So what’s it like to be a business editor at a newspaper these days, with slimmer budgets but more news to cover than ever?

The Publicity Club of New England held a panel discussion of regional business editors to hear their likes and gripes – and to find out what works and what doesn’t when trying to secure your clients in these highly sought after publications.

The panel was moderated by Tina Cassidy, VP of Soloman McCown & Company, and consisted of the Boston Business Journal’s Eric Convey, The Boston Globe’s Shirley Leung and the Boston Herald’s Frank Quaratiello. The competition among these publications was clear but despite this, or perhaps because of it, the dynamic among them was great – engaging, entertaining and most importantly, helpful to us PR folks.

Here are some highlights:

* Wait for the no *

According to Leung, even if a reporter likes your story it’s almost guaranteed not to be published if they realized you’ve pitched multiple people.

If you don’t hear back from someone in one department, wait for them to say “no” before pitching another department within the same publication. If you must move on to another reporter before you get the “no”, be transparent with the next person you pitch – letting them know you reached out to someone already.

* Phone calls and beyond *

We were all dying to know about follow up calls, and basically what we learned is that every reporter is different. Here’s how it breaks down with these three –

Globe: Leung likes follow up calls, especially after timely pitches

Herald: Quaratiello won’t let you off the phone if he likes your story (but beware if he asks you to send him an email).

BBJ: Convey says not to even bother with phone calls (understandably so, according to Convey he wouldn’t be able to get any work done if he took every call)

* Twitter and Social Media *

Globe: Leung’s staff is adapting to twitter more and more and they have a specific person to keep up their Facebook page with events, postings stories, contests etc.

Leung realizes that social media drives traffic and amazingly, is about #4 out of the top ten facets that do so.

Herald: Quaratiello doesn’t really use Twitter and doubts much of his staff does either. Although, they will check Facebook to get photos to support any crimes/incidents.

BBJ: Twitter is very important to them and an important factor in driving traffic to their site/specific stories. Some of you might recognize one of their biggest cheerleaders, @lvanderpool

One thing they all seem to hate is mass pitching! When it comes to quality vs. quantity, quality always wins.

What are some pitching faux pas you’ve come across (or dare I say tried yourself)?

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Technorati Tags: editors, PubClub NE, public relations, Social Media

From February 21st through the 25th, at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif., the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition – APEC 2010 – will focus on the practical and applied aspects of the power electronics business. Not just a designer’s conference, APEC has something of interest for anyone involved in power electronics.

Not only is this an ideal venue for exhibitors to learn the latest information in the power electronics business, it is also a great opportunity for companies to leverage their tradeshow investment by building a package of communications activities to support being at the show.

Some ideas to leverage your investment at APEC 2010:

- Use your company blog to highlight your tradeshow message. This can help drive traffic to your booth, and the web.

- Leverage other social media channels, like Twitter or your company Facebook page, to expand your reach.

- Have your agency or internal PR team arrange editorial and analyst meetings at the show. This expands your reach after the show, extending the benefits from your investment.

- If budget permits, consider taking advantage of show offered sponsorships, especially pre-show mailings to bring people into the booth.

With only a few months left before the show, now is the time to take the steps to leverage your investment and maximize your ROI from APEC 2010.

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Technorati Tags: Communications, Events, Marketing, PR, Tech

I was talking with an editor, I won’t say who or what pub, today on an editorial calendar opportunity that was spot on my client – an owner-funded company with a great product that is the coolest thing in its market – literally.

The editor agreed and we started talking additional information, what he’d need, possibility of an article, podcasts, briefings, essentially the whole nine yards of PR glory.

Somewhere in there, he says, and I am quoting here: “of course, we give priority to our advertisers, and very few if any non-advertisers ever make the book.” Caught by surprise, I had a really snappy comeback…I said – “oh, really.” As it stands, advertising is not what my client wants to do. They understand the need, and in fact do some, but prefer the third-party validation that comes from successful PR.

We got into a discussion on pay-for-play, the value of PR and the role of advertising. I did my best to persuade him that ultimately, running editorial that is only from advertisers will undermine the credibility of his book. He, in turn, tried to convince me that a company that was willing to advertise really wanted to reach his market.

In the end we agreed to disagree. But every time I run across this pay-for-play scenario, I can’t help but think…if editors often consider PR professionals as nothing but schills for their clients, what does it make them when all they accept is editorial from their advertisers?

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Technorati Tags: editorial calendars, PR