The A-Z of Australian and NZ PR Blogs - for MarketingMag.com.au

Hot on the heels of our list of Aus/NZ PR peeps on Twitter, here's a list of Aus/NZ PR and comms related blogs compiled by me and Trevor Young. Kate Kendall, online editor of MarketingMag.com.au came up with the idea and asked Trevor and myself to make it happen (top idea Kate). Voila!

You can find the list on Marketingmag.com.au here. Kate will keep the list up-to-date, so if you're not on the list and think you should be, leave a comment at Marektingmag.com.au. If you are on the list and would prefer not to be, or would like your listing updated/corrected, ditto.

Big shoutout to all the fab tweeters who responded to our calls for assistance with this post - you guys give good tweet!

We've tried to make sure these are blogs specifically about PR issues/campaigns written by flacks. While we did find more blogs than listed, if they hadn't be posted to for more than six months, we didn't include them. Even so, we are a tad surprised that we didn't find more PR comms blogs? Are Comms people too busy helping clients with their blogs to do their own? Is blogging seen as to time consuming for the perceived return? Hmm... interested to hear thoughts from the frontline...

Regardless, there's lots of great stuff listed - dig in and enjoy!



Australia

A
Andy Lark's blog by Andrew Lark

B
Behind Digital PR A Hill and Knowlton blog
Better Communications Results by Lee Hopkins
Black Watch by Tony Blackie

C
Caffeine blog by Espresso Comms
Clever together - PR explained by Horizon Communications
Corporate Engagement Trevor Cook on Crikey blogs
CP Communications blog by Catriona Pollard
Creative Territory by Tracy Jones
Creativity in Public Relations A Hill and Knowlton blog

D
Dennis Rutzou PR's blog
Dummy Spit by Dr Tom Watson

F
Fresh Chat blog for Network PR

H
Hill and Knowlton collection of blogs

I
Influencing the influencers A Hill and Knowlton blog
I scratch my mind by Renee Creer, New Media Director, Stellar*
In silico blog by Paul McKeon

J
Just another PR blog by Karalee Evans
Just another 24 hours by Daniel Young

K
Kimberley Lee

L
Louise Convy Media
Lexy Klain's blog by Lexy Klain

M
Marketing is Us blog
Mumbrella Tim Burrowes, previously editor of B&T magazine

O
On the write track blog by Roger Christie

P
Porter Novelli Adelaide
PR Disasters.com by Gerry McCusker
PR Lab blog by Greg Smith
PR Warrior Trevor Young
Public Relations Sydney by Catriona Pollard, CP Communications
Publicity Queen Sally Romano
Pursuit Communications blog

S
Shoot the messengerblog for Kinectics Comms
Stand Out! Tips by Candy Tymson
Stellar* blog
Strawberry Communications blog

T
Tale Spin Lukas Picton
The Communications Room
The Media Pod Edited by Ross Monaghan'
The Perth Files by John Cooke
The Professional Communicators' Coach by Heidi Alexandra Pollard
Traffic on Maine Bob Crawshaw's blog
Trevor Cook

Y
Young PR Paull Young


New Zealand

Michelle Boag
Bullet Points blog for Bullet PR
NZ Voice Public Relations Institute of New Zealand
Pursuit PR blog

Also check out the PRIA page of resources for other sites on blogging, social media, RSS, social media releases and international PR blogs.

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Jillian Bowen, Director, Entertainment PR

Jillian Bowen is one busy gal - entertainment and fashion publicist, creator and writer of Urban Style File, a Dog Whisperer devotee and long time Slicer. We love a girl of many talents... especially one with tips on where to buy designer fashion at budget prices... read on to find out where!



Can you give a brief bio?
I've worked in PR and marketing for more years than I cares to admit publicly on a website. My experience has been gained with some of the most familiar consumer and entertainment brands and names in Australia. My current clients include Matthew Newton, Sigrid Thornton, GRLmobile, Moonlight Cinema, Tammy van Wisse, Crisis Support Services, El Comico and Fashion+Aid.

How's the market out there right now? What strategies are working for you during these GFC times?
Maybe I’m lucky, maybe I work hard, but since starting my own company in 2000 I’ve always had business come to me. It goes to show that nothing beats good word of mouth.

You work in the entertainment PR space - are you using any social media platforms (facebook, myspace, twitter) as part of your campaigns? If yes, how do you feel it's working for you?
My client GRLmobile is big on social networking. We load all their event pics on a Facebook fan page which in turn helps generate bounce back to their own website. Loving Twitter for the sheer senseless sharing but it is early days on making it work well from a business perspective. But as with all social networking opportunities, watch this space.

Why Slice over other monitoring services?
Slice is the ultimate service for closet computer nerds who are control freaks. I’ve always been a DIY fan and using Slice seems to satisfy that need – and it is a lot less time-consuming than painting the outside of my house.

Tips on using Slice for other subscribers?
The email alert service is a great time saver and it is well worth learning how to create free search string text – it really helps to ensure you get exactly the clips you are looking for.

Right now I'm:

Reading... The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly and flicking through InStyle, Vogue and Grazia

Eating.... dinner at France Soir tonight – because I love the food and the cheeky waiters are an added bonus

Listening... to peace and quiet in my house because I’m using tips from Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer to get my naughty ‘children’ to stop barking

Planning... a holiday, but I’m holiday-challenged, so who knows

Buying... from the www.theoutnet.com – the new sale site from the clever crew behind www.net-a-porter.com

Enjoying.... series link on my Foxtel IQ – the perfect way to capture a truckload of trash that you can waste a weekend watching

Media monitoring

120 Australian & New Zealand Public Relations peeps on Twitter (and counting)

OK, we've seen lists of Oz journos on Twitter (thanks Dave Earley and Laurel Papworth), so I thought we'd even up the score a little and post tweeting Aussie & Kiwi PRs. Hopefully, we'll all get along just nicely in the Twitter sandpit...

I realise that this list may be a mere drop in a proverbial sea of twitterers, but hey, you have to start somewhere.

If you're on the list and would prefer not to be, please let me know and I'll remove you ASAP (I've only used publicly available information, and references from other people on the list to put this list of names together). Also, if you are on the list and would like your description updated, please leave a comment and I'll clean it up.

If you're NOT on the list and would like to be, please leave a comment and I'll attempt to get you on it. Finally, if you have suggestions on improving the list, let me know that too.

Thanks to everyone who retweeted my request for help and DMed me with additional names for the list. Special thanks to PR Warrior Trevor Young for supporting the idea and RTing all over the place!

Australia:
A
Sarah Allen Sarah Allen Consulting Marketing, Comms, PR, Social Media, Sydney

B
Johanna Baker Dowdell Strawberry Communications, Central Coast NSW
Natascha Balducelli Cookie Creative
Jo Balfour Tech/online PR running Progressiva
Jenni Beattie Director, Digital Democracy
Emily Birks PR Consultant Pulse Communications
Laura Blasdale from WordStorm PR, Sydney
Jillian Bowen, Director Entertainment PR, Melbourne
Bonnie Bullock Director of Saranac PR

C
Will Clark Tech PR, Melbourne
Michelle Carter Spectrum Comms, Sydney
John Cooke Perth
Bob Crawshaw Maine Street Marketing, Canberra
Sarah Creelman PR & Marketing Manager, CBS Interactive, Sydney
Renee Creer New Media Director, Stellar* PR
Jen Crowcroft Upstream Australia, Sydney
Gemma Crowley Dennis Rutzou, Sydney
Roger Christie Sydney

D
Melissa Dark Internal comms consultant, Melbourne
Julie Delaforce Network PR, Sydney
Keith De La Rue AcKnowledge Consulting, Melbourne
Dennis Rutzou PR
Kya de Rome PR Consultant, Kinetics Sydney
Kelly Drew General Manager, Haystac

E
Jenny Eather Sydney-based consultant
Scott Eathorne Entertainment Publicist, Melbourne
Peta Ellis City Publicity
Geoffrey Emerson Head of Digital PR @ Zing, Sydney
Tim Entwisle Madrigal Communications, Sydney
Cassandra Erbs - Marketing Manager, St Aidan's & freelance consultant, Brisbane
Karalee Evans Communications & Partnerships Manager, Melbourne

F
Simon Fitz Taurus Marketing, Sydney
Ofa Fitzgibbons Tech PR gal, Sydney
Corrina Frankham PR at WriteAway, Sydney
Con Frantzeskos Social Media Strategy Consultant
Campbell Fuller Ex-News journalist/dep-ed,Head of corporate/financial communication with Porter Novelli Sydney

G
Richelle Gillett, Spectrum Communications Account Director, Sydney
Ang Graham Digital PR manager, Amnesia, Sydney
Brian Giesen Director of Digital Strategy, Ogilvy Sydney (fresh import, happy to claim him as our own for this list!)
Tara Grimshaw V/radio journalist working in PR, Sydney

H
Mat Hardy In-house NetComm PR manager Wanted Digital, Sydney
Michael Hendo MD, Spectrum Communications & Max Australia
Donna Hogan Sydney
Jocelyn Hunter Director BenchPR

I
Rob Irwin Media & Online Specialist, Network Communications, Sydney

J
Sharmin Jassal Biz Tech Comms specialist, Sydney
Polly Johnson Sydney tech PR flack for Kinetics
JoJo at Dennis Rutzou PR

K
Christine Kardashian DashPR
Keep Left PR Melbourne
Stella Katsaros Little Miss Stella PR

L
Drew Lambert Publicity Director, Mark Communications, Sydney
Kim LaRochelle at Dennis Rutzou PR
Derek Lau PR guy, Sydney
Jemma Lee Verve Communications, Sydney
Kimberley Lee Sydney
Hayley Lettoof, Account Manager, Stellar* Concepts
Gareth Llewellyn Oracle Flack, Sydney
Anthony Lowe Principal of Porter Novelli's Sydney technology practice

M
Catroina McGauchie The PR Group, Melbourne
Kenny McGilvary Sydney PRer and Dry Julyer
Lindsay McHugh Philly girl in Melbourne
Casey Macneil Director, Macneil Marketing & Communications, Queensland
Fleur Madden-Topley MD, RedPR Brisbane
Dylan Malloch Sydney
Phoebe Mapperson Primary Communication, Sydney
Andrea Matthews Corporate Affairs Manager, GM Holden, Adelaide
Shannon Molloy ex-journo, Brisbane
Susan Moore Asia Pacific PR for Gartner
Carrie Morgan PR Consultant, Melbourne

O
Jane Outen, Senior Account Manager, Stellar* Concepts

P
Emily Patterson The Unknown Citizen, Perth
Lani Pauli Account Manager, LapePhelan Marketing Communications
Tracy Pendergast Pentica PR, Sydney
Lukas Picton Text100, Sydney
Janine Pittaway Director Bright Communications, Perth
Catriona Pollard Director CP Communications
Melinda Porteous, Account Director, Stellar* Concepts
Clare Preskett Freelance consultant

Q
PruQ Einsteinz, Sydney

R
Louise Roberts Director, Sphere Public Relations, Sydney
Jacqui Rudd
Scott Rhodie Online PR specialist, former-journalist, Senior Account Manager, Zing Sydney

S
Teri Sawers Communications for Insights, Sydney
Tara Schwarze Spectrum Comms, Sydney
Johanna Scott, Account Executive, Stellar* Concepts
Victoria Sennitt Sydney
Melissa Shawyer Director, The PR Group
Caroline Shawyer Owner, The PR Group Melbourne
Saxon Shirley Associate Director, Spectrum Communications, Sydney
David Sims Howarth, Sydney
Brooke Simmons Pursuit Communications, Central Coast NSW
Annette Slunjski GM at Lucidity Marketing Communications (B2B marcomms)
Dr Greg Smith PRLab, ex print journo
Becci Stalker consumer PR specialist, Melbourne
Stellar* PR
Tanya Steinbeck Director Limelight Communications, Perth
Jo Stevens Kramer Head of Corp Comms Microsoft Australia, Sydney
Sarah Stokely Tech journo turned PR, Melbourne
Susan Swan

T
Peter Taliangis Perth
Rebekka Thompson PR practitioner at Zing, Sydney
Marissa Tree Brisbane Team Leader, Red Agency

V
Dena Vassallo Professional Public Relations (PPR), Adelaide
Lars Voedisch Asia Pacific PR for Dow Jones

W
Annalise Walliker Haystac in Melbourne
Martin Walsh Group Manager Digital Marketing @ Microsoft, Sydney
Wes Ward PR, social media, virtual reality at ExitReality and Wadimedia
Emily Wearmouth, Executive director at Kinetics PR
Graham White MD Howorth, tech & business PR firm, an Ogilvy PR company
Lesley White Head of Consumer Digital, Network Communications, Sydney
Emma Wiliams Opera Australia's inhouse publicist

Y
Trevor Young parkyoung, The PR Warrior


New Zealand:

A
Hamish Anderson Creo CEO, Auckland
Catherine Arrow Auckland

B
Sharon Buckland Auckland
Jennifer Boyes Intermediary PR, Auckland
Peter Boyes Perception management counsellor & PR adviser, Auckland

C
Simon Clark Account Manager at Network PR, Auckland

D
Joss Debreceny Communications Advisor at Ministry of Education, Wellington
Jane Dodd GM, Network PR, Auckland
Donovan Boyd Communications Auckland

E
Michela Enna Creo

F
Sam Farrow
Solange Francois

G
Steve Grbic Auckland

H
Campbell Hodgetts Tech PR consultant Auckland

J
Jacky James Director of Shine PR, Rotorua
Anna Jobsz PR

K
Stephen Knightly Auckland

L
Julie Landry, PR consultant in Auckland

M
Paul Matthews Bullet Points, Auckland
Angela Moriarty Wellington

N
Network PR Auckland
Nicholas O'Flaherty BulletPR

P
Paul Pursuit Pursuit PR, Auckland

S
Toni Skiffington Harcourts NZ Communications Manager, Auckland
Jordan Small Network PR,Wellington

And for good measure:
Public Relations Institute of Australia (National) managed by Lloyd Grosse
Public Relations Institute of New Zealand - Events

(Credit for the tweet image above here)

Media monitoring

Event: Public Relations Conference, Brisbane Australia

Frocomm's 4th Annual PR & New Media Conference 2009 will open it doors in Brisbane in early June. The two major streams are themed around "Welcome to the New World Of Communications" and "How the new media revolution is changing communications".

Here's a taste of some of the speakers presenting:

Sandi Logan, National Communications, Manager, Department of Immigration
The opportunities for public relations practitioners to deliver their messages are so much broader than ever before: reality TV series, internal IPTV broadcasts, web and social media platforms are just a few of the new world of communications options available: how should PR professionals approach these opportunities, prove their value to their organisation and prove a measurable return on investment?

Brian Giesen, Digital Specialist, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence
Brian was recently head of digital at Ogilvys Washington USA office. He's relocating to Australia. Brian will discuss the Lessons from the US and Queensland digital elections.

Ross McSwain, Director Media and Communications, Queensland Corrective Services
Ross will be on the panel discussing issues management and crisis communications

Josh Deckard, former Press Office staff to George W Bush, Managing a hostile media environment
Lessons from the front line: Josh Deckard has served as President of Forward Thinking Strategies since March of 2008. Prior to founding Forward Thinking strategies, Deckard was the Assistant Press Secretary to President George W. Bush at The White House. He was the longest serving member of the Press Office staff, spanning from 2002-2007. During his time at The White House, Deckard oversaw White House media operations, including major international summits, addresses to the nation, as well as nationally televised press conferences at The White House, Camp David, and abroad.

Luke Worth, Director of Change, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand
Healthy Communication: why are the media and Opposition political parties so keen to label communicators as Spin Doctors? What can we as communicators do to prove our value.

When: Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd JUNE 2009
When: The Stamford Plaza, Brisbane, Queensland
Price: $995 (+gst)
More info: www.frocomm.com.au

Media monitoring

10 tips for PR on Twitter

Just spotted this terrific article over on the BullDog Reporter about doing PR on Twitter. Read the full article here, or suck up the top 10 hints below.

• Do be authentic. It's what social media is about.

• Don't be a robot. Automated corporate messages are not respected here.

• Do include a transparent bio on your Twitter page.

• Don't forget that a tweet is forever. There is no real taking it back from the twittosphere.

• Do listen to your audience. Know what people are talking about before you tweet.

• Don't bring up politics or religion unless that is part of your brand. You will alienate followers.

• Do follow people in your industry

• Don't rant about other companies or people.

• Do get involved in conversations. No one wants to follow someone who just broadcasts and doesn't interact with others.

•Don't forget the value of being personal. Allowing your voice on Twitter to be authentically human will take you far in gaining trust and respect.

Media monitoring

Slice of Life: Bruno Bouchet, Executive Producer Mix FM 106.5

If you're pitching to get your story on Australian radio, you'll be interested in listening to our interview with Bruno Bouchet, Executive Producer of Mix 106.5 (Sydney) breakfast show, Mornings with Sonia Kruger and Todd McKenney.



Listen to our podcast below and hear Bruno's top three tips when pitching a story to a radio producer.

(if you're getting this post via email and can't see the podcast player, click here)

We ask Bruno:

Where he sources content for the show
What makes a great media press
What are the steps to pitching a story to a radio producer
What are the mistakes publicists make when pitching stories
What makes a good radio interview
Guinness or low carb?
Wii or Playstation?
Sean Connery or Daniel Craig?

Thanks to Bruno for being a slice of life!

Media monitoring

List of social media consultants

Looking for a social media or PR2.0 consultant? Maybe you are a PR2.0 consultant already and want to increase your exposure?

Well here's the beginnings of a resource for those people looking for help with their social media strategy in 2009.



Social-Media-Consultants.com aims to be a ready reference site providing a geographical and specialty sorted list of Social Media and PR 2.0 Specialists and Consultants worldwide.

The site was started by Lonnie B. Hodge and Des Walsh who have also started a Facebook group called PR 2.0: Master Practical Tools for Digital Success.

If your goal is to get a red hot social media strategy revved up for 2009, this list could be a great place to get some help. Otherwise, if you're already a maverick at social media, get listed!

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Slice of Life: Chris Bendall, TV Producer, TODAY (Podcast)

Straight from the producers mouth to a PR campaign near you... we were lucky enough to record a podcast with Chris Bendall, a producer on Australia's Channel 9 breakfast program TODAY.

Take a listen below to find out how you can get on Chris' list of publicists who always deliver pitches that end up on the show.

Podcast with Chris Bendall, Producer, Channel 9s TODAY show

(if you're getting this post via email and can't see the podcast player, click here)

During the interview we asked Chris the following questions:

-Where do you source the majority of your stories from?
-What makes a good press release into a great press release?
-Is it important for a PR practitioner to approach TV producers with a plethora of ideas/angles or to present the bare bones and allow the TV producer to create the story?
-How should a publicist proceed with a cold call to a producer for a story pitch.
-What are your top three tips to a publicist in making the pitch more enticing to the producer?
-What puts a producer off immediately from a publicist who delivers a bad pitch?
-What are the three key ingredients to a great story pitch?
-Is a telephone pitch better than an email pitch?
-How is relationship building an important element to succeeding in TV?
-What differentiates strategic publicists to stalking publicists?
-What has been your worst experience with a publicist?
-What does a publicist need to do to make a producer’s job easier?
-Has the ‘pitch’ changed over the years? If so, how and is it for the better?

A huge thanks to Chris for being a Slice of Life!

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Slice of Life: Louise Di Francesco, Verve Communications

Many of you working in the PR industry will have already heard of Louise Di Francesco, Agency Director of Verve Communications. Her 25 year career expands across all areas of public relations, media communications, issues management and crisis management... so you could say she knows a thing or two about media monitoring! Read on to find out why Louise is one of our favourite Slicers...



What has been your PR highlight so far at Verve Communications?
The highlight has been the formation of Verve Communications. Prue MacSween is a legend in the PR world and I had my own agency, The Write Communications Group, for years. Both of us were journalists in a previous life and we were competitors before we merged and re-launched ourselves as Verve five years ago. We have a great business partnership and we have never had a disagreement about anything at all. The fact we are both opinionated and tell it like it is could have been a disaster but it is a match made in heaven.

How do you compare PR practices in a consultancy environment compared with other PR roles in your career?
Verve Communications has only one client per industry sector as we are very mindful of conflict of interest. We also tend to have long term relationships with our clients – sometimes many years – so we are an essential part of their business and communications team. We get to work with incredibly talented people in a range of very different industries so that makes our work really exciting all the time.

Why did you choose Slice over other monitoring services available?
We were so dissatisfied with our previous provider. We dreaded dealing with them, but didn’t know there was an alternative. It was just taking so much time to get our hands on clips and then we were getting the wrong clips. Slice was recommended to us by a colleague. We decided to try out the service and we haven’t looked back since signing up. Slice gives us total control over media monitoring, but still provides support when necessary.

What's the top three things you love about Slice?
We have total control.
We have instant access to media clips.
It’s so inexpensive.

How did Slice make a difference to your job and/or organisation?
Media monitoring is no longer a difficult and time-consuming procedure. We have transferred just about all our clients to Slice. They love the savings, we love that we have total control and there’s really not much extra work. We just read the clippings as we would with any other service, then we download them to our server. Given the trouble we were having with our previous supplier, I think Slice actually saves us time. We can monitor everything and make instant adjustments to briefs.

How do you qualify and quantify a solid and successful PR campaign?
It’s important that we meet (or exceed) our clients’ expectations across a variety of criteria or agreed objectives. It’s important that PR is quantifiable. Without a media monitoring service, you can’t really show your success, in terms of how much coverage you obtain, or the quality of that coverage. We use Slice to conduct key message analyses and evaluate the success of a campaign. With Slice, it’s so inexpensive that we’ve convinced clients who previously couldn’t afford media monitoring to use the service.

How significant is online publicity to a client compared to off line publicity?
It depends on the client, their audience and objectives but online is definitely significant. If you ignore online publicity, you really have your head in the sand, especially because the world we live in mediates communication in so many ways.

Do clients mainly look at ‘column inches’ as the bottom line in publicity success? If not, what are other KPIs?
Most clients do want to see something concrete and column inches/estimated advertising values give them that however it is just as important that the column inches you achieve are communicating the right message.


European getaway or tropical resort?
Can I have both – just alternate holidays?

Cocktails or Champagne?
Do I have to choose? Both!

Chocolate soufflé or lemon meringue?
Definitely chocolate?

Feature films or reality TV?
Feature films

Megan Gale or Jennifer Hawkins?
They are both so gorgeous but completely different. Too hard to choose.

Chartbusting 80’s or Hip Hop?
The 80s??? Give me a break. Abba, Abba, Abba?

Jackie Collins or JK Rowling
Jackie Collins – give me wild sex, lots of champagne and decadent lifestyles over wizards and warlocks any day.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

2008 PRSA International Conference: The Point of Connection

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is hosting their international conference in Detroit in a few weeks. You might want to pack your bags and polish off your passport - this one looks huge, with over 100 professional development sessions on offer.

Topics covered range from social media, emerging technologies, green marketing, branding, to integrated communications and more. Keynote session speakers include Craiglist’s Craig Newmark, GM’s Bob Lutz, “Brazen Careerist” author and blogger Penelope Trunk, and best-selling author of “Tuesdays With Morrie” and “For One More Day” Mitch Albom.

Sessions are designed for learning at all career levels:
Track 1: Innovative Strategies - Sessions will address the latest strategies in leadership, management, planning, research, relationship, reputation, sustainability, communications and integrated communications.

Track 2: Effective Tactics and Techniques - Sessions will address proven tactics and techniques in core communications, media relations, green marketing, measurement and emerging technologies and social media.

Track 3: Specialization and Practice Areas - Targeted sessions, including Professional Interest Section sponsored programming, will focus on expertise specific to audiences, industries, emerging trends and multicultural communities.

Track 4: The Connected Profession - Sessions will address the vital components that connect public relations professionals and help them engage together as a community on ethics, diversity, education, current issues, advocacy and accreditation.

For more information visit: www.prsa.org/conf2008

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Webcast: Selling the C-suite on digital communications

We came across this free webcast on the PRWeek, and thought it was worth a mention.

Selling the C-suite on digital communications
A PRWeek/Peppercom webcast

Date: September 9, Time: 12:00pm est/9:00am pst (United States time zones)

Event Description
Corporate communicators and their agencies see the great opportunity afforded by the social media environment. From customer engagement to reputation management, much of the PR professional's job now takes place online. But to really participate in dialogue and effect change requires buy-in from the C-suite. This webcast will feature senior communicators at corporations that have successfully implemented social media strategies. They will discuss how they got their C-suite to invest in the digital environment.

Featured speakers:
Paula Drum, VP of marketing, HR Block
Ms. Drum's expertise in marketing and her desire to innovate led the Digital Solutions Group to several accomplishments during tax seasons 2007 and 2008, including: the launch of the most- recalled television commercial in January '07 and the highest return for its direct marketing, interactive and email marketing programs. Furthermore, she led the repositioning of the HR Block brand as a leader in tax expertise and digital products through social networking programs, such as the "Me and My Super Sweet Refund" video contest on YouTube, "HR Block Island," a SIM in Second Life, creation of an online community - Digits, active participation on Twitter, and social programs on Facebook, MySpace and eHarmony.

Paula Berg, PR manager, Southwest Airlines
Over the last two years, Paula has managed and developed the company's corporate blog, "Nuts About Southwest." Since its launch in April 2006, "Nuts" has experienced tremendous success - building a community for its loyal Customer base, serving as a virtual focus group, and influencing several business decisions. In 2007, "Nuts" was named Best Blog by PR News and has been recognized in major publications ranging from Wired Magazine to the Wall Street Journal. In addition to managing the company blog, Paula specializes in strategic communication, media relations, and reputation management. Paula also supervised on-location production for three seasons of Airline!, Southwest's reality series for the AE Television Network, which filmed Southwest's daily operations in four cities.

Russell Castronovo, director social and new media, Sun Microsystems
Russell Castronovo is the Director of New and Social Media at Sun Microsystems. In this role he's responsible for the editorial direction of Sun's main website, the creation of the Sun news website and oversees the companies use and participation in new and social media sites.

Moderated by:
Sam Ford, director of customer insights, Peppercom
Sam Ford is Director of Customer Insights with Peppercom and a research affiliate with the Convergence Culture Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He regularly writes and presents on the intersection between audiences and brands, media convergence, fan cultures, entertainment properties, and the changing media landscape.

To register for this free online event, click here.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Darling, are you on Facebook?

If you're in PR and are not on Facebook, I'd really be encouraging you to sign up if for no other reason than research. Network with other PRs and see how they're using Facebook for themselves and their clients. A good example is PR Darling.



PR Darling specialises fashion, beauty and lifestyle PR. From their website they drive people to their Facebook page to manage their mailing list. Currently they have over 1,400 members in their Melbourne guest list and nearly 300 on their Sydney guest list.



PR Darling invites users to join their Facebook group to receive invites to events, such as launches, fashion parades and VIP parties. The events are then posted on Facebook, and invites are emailed to members of the group. All for FREE.



Seems to me that this is a terrific tool for PRs to use. But hey, don't take my word for it, get on over to Facebook and have a crack. Would love to hear your feedback.

And don't forget to visit the Slice Facebook page while you're there!

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Slice of Life: Gabriel McDowell, Res Publica

In November 2007, Res Publica won PRIA's top national award for a public affairs campaign, and then in February 2008, Res Publica was named AdNews PR Agency of the Year for 2007 after an exceptional year of growth and success. They were acclaimed for delivering big, original ideas that cut through the clutter and delivered positive brand awareness for their clients. Slice caught up with managing director Gabriel McDowell to uncover some of the secrets to Res Publica's success.

Tell us about a campaign you're most proud of?
The campaign to legalise Therapeutic cloning. We ran the campaign on behalf of a range of patient advocacy groups representing sufferers of diseases and conditions like spinal injuries, juvenile Diabetes, motor neurone disease, Alzheimer's. It was a complex campaign over an extended period of time, incorporating the mobilization of grassroots constituencies, media relations, and lobbying. We won in the end and because it gave real hope and joy to a lot of people, it is the stand out campaign.

How do you measure campaign success?
How happy is the client?

What makes your agency different from others?
I like to think we combine professional excellence with a down to earth attitude. Also, we've got a real results orientated approach and I think it is this combination that helps us attract and retain clients.

What are the biggest challenges facing PR agencies right now?
Getting good people. We elicit a lot a high quantity of applications to our searches but the quality responses are few and far between and the problem's worst at the account director level. So if there's anyone really good out there...

Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
Tough one musically, but for sheer front and because they're the epitome of rock and roll bad boys you can't go past the Stones.

New York or New Delhi?
New York and London are my two favourite cities. I'd happily spend a year to two in either.

Earl Grey or English Breakfast?
I'm Irish so Irish Breakfast.

Loafers or blunnies?
I grew up with Doc Martins, they're probably closer to blunnies.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

8 Tips for Fashion PR

It's somewhat ironic that winter fashion starts to arrive in store during our hottest month of the year. Timelines for fashion buying, production and promotion run up to 12 months ahead. So we thought we'd ask Gina Pearce of Savage PR who specialises in beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands, for a few fabulously well-designed fashion PR tips:

1. Monthly magazines work on a 3-4 month lead time so make sure you get them information, images and press releases at least 3 months before you would like the editorials to be published. This is especially import for events and seasonal fashion collections.

2. If something exciting is going on in your business, you launch into a new territory, you have a celebrity wearing your clothes or you have new packaging, make sure you get the news out there. News is interesting, so put it out there and build your brand. If you don’t have the time, or the contacts, hire a professional PR.

3. Always present your business in a professional light. Designing your company website yourself, or getting your P.A’s daughter (no matter how pretty she is) to model your fashion collection for your media shots is a false economy. If your first impression looks unprofessional what does that say about your business? Always if you can afford to, use professional designers, photographers, printers, models, stylist and PRs. They do this job everyday and know what they are talking about.

4. Look at what kind of articles and stories the media feature. Would an article on you or your business fit in that publication? Do you have a great event that they need to know about for the social pages? Do you have a good hook? Is it newsworthy? This is very important; if it isn’t newsworthy it won’t be featured.

5. Tailor releases for the section in the magazine or newspaper you want to target rather than just a generic release. For example if you own a restaurant, target the food supplement, beauty salons or day spas should target the beauty pages and fashion designers target fashion and lifestyle sections and so on.

6. Make sure you target the correct journalist at the publication. For example, don’t contact the editor of the newspaper for a new car accessory story, contact the motoring editor. This means your story is more likely to cut through.

7. When drafting a media release or even an article, make sure it has a dynamic headline, include the, who, what, when, where and why and make sure it is professional with the most important information at the beginning of the release. Don’t forget correct grammar and no spelling mistakes. The release is presenting your business and you want to come across as a professional enterprise.

8. No matter how great your story is and how you have ‘pitched it’ there is no obligation for the journalist or publication to cover it. Never pester a journalist to ask why they haven’t covered your story or bug them about featuring it - this is the best way to NOT get your stories covered in the future.

Gina Pearce is the Director of Savage Public Relations, a Sunshine Coast based boutique PR and Advertising agency specialising in fashion, beauty and lifestyle clients.

Any other tips out there Slicers? We'd love to hear from you.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

PR & New Media Summit 4-5 March, Sydney

Thought you might like to know about a PR & New Media Summit, in Sydney on Tuesday 4 & Wednesday 5 March 2008, organised by Frocomm.

The Summit is for public affairs and marketing communications practitioners who wish to:
-Understand online media
-Hear from the online Editors: understand what online editors and journalists are looking for
-Develop and implement new media strategies for their organisations
-Start building the skills base for engaging online with all stakeholders
-Hear from the corporate, Government and agency new media experts
-Case studies: successes and war stories from in-house comms practitioners

Looks like a rather interesting collection of topics, speakers and case studies. Here's a few that caught our eye:

Why is New Media so important for PR practitioners?
-What’s being said about you online? Are you part of the conversation?
-De-mystifying new media: what is Web 2.0, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube, RSS and instant messaging
-Understanding the business uses for new media: customer affinity programs, internal communications, reputation management, brand building, public relations, product development, and even recruitment – and why PR people are suited to own this activity in their organisation
Ross Monaghan
Deakin University and Founder, The MediaPod

You the media
-The changing nature of communications: how the web is influencing us
-From CEO posts on YouTube, to the formation of online communities, to campaigns to raise awareness of social issues, new media is a powerful force shaping opinion
-What lessons can Australian businesses learn from our politicians' embrace of online campaigning?
Rob Shilkin
Head of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, Google Australia & New Zealand

The (new) media view (Panel session)
-How has the digital revolution changed the news?
-How have established media brands developed their online prescence?
-Editorial direction: how is online content different?
-When will internet video usage be greater than TV?
Max Uechtritz, Editor-in-Chief, ninemsn
Bruce Belsham, Editor, abc.net.au, ABC
David Higgins, Editor, News.com.au
Mike Van Niekerk, Editor-in-Chief, Fairfax Online

Convention, disruption, vision
-How the web is changing communication strategy for companies, Governments, charities and those that want to campaign against your organisation
-If PR and traditional media is about controlling the message, do organisations fear the unfiltered chaos of the web? What can you do to calm their fears?
-Is there a happy balance between creating a conversation (and letting it go in any direction) and controlling the conversation?
Laurel Papworth
Director, World Communities and Social Networks Strategist

How to integrate new media into your PR strategy
-The AWI internal communication case study
-Search leveraged PR
-Getting a #1 ranking on Google
-Case studies including the Collective Conversation case study
Matt Overington
Digital Director, Hill & Knowlton

View complete program here.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Slice of Life: Meet the Queen

Earlier this week Slice was granted an audience with her majesty, the Publicity Queen, Sally Romano. Queen Sally had some lovely words about Slice, and some insider information for other subscribers... read on and enjoy loyal subjects!

Why Slice over other monitoring services?
Let me say from the outset that I am completely in love with Slice! I am a100% fan, in fact, if Slice was a footy club, I’d want to be the No.1 ticket holder! I’m sooo enamoured because I tailor Slice to suit my needs. I cannot get such comprehensive press and electronic media monitoring anywhere else for this kind of price or with this level of convenience and back-up service – and believe me, I’ve done the research. Slice is king!

What's the best thing you like about Slice?
There are quite a few features that impress me, but perhaps my favourite is the way in which the press clips are presented. Apart from being neatly and uniformly presented, the clips give you all the key information you need about the coverage you’ve received in addition to a graphic of the coverage. This valuable information can then simply be passed onto the client without any further work on your behalf because Slice has already noted the media the clip appeared in, the total column centimetres, the circulation and the placement within the page.

The true benefit for me in this type of information is the immediate and tangible evidence of the value that you are providing your clients.

Tip for other subscribers?
Don’t become too addicted! It’s always such a thrill to log into Slice to see what coverage you’ve received…

How has it made a difference to your business?
I’m going to be giving away one of my trade secrets here…
Because of Slice, I now offer media monitoring as a value-added service. That’s right, possibly as a PR first, I now monitor clients’ media coverage for free and simply absorb the very reasonable costs as a servicing expense – and I have to say that this initiative has impressed even the hardest-core clients!

Track the media, monitor the message

SliceReach - August 07 list now available

Hiddy Ho Slicers, the new month is in town. And so too is the latest version of SliceReach - our complete list of tracked press publications and broadcast stations.

Slice regularly reviews the press publications we track to ensure we're putting our resources to best use. To keep Slice the trim, taught and terrific spunk we all know it to be, we've deleted some publications, but fear not... we've added some others - all 99% fat free of course.

If you'd like a copy of the latest SliceReach document, send us an email or give us a tingle.

Track the media, monitor the message

Farewell Brendan, Hello Kevin

Many of you many have had the pleasure of speaking with our lovely Irish telephone consultant Brendan McGreevy. With a tear in our eye, we waved him goodbye as he set off to return to the Emerald Isle, and start up a new publishing empire. We wish you all the best Brendan.

In his place we welcome Kevin Passmore to the team. Kevin has just returned from teaching in China for 6 months and is currently breaking in his new headset. When Kevin’s not brushing up on his Boolean or training for the Oxfam 100km trailwalk, he’s on the phone spreading the Slice gospel and answering your questions.

Happy Slicing. slicemedia.com.au

Media Release: Slice Media helps SMEs cut through to the news

Up until now, media monitoring services have been out of the reach of most small and medium businesses on the grounds of cost and accessibility.

That’s now changed with the introduction of a new service by industry leader Media Monitors, which allows companies to easily track media coverage about their own organisation and their competitors online.

Media Monitors has completed a successful trial of its new media tracking service Slice Media, which allows organisations to track media coverage about topics of interest in Australian and New Zealand media outlets.

“The trial went exceptionally well and as a result we will roll out the service without delay,” said John Croll, CEO of Media Monitors.

“The overwhelming response has shown that the SME market has wanted an efficient, low cost, optional term media tracking service that provides actual press clippings and broadcast summaries delivered to the client’s desktop,” he said.

The web-based media tracking service is self-administered by subscribers who set up search strings and tracking folders which automatically track any articles appearing for the selected keywords from more than 2,000 media outlets across print, radio and television. News items are then digitally delivered straight into the subscriber’s online account.

Sonja Bruss from Brisbane’s Skydive Ramblers employed the services of Slice media to track media coverage for a special ‘Sky Symposium’ event held by the company.

“Slice was suggested to us as an economical alternative to other large media monitoring services. We used it for the duration of the event and received clippings from publications we never would have known about such as interstate suburban newspapers,” Sonja said.

“We found it really useful that Slice not only tracks print, but also broadcast media so that you can order radio transcripts and video clippings. It is ideal for any organisation that is holding a special event and wants to accurately track media coverage,” she said.

Jessica Ford from Fordcomm, a medium-sized public relations consultancy, has been using Slice Media as a service for clients since March.

“We use Slice to track articles that specifically refer to clients and topical issues relevant to their industries,” Jessica said.

“We chose Slice Media over another media monitoring service because it’s easy to use and gives us control over what is tracked and for how long. It is also cheaper, faster and more convenient than receiving regional subscriptions to newspapers and other publications through the mail,” she said.

The Queensland chapter of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) subscribed to Slice Media after using a local service but found that as the AMA grew there was a need to respond to issues more quickly, says Kate Vanpoelgeest, Manager of Media and Public Relations at AMA.

“The big benefit of Slice as a lower-cost media tracking service is that it also tracks broadcast coverage. This means that we’re immediately aware of issues reported in the media and can respond promptly,” Kate said.

There are three subscription packages available to cater to different media tracking needs. For more information visit www.slicemedia.com.au.

Media Monitors is a world leader in media information services and the leading media monitoring group in Australia and New Zealand. The company currently has over 4,000 clients in both the corporate and government sectors.

What? 110 new titles?!

Slice just got a whole lot busier today, with the addition of more than 110 Australian lifestyle magazines added to our tracking list. Slice will now be carving its way through publications such as Australian Mother & Baby, Australian Medicine, Big Issue Australia, city Child publications, Fashion Journal, Life etc., jmag, Instyle, SA Life, TV Hits, Voyeur and Wheels to name few. Hmmm, we may have to increase Slice’s daily carb intake to keep up... they will of course be all low GI.

Happy Slicing. www.slicemedia.com.au