The ultimate question

Life is full of pivotal but often unanswerable questions. What's the secret of a good press release? Is Jade really a racist? Has Sarah Beeny ever hosted a home improvement show while not pregnant? What's that smell? There's a few for starters.

Another question that springs up countless times every day - at least in my world - is whether PR people and journalists will ever see things the same way. After all, we all work in communication, even though our 'work' is often carried out on different sides of the proverbial 'fence'.

Throw bloggers into the mix - with their very different take on the media relations machine - and you've got a difficult question to answer. If not handled with kid gloves, things can often snowball into a potentially incendiary situation.*

So how do you not only go about understanding the journalist / PR relationship and therefore do your job better, but also convince the very journalists you're trying to relate to that they should down tools, hop over the fence and join you?

Like this, perhaps?
____________________________________________________

AWARD-WINNING LONDON PR AGENCY** SEEKS IN-HOUSE JOURNALIST

• ‘Ideas person’ with journalism experience required to join in-house creative team to work on high-profile campaigns
• Faultless spelling and grammar, and ability to work to brief and turn flat ideas into sparkling copy essential
• Must enjoy a high-pressure environment and be able to take ownership of varied projects, both internal and client-facing
• Knowledge of new media publishing techniques, such as blogging and podcasting, an advantage
• An outstanding benefits package plus opportunities for fast promotion and performance-related bonuses await the right person!

SALARY DEPENDENT ON EXPERIENCE

Contact Kirsty Mallows on kirstym@lewispr.com or 020 7802 2626 for more details.

____________________________________________________

* I did that on purpose.
** That's us.


Tagged: LEWIS PR

Also published on LEWIS 360

links for 2007-01-23

• Drew B's take on tech PR: UK PR site to be launched by Sam Sethi - PressMeme
  Sam Sethi resurfaces after his swift exit from TechMeme. Drew's all over it.
• Flickr: The Bloggers' desks Pool
  Drew started a Flickr pool of bloggers' desks. Come join us! Or just visit and marvel at Sam's view, Drew's two computers (totally staged as he idolises Renaissance Chambara) or gaze in awe at my helmet.
• Off to go Photowalking… « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger
  Photowalking. Like rambling but even geekier?
• A PR Guy's Musings - Stuart Bruce: Edelman Trust Barometer

Big pockets, small rockets

If you were a technology entrepeneur, had made a few quid and wanted to splash some cash on a new hobby, what do you do?

Microsoft's Paul Allen is doing it. Ebay's Elon Musk is doing it. Good old Richard Branson's doing it. You join the space race, of course.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has seen the first successful test flight of Goddard, the initial attempt to build a vertical takeoff and landing craft in his Blue Origin programme.

Go and watch the hi-res, low frame rate video of Goddard's flight. You'll see a small but significant step towards bringing low-cost, commercial space flight to the masses. (Which means it's OK to spend a lot of money playing about with rockets.)

I'm off to convince Chris Lewis to build a launchpad on the roof of Millbank Tower.

(Spotted on Boing Boing. Also published on LEWIS 360.)

Tagged: bezos amazon space

'Calm down dear'

Gizmodo's just published a British TV clip from over two years ago about a crappy hover bike, thinking it's a new one.

It reminded me of this. Mind you, he might already have one...

Only read this if you're human

Every so often someone will write an article or post that captures a debate or moment in our own evolution that just sums it all up.

Go and read this immediately.

(Via Rough Type.)