Name and News Organization: Kate Michael, KStreetKate.net and The District Dish
Beat: DC topics (People, places, events, charities, businesses)
Job Title: New Media Personality
Length of Time in this Role: 3 years
Web Site and/or Blog: K Street Kate/ The District Dish
Twitter Handle: @kstreetkate

Mopwater: What kind of stories/people/companies are you most interested in covering, and in what context?  KM: Both the online magazine and talk show feature the best of DC, lifestyle stories that highlight the real District of Columbia and its eclectic neighborhoods.

Mopwater: What’s the best pitch you’ve gotten recently and why?  KM: A unique and interesting business (trapeze school) moved into the area and featured lessons with the instructor who taught “Carrie” on the trapeze episode of Sex and the City.  We booked him immediately to tell people about the trapeze school on The District Dish!

Mopwater: What’s the worst pitch you’ve gotten recently and why? KM: The sister of a local woman asked me to do a feature on her because she was “so nice” and “people should know about her”… I’m not sure why.

Mopwater: What’s the easiest way to get ignored by you when pitching?  KM: Forget to take out the name of the other publication you were pitching when you were cutting and pasting your pitch.

Mopwater: What’s your preferred method of contact? Phone, email, your web site, your twitter account, your Facebook? KM: Email and twitter, equally.  My actual e-mail is listed on my facebook page, so why use a facebook message?? Read the full story

Name: Marc Silverstein
Current City: Washington, DC and environs
Job Title: President and CEO
Company: On The Marc Media
Length of Time in this Role: 5 Years
Twitter: @onthemarcmedia
Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field?
MS: I was a crusty but lovable TV news reporter for close to 20 years, so skepticism of all spokespeople, PR folks and spinmeisters was in my DNA. Over time, I came to appreciate the few who “got it.” They knew how to successfully spar with reporters, leak stories, get out their message—and when they had to—take one for the team (usually a critical story) without too much whining.

Then I left news and hosted a long-running show about restaurants on Food Network called The Best Of. Many of the places we profiled had publicists, some of whom were incredibly helpful, and succeeded in making good stories better. But far too often, we had to deal with what I nicknamed Philadelphia-type PR, based on a company in Philly whose reps were so inept that we stopped covering their clients. They got in the way, raised tension levels with the crew and consistently made the process so difficult that even eating the free food offered by the chefs became a chore. That takes some doing.

From both the news and entertainment experiences, I saw there was an opportunity—to offer the kind of PR that provides a more effective bridge between clients and the media.  Clients need public relations people who know how to:
•    Understand reporters, their pressures and their personalities—and make their lives easier. (Like providing “one –stop-shopping,” and not calling to pitch stories when reporters are under deadline).
•    Speak the language of news reporters (Forget the elevator speech; you’re lucky if you get to ride one floor while you’re pitching them).
•    Identify what their client does that’s newsworthy, and figure out every way we can to get it in front of an audience.
•    Write short, dynamic news releases that don’t waste anyone’s time.
•    Use a lot of bullet points.

After Food Network, I hosted a show on Discovery Channel. After shooting the episodes, I was under contract and couldn’t work elsewhere in TV for several months. Much to my disdain, my wife wouldn’t let me sit home in semi-retirement. That’s when On The Marc Media actively started going after PR clients—and since then, we’ve been successfully getting them on TV, in print and on the Internet, in addition to providing a vast array of other marketing services. Read the full story

With the economy throwing everyone for a loop, public relations, marketing and media professionals need wise counsel  to help us make the best decisions for our readers/clients and ultimately  our careers.  To that end, I’m pleased to introduce  Mopwater Senior Counsel, a  column that will feature specific advice from senior-level PR and marketing professionals with at least 15 years experience in the field.

Paul Duning is the founder of the DC-area’s communications resource Capitol Communicator.  Duning founded CC after he lost a senior communications job during the economic downturn of 2001.  Instead of getting defeated, Duning got busy creating one of the most exciting platforms for communications networking in this region. Read more about Duning’s creative lemons-to-lemonade story of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mopwater asks: What do you do when you get laid off from your media or PR job?

Answer: Take time to regroup, get creative, and get to work on a completely new endeavor.

Paul Duning, Founder of Capitol Communicator

Prior to starting Capitol Communicator, I   spent 30 months as the merger & acquisition lead for a company consolidating communications-related companies in three markets. During that period, I met with several hundred communications companies across a broad spectrum of disciplines and was instrumental in bringing together 17 companies.

Then came the bust of 2001 and 2002.

My role quickly changed from integrating to re-organizing, which resulted in multiple rounds of difficult layoffs including, in the end, my own.

So I took a bubble-imposed sabbatical and spent the summer traveling with my family. During that time, I was struck with this idea to create a resource for communications professionals.   [I wanted] to bring a community back together that had been terribly fragmented by 911 and the economic downturn that followed. Read the full story

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had  a great holiday season and are gearing up for a great 2009. As promised, Mopwater is back in full effect today, and as such, I’m launching the much-anticipated “How to Pitch” column.  HTP is going to give you the inside track on how to get yourself or your client covered in print, broadcast and web-based media.

Reporters and editors-are you looking to get more exposure for your work in 2009? Ready to put down the pen (okay, keyboard) for a moment and get on-screen?  Maybe you’ve recently seen your reporter colleagues featured as experts on television news programs, so you’re wondering how you could get on television,too.

To help you get your first television interview, I’ve interviewed  Ferman Patterson, Producer of Reporter’s Roundtable, a public affairs program that airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon on Channel 16 in the District of Columbia. Frequent guests include D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Washington Post Reporter Hamil Harris. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the program, here’s a brief synopsis from the DC Office of Cable Television:

Hosted by Denise Rolark Barnes of The Washington Informer, the show tackles the top news items affecting District residents. Viewers will hear issues addressed from every perspective by panelists like Hamil Harris of The Washington Post and Deborah Simmons of The Washington Times. The show takes you beyond the local headlines as these journalists debate what’s in the news and how it will impact DC residents.

I’ve often wondered how reporters/experts get booked on this program as it seems like the guests are pretty much the same whenever I tune in.  According to Patterson, it really depends.

“Sometimes we get leads from reporters or we see a reporter on air and [invite them on],” he says. “Who we choose is based on topic or subject matter.” Recently archived episodes include the same-sex marriage debate, the green revolution and Wall Street vs. Main Street. Read the full story