On the Radar Screen
SPJ May Need PR
Arriving in L.A., after a five hour flight from D.C., following three days at the PRSA Boston conference and an hour cab ride from the airport, I checked into the Hilton Universal in Universal City, CA. As the dedicated reporter I am, I headed straight to the business center to file my stories from the Boston conference and get acquainted with the computers, fax machines and phones. But yipes! Here I was, in a major hotel in one of America's largest cities, and the so called business center was not yet wired for the Net!
No problem, thought I. In the morning I could simply use the high-tech offererings of the Society of Professional Journalists Conference pressroom at the Sheraton.
I arrived to find, to my astonishment, that the business center at the Sheraton, as tiny as my news cubicle, did indeed have an Internet setup but only for those dinosaurs with an AOL account. This was the hotel selected by SPJ for a conference of journalists! With deadlines! In stark contrast to the PRSA conference press room, fully equipped with several computers, complete Internet service, phones and faxes, all for the press.
Remain calm, I told myself, deadlines for two publications looming. Certainly the SPJ's own press room, separate from the Sheraton's antiquated business center, would be state of the art, humming with all of the electronic gadgets to whiz my stories from one coast to the other. Certainly.
Wrong again. "Where is the press room?" I asked the woman staffing the SPJ registration desk. She returned to me a blank stare.
You guessed it. No SPJ press room either. What is a journalist facing deadlines to do? Was every other reporter at the conference on holiday? Did no one else need to check in with their editors?
Visit SPJ's "Newsroom of the Future," I was told. An exhibit just off the main conference room fully equipped with iMac and IBM computers, complete with e-mail and Internet access. My last hope.
My oasis in the desert evaporated into a mere mirage - the less than promised Newsroom of the "future" was part of the show, available only for tours, workshops and classes to SPJ conferees, not a room in which actual work could take place.
So, here's my advice to all PR firms who specialize in promoting events and conferences: Walk, run, drive, fly or hitch hike to the SPJ 1999 conference in Indianapolis, IN. And bring a PR 101 textbook. SPJ could take a lesson from you. (This was written by Elizabeth Tobbe, reporter with PR NEWS Media HotSheet.)
It Could Happen to You
A U.S. PR firm with clients in the technology corridor just learned a hard lesson about the Asian economic repercussions when it had to let go of four account executives, knocking its staff down to 34. The layoffs were caused by the inability of a client to pay for four months of services it received from the PR agency. For legal reasons, the agency asked that its name not be disclosed and we agreed.
The CEO, however, wants fellow PR executives, especially those with clients who are invested in the Asian markets, to learn a lesson from the firm's experiences.
The agency bought airline tickets and arranged media tours and handled other matters based on its expection of payment. Then the agency principal was contacted by the ailing company and asked if the firm would extend (payment) terms because the biz was redoing its line of credit. The agency agreed, and then later learned that the client wouldn't be able to make good on its debts. A lot of technology companies are start ups, the CEO said, and may be a greater financial risk because it may be more difficult for them to raise capital.
"Right now, you need to really careful if dealing with companies" entrenched in the Asian market, warns that agency CEO.
Other Agency News
- Toys "R" Us selects Golin/Harris to help with promotions surrounding the launch of the redesign of its Web site, http://www.toysrus.com, which hits Nov. 15. G/H will be rolling out press materials in major media markets such as New York and Los Angeles. (G/H, 312/729-4123)
- Manning, Selvage & Lee is plucked as the agency of record for the Arthritis Foundation, Atlanta. The firm's devising a media relations program for the coming year. (MS&L, 404/875-1444)
- Estimated to be a $5 million account, Harpell/Martins & Co., Maynard, Mass., will develop a marcom program for Best Software, Inc., Reston, Va. Work includes print advertising, media placement and brand positioning. (H/M, 978/461-0202)