Like everyone else, journalists are using social media to multitask, carry on multiple conversations and be in more place at one time. Of course this ends up meaning they are able to communicate with more potential sources than ever before. The limitations of communication are (almost) removed, creating a hyper-journalism. Kinda like journalism on steroids.

PR pros consider these limitless pathways to communication in a pitching context of course, but it’s nice to know that journalists think of it that way as well. Thanks goes to DC Social Media Examiner Mary Fletcher Jones for capturing this great footage at Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media, the panel hosted by Mopwater on Thursday evening.  In the clip, Washington Business Journal reporter Jennifer Nycz-Conner discusses how reporting, aided by social media, is akin to cooking on a restaurant range as opposed to on your standard kitchen stove.

[Other #TwitchDC panelists included Jim Long of NBC (@newmediajim), McLean Robbins of Washingtonian Magazine (@deacondoesdc), Jamila Bey of NPR (@jbey), Arthur Delaney of Huffington Post (arthurdelaneyhp) Lindsey Mastis of WUSA9 (lindseymastis)]

Ryan Grim, Senior Congressional Correspondent for the Huffington Post and author of the 2009 Wiley release “This is Your Country on Drugs” was billed as one of 6 speakers for Mopwater PR + Media Notes’ first PR. 2.0 panel  Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media on Thursday night in Washington, but ended up canceling last minute due to an emergency.

A journalistic emergency?

Not quite. Turns out, it was Grim’s third wedding anniversary, which he obviously could not skip.

Grim sent fellow Huffington Post reporter Arthur Delaney in his stead, and to avoid becoming an official Twitch Ditch, he also sent these responses via email to my questions about his use of social media during his reporting and sourcing.

Mopwater: How has social media changed how you do your job?
RG: The biggest shift I’ve seen is toward IM [instant message], both on Facebook, blackberries, gchat or plain old AIM. People seem more relaxed on IM. So build an IM relationship with a reporter.

Mopwater: How do you use social media to find sources for your stories?

RG: LinkedIn has been an enormous help and is a great way to find people online, as is Facebook. If you want reporters to be able to reach you, make those accounts as public as possible and have a phone number easy to find.

Here’s my broad point: The PR people who are successful for me are the ones who can get through. Getting through is a function of staying ahead of the stream of communication that rushes our way. Once, emailing a reporter was the way to do that, but the inbox now is so stuffed it’ll just get buried. There will continuously be new ways to stay ahead, though. Facebook chatting is a good and underused way now. Some reporters might get annoyed at getting a FB ping from a PR flak, but whatever. It’s not your job to make us happy, just to get our attention. A direct Twitter message would get through, too, as would a tweet with my handle in it. Reporters are always out there looking to see what people are tweeting or writing about their work, so you can trap us that way.

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You haven’t heard from me in a while because I have been working day and night putting together the very first Mopwater PR + Media Notes Panel, and it promises to be amazing. If you’re in the Washington, DC area, you won’t want to miss it. If you’re not, hopefully we can do some sort of recap for those of you who could not attend.

If you manage the public’s perception of your company or are concerned with increasing your organization’s media exposure in 2010, you will want to attend Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media. If you are like 80% of PR professionals who participated in the VOCUS fall survey on PR planning for 2010, you will be focusing more on social media this year. And if you are working in the nonprofit world, you probably can relate to the 85% of nonprofit executives polled by Weber Shandwick who say social media will be demanding a larger share of nonprofit spending dollars in 2010. But how do you harness the power of social media to get traditional media coverage? How do you embark upon, what I like to call, “social media relations?”

Find out how at Twitch! This event will feature a panel of working journalists who use social media daily to interact with PR professionals, communicators and the public. Think of this event as a “How to Pitch 2.0 Workshop.” Come with your questions about how to effectively use social media to land traditional media coverage. Learn how journalists are accepting pitches and twitches via twitter and Facebook, what they like and what they hate. Do some networking and  workshop the idea of social media relations.

Twitch! Public Relations in the Age of Social Media
Thursday, Jan 14, 2010
Busboys and Poets Langston Room
2021 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Cost: $20
Note: Space is limited. We can’t accept payment on-site. You must register online through Eventbrite.

Register Online

Panel

Moderator:
Jim Long, NBC Universal / Verge New Media, LLC (@newmediajim)

Panelists:
Jennifer Nycz-Conner, Washington Business Journal (@jenconner)

Lindsey Mastis, WUSA News Channel 9 (@lindseymastis)

Ryan Grim, Huffington Post / Author of “This Is Your Country on Drugs.” (@ryangrim)

Jamila Bey, National Public Radio and WAMU (@jbey)

McLean Robbins, Washingtonian and DC Modern Luxury Magazines (@deacondoesdc)

Organizer:
Amanda Miller Littlejohn, Miller Littlejohn Media Group / Mopwater PR + Media Notes / Author of “The Mopwater PR + Media Notes Manual for a Stellar PR Career” (@amandamogul)

Other fun stuff:

RSVP on LinkedIn

RSVP on Facebook

Join the Mopwater Facebook Fan Page

When referencing the event, before during and after, please use the #TwitchDC hashtag on Twitter.

Last night I attended a public relations seminar at the WUSA Channel 9 Station in Washington,DC. The topic du jour was digital media and making the transition, but as it was a roomful of PR pros in a televison statio, questions naturally came up about pitching television producers in a digital world.

It’s no secret that newsrooms are shrinking. In December the Washington Post reported on WUSA9’s new approach to multimedia journalism; deploying anchors equipped with digital cameras, camcorders, and video editing equipment. This approach has been met with praise and criticism; but it still begs a question: how can PR pros successfully function in this new multimedia environment?

I found the comments of Khalim Piankhi, Vice President of Community Relations for WUSA9 to be extraordinarily spot-on. To sum up Piankhi’s thoughts, don’t pitch producers.

This may seem counterintuitive to public relations professionals, but the media industry is changing, which absolutely affects the way we work with media organizations. How do they liked to be approached? What are their preferences?

Piankhi says news organizations like his don’t particularly care about your client. They care about their audience. He suggests that instead of thinking of how you can get yourself or your client in the news, think how you can help a news organization meet its objectives. At the end of the day, news organizations need the most relevant content to keep their audience, and if a big story breaks they will be searching for content to pump out to their consumers.

So instead of thinking a pitch, think relationships, he went on to say.  Frame yourself as a resource to a news organization. Check in from time to time. Send background materials. Keep your issue on the back burner-close enough that when that major story breaks bringing your issue to the fore, the producer will reach for the phone and call you.

I had the pleasure of meeting today’s TDMJ PR Pro a few weeks ago, and was so compelled by her story that I knew you would be, too. In addition to being a new wife and mother like myself, Mrs. Lara is a tenacious public relations professional who started out in the world of academia and leveraged a thirst for knowledge and willingness to work hard to create her own  opportunities. For Lara, this has translated into a pretty impressive career track only a few years out of college-not bad for someone who didn’t study communications in college! Already a senior account exec with several  agency positions under her belt and a consulting practice in the works, Mrs. Lara is one to watch.

Name: Jacqueline Lara
Age: 26
Current City: Silver Spring, MD
Job Title: Senior Account Executive, Lyons Public Relations
Owner, Mpact Communications
Length of Time in this Role: 18 months

Web Site |LinkedIn|Twitter

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field?

JL: My path to PR was nontraditional, but I wouldn’t change it for the world because each step has molded my experience. I received my B.A. in Sociology and a business certificate from the College Park Scholars program at the University of Maryland.  While I enjoyed my major and loved analyzing groups of people and their behaviors, as well as organizations and the key factors influencing their effectiveness, I often wondered what profession I’d pursue after college.  I felt pigeon-holed between working in HR and becoming a social worker.  Neither of these options appealed to me, so I took a few communications courses and was intrigued by the power of words and the way media pundits ‘spun’ messages to advance their platforms. Read the full story

DSM Client Calvin Pace

Name: Eddie Rhodman, Jr
Age: 30
Current City:Atlanta, GA
Job Title: Personal Management-Publicist for Athletes
Company Name: Destined for Success Management, LLC
Length of Time in this Role: 7 years
Twitter Handle: @d4sm

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field?

ER: I didn’t take the typical route most publicists choose. I was an athlete in school and always knew that I wanted to continue my connection with sports, though. I was originally a biology, pre-med major at Morehouse College because I wanted to work on the business side of sports medicine and was told by a professor that [sports medicine] was the best way to go. After participating in various summer programs I realized medicine wasn’t my passion. Morehouse didn’t have any programs with a sports focus, and while there was no passion for medicine, the desire to be in the sports world remained. Consequently, I created my own plan of study, internships and work that would lead me to the business side of sports. At first I worked with kids whose coaches didn’t seem interested in helping them get to the next level (i.e., college). I helped scouts find undiscovered  talent and helped coaches identify diamonds in the rough- and I did it for free. In addition to doing it for the love of it, I was building a network. I eventually started researching ways I could help professional athletes, interviewing former pros about services they wished they’d had when they played, etc.

For two years I networked and approached various companies with my findings- in hopes of finding a position. Unfortunately, I found more rejection than anything (which was bad for my bank account), but in the process I’d assembled quite a rolodex and established important relationships. Eventually, at my parents’ suggestion, I realized the need to start my own business. It’s been a tough road, as any entrepreneurial endeavor is, but I continue to work hard and appreciate the support of loved ones. And of course, I keep God first- I’ve been blessed.

Mopwater: What aspects of the industry are you most excited about?
ER: I’m most excited about helping players expand their horizons beyond the field. It’s great when they’re known for what they do when the helmet is on, but it’s even more fulfilling when I’m a vehicle for their being able to help their communities and achieve their other dreams.

Mopwater: Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day?
ER: Normally, I work out in the morning. Then I check emails, make pitch calls, research client opportunities and track placements. I may also have meetings to attend or conference calls to make. In the evening, I usually watch games for research purposes and what sports media are talking about. This way I can give clients input for interviews. During the off-season I book clients for events, red carpet appearances, photo shoots, etc. And then there’s networking, networking and more networking.

My days tend to vary, but I work 24-7. I get teased, and people call me the email King because I send business emails all times of day and night. Basically they’re always asking me “when do you sleep?”.

Mopwater: Describe your office setting and workplace.
ER: My office is small but pleasant. Most of my team works remotely, so it’s perfect for me. As far as my company culture- it’s kinda like a family. To quote Jay-Z “It’s a secret society, all we ask is trust”- and a serious grind. We keep it fun, though.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks and why?
ER: I love phone and face time- I’m at my best when I’m pitching and networking. There’s something very rewarding about finding new opportunities and information for my clients. Press releases are another story… I HATE writing.

Mopwater: Who are some of your (or your organization’s) clients, and what kind of projects do you take on for these clients?
ER: My clients are athletes, organizations that do work in the community, businesses and entrepreneurs. My job is to get the word out about them- mostly via the media. That also includes planning events, scheduling appearances and creating strategic partnerships.

Mopwater: Describe a recent project where you produced results of which you’re really proud.
ER: A client’s foundation donated $25,000 to a single mother of four who was affected by Hurricane Katrina on the Montel Williams. Then he followed up to make sure she got a house, kids in school and still keeps in touch regularly.

Mopwater: What is your favorite thing about this job?
ER: Well there are two. First, there’s seeing the joy the clients and their loved ones experience when their exposure and brand awareness starts to grow. Then there’s the moment the client understands that it’s not just about the money for me and that I really do care about their welfare as a person in the short and long term.

Mopwater: Do you think you’ll be in this position in 5 years?
ER: God willing. If my work continues to speak for itself, more doors will open and my company will continue to grow.

Mopwater: If you could work on any PR or marketing project of your choosing, what would it be? ER: I’m already doing it. I’d be helping my clients’ foundations and community efforts to partner with major brands and in the process, bring more awareness to the plight of the less fortunate among us.