gladwell sense of the phrase,” wrote Inside Portland Magazine. “On any occasion you might see him breaking bread with the governor, hosting a political event, having coffee with a famous actor or musician, chatting with a prominent business executive or conspiring with a nonprofit leader to promote some worthy cause. Byron is the most socially adept journalist in the history of our city.” A long-time contributor to Willamette Week, Byron is an accomplished journalist who wrote and edited articles for CityPASS, The Downtowner, Eater, Explore The Pearl, Just Out, GoLocalPDX, In Touch Weekly, The Oregonian, OK Magazine, Out Hawaii, Paper Magazine, Portland Monthly, PQ Monthly and other publications. He won multiple awards from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and the Society For Professional Journalism.

Connect and follow Byron on social media: