Dissed by Santa, So Suggesting Resolutions Instead

• January 5, 2010
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by Cathy Brooks

Even though I’m pretty sure there isn’t actually a portly old dude in a red suit who slips down chimneys with presents, I wished pretty hard for something this Christmas.

It didn’t come.

Okay, so I’m Jewish and maybe that had something to do with the fact that Santa blew me off, but to be honest the problem isn’t what didn’t come … it’s what did and, as with all holiday merchandising, it started early.

It was about a week before Thanksgiving when the flood, really more like a tsunami, began – pitches, pitches and more pitches all seeking to set up a meeting with me at the Consumer Electronics Show. Here’s the thing, it was glaringly obviously that not a single one of them had taken a moment to even glance at the writing I do. If they had, they’d have seen that not only do I not review products, I don’t write about technology really at all. Okay, so I write about how technology impacts our lives from a social and operational basis, and I may talk about products that I use personally but even a cursory glance at anything I write - whether via a social media platform, blog or even radio – shows quite clearly that pitches proclaiming the latest release from pioneering-trailblazing-industry leading-superduperproductmojo company and asking to “schedule a meeting in booth XXXX to see the product” just aren’t a fit.

Here’s the problem. Every last one of these pitches was a mass mail, clearly a cut and paste of a generic pitch blasted out to the entire press list for CES. (Disclosure: I’m registered as media for CES 2010 through my involvement with the Intel Insider program.) In spite of the bulk mailing, most of them attempted to be jovial, overly personal and – in at least one case – almost inappropriately familiar in language, as if we were life-long buddies.

Now to be fair, I have worked on the PR side of the fence and know all-too-well the ferocious challenge of heading to a massive trade show with a client (or more than one client) tasked with the responsibility of securing press briefings. That is why every single pitch I received, yes every single one, got a personalized response that read something like this:

Dear XXXX,

First off, thank you for sending your pitch. I appreciate your outreach, and understand the Herculean task of scheduling press meetings that you face. That said, if you had taken a quick look at my work, or even just done a quick Google search on my name, you’d see that I don’t review products and don’t write about product or company news. What does interest me, though, is the way in which technology is impacting our lives, changing behaviors and that sort of thing. In other words – it’s not about the tools, it’s about what we do with them that I care about. If, with this information, you have a more targeted reason for why we should meet, then I’m all ears. If not, I wish you the best of luck with CES and a Happy New Year.

Best,

Cathy

That was nice, right? I mean, I can’t very well complain about people not giving me pitches that are a fit if I don’t give them some guidance, so I thought I’d use the opportunity as a teaching moment.

My mistake.

While there were a few thoughtful and grateful replies (none of which provided a more targeted pitch I should add), more than a few of the responses I got to my replies were, put simply, nothing short of an embarrassment for the communications industry. The responses ranged from snarky to downright rude. Some people were nasty. Some people failed to answer my questions or address my suggestions at all. In several cases, it was almost as though they were merely plodding through their pitching script having been told if their first pitch was rejected here is the thing to say.

Bad choice.

Like I said, the need for communications people to mass pitch large numbers of press and bloggers at major events is nothing new, but the sloppy manner in which such a massive number of communications people seem to feel it’s appropriate to achieve that goal was, put simply, shocking to me. I mean COME ON PEOPLE, shouldn’t we know better by now? Has no one been paying attention? In the last year countless things have been written – including a stellar view on how public relations has changed by Brian Solis – cajoling, educating and otherwise crying out for the communications industry to get with the program and realize that the world has changed – and that means adjusting processes and protocols that have been in place for years.

Yes, I realize that is tough, but at the same time there are any number of stellar communications professionals and agencies that firmly grasp the changes and are stepping carefully and resolutely down the path towards improving the way in which they leverage technology to do their jobs. As one example I hold up Edelman Digital as a group that really seems to “get it”. It doesn’t hurt that one of the leaders in the charge for that firm is Steve Rubel - a talented communications professional who spends ample time himself wandering the digital hallways of social media to keep his own perspectives fresh.

For the record, I also realize many of those pitching me were probably the low persons on the proverbial agency totem pole – junior account people with little experience who were tossed into the fray with little guidance. To those agencies who did this I say shame on you! By failing to mentor or teach your junior staff, you are perpetuating the problem. Hopefully along the way these junior staffers will have media and bloggers who provide constructive feedback as I did, but more often than not those pitches will either go ignored or – if they catch someone on a bad day – may result in their being flamed or verbally eviscerated. I know, because back in the day I was one of those hapless young folks and I recall quite clearly one conversation with a now very well-known writer (he was just starting out at the time) who ripped me a new one for “wasting my valuable time with a worthless conversation.”

Ouch. But you know what? I never did it again.

So while Santa didn’t heed my plea to staunch the flood of relatively worthless pitches, I’m proffering a clarion call to communications people for the New Year with my list of resolutions to consider. I’m avoiding a top 10 list, and not even offering 5, figuring that by giving only three hopefully people will adopt at least one:

1) If you’re doing a mass mail pitch – call it one: We ‘re not stupid. We know you have to toss lots of stuff at the wall for big events. So just call a spade a spade. Don’t try to be cute, funny or overly personal with people you don’t know.

2) Be prepared to go deeper: If someone does reply to your generic pitch and asks questions – answer them. More than likely it’ll pay off.

3) Do your homework: Okay so perhaps this one should be first and should actually preclude a mass mail, but taking a step back and doing some research on people will never steer you wrong.

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