Remember to turn off your WebEx when the demo ends. Especially if you have strange fetishes.
For real? I’ve never seen anyone’s fetishes on WebEx. But whenever I’m getting a screensharing demo and the presenter forgets to disconnect at the end of the call, I can’t keep myself from watching for minute or two, before I disconnect. You never know.
See also: Tip #48: TMI.
When you send a query asking about a pitch you previously sent in an email, attach the original. Or at least remind me of the topic. The message, “Haven’t heard from you, wonder what you thought of my previous pitch,” is somehow not enough to go on.
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Also: See Pro PR Tips in the New York Times: Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley.
If you’re a PR person sitting in the room while I interview your client, don’t pretend you’re a reporter and ask questions of said client during the meeting. Tech journalists are spoon-fed enough as it is, you don’t need to jam the flatware down my throat.
Come to think of it, I may institute a new no-PR-in-the-room policy. Don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before.
See also: Tip #32: Hush, now.
If you call me at 2:00 pm to schedule a 3:00 pm interview, and your announcement is actually important enough that I want to take the call, and if we both understand that 3:00 to 3:30 pm is the only block of time left in the whole day that actually works for both of us, make damn sure your exec will actually be available at 3:00 to 3:30.
And if not, don’t wait until 3:20 to call to tell me we need to reschedule.
Hey, guess what? Boring Powerpoints are just as dull when shown in a 3D View-Master as they are when displayed on a laptop.
Bonus points for getting my attention due to the creative delivery method, but 1o seconds after flipping through the slides, I forgot what the pitch was for.
Lesson: If you’re going to ship a presentation in a clever package, the message should fit the medium. See also: Tip #18: Comical PR.
It’s sad when a PR person makes me want to cover a company less. But it’s not my job to tell company execs when they’re getting screwed by their reps. Advice to CEOs and internal marketing people: Don’t cede your media relationships to your contractors.
Don’t like what I wrote about your company? Tell me. Like most journalists, I enjoy a good argument, and our discussion might make for a nice followup story or an expansion in the original post. Twittering that I am a moron is a) news to no one, and b) unlikely to further your cause.
Unless you’re Steve Jobs, don’t call to pitch me me in the middle of an Apple keynote. (Or Google, or Microsoft… you get the picture.)
If potential customers who hear your product or company name can’t guess the spelling from the hearing, you will lose business you’d otherwise get. Fallback: Spell it when you speak it. Better: Don’t choose a product name for which the spelling isn’t obvious.
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Rafe