Peter Shankman

7 Responses to “Hey PR People: Pray you’re not on this list…”

#1 John T. Mims, APR on 31, Oct, 2007 at 11:39 am

I agree with every single point EXCEPT the public call-out of the PR people. Why create a chilling effect from people that you want to send you news?

And how about us “good” PR that do our homework and find that pitches that don’t make it end up on a hall of shame?

Am I supposed to publish a list of editors that ask me stupid questions because *they* haven’t done their homework?

#2 Samiantha on 31, Oct, 2007 at 11:45 am

wow! that is insane and I can see why he did this. Someone called him “childish & now part of the problem not the solution”.

You hit it right on the nose… do you homework. I’m not in PR or any sort of industry where I get 300 plus emails a day etc, but the few I do get that are not revelant to my life or interests, piss me off.

For this, I NEVER put my email on any forms, and NEVER hit the unsubscribe link. Again he mentioned, this just confirms you’re alive and using that email address.

I do not blame him at all for doing this and think maybe more industries should maybe pick up this idea and publish abusers.

Thanks for posting this one Peter!

Happy Halloween

#3 Sempre Libera on 31, Oct, 2007 at 4:49 pm

I have very mixed feelings about his decision to out the offenders…

However, he and several of the commenters are right to call out the offense, because no matter why they did it, there’s no excuse. If you’re too lazy to do your homework, you’re in the wrong industry. If your client is setting unreasonable expectations, then manage him/her on the long-term damange that spamming does to your credibility as a company and a PR person. And if you bought a poorly-designed list, take a closer look at it (and your goals) before wasting your money.

Of course, as is always the case in these situations (and Anderson certainly isn’t the first person to call it out in a blog, though he is probably among the more prominent to do so), a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch. I don’t think his post makes our job as PR people any harder but it’s a useful reminder.

#4 Mark on 31, Oct, 2007 at 5:09 pm

I like the comment by the person that spent $10,000 a year on a list that is obviously not effective. From your book and on here you have pointed out many times on the effective way to get your communication across and not turn out on a list like this.

People get lazy and expect an easy return they forget time is like money you need to invest it wisely if you expect to get good returns on your efforts. Just taking a list and blindingly sending out a mass mailing is not an effective use of time or money.

#5 LB's Rambles on 31, Oct, 2007 at 5:57 pm

Very Bad PR: You Don’t Want to Be on This List

Chris Anderson, the Editor-in-Chief at Wired is fed up. He gets about 300 emails a day, most of which, apparently, aren’t meant for him, many from PR people who can’t be bothered to find the right editor or writer on

#6 Stevie on 31, Oct, 2007 at 6:13 pm

I can certainly appreciate the feeling of the Wired EIC and wonder what the heck are the PR people thinking? certainly NOT about the person who they are emailing.
I can’t tell you how many MAILED envelopes I get with single sheet pitches from a major beauty pr firm based in NYC and yet despite that 1 of 10 (or 15) might really reach me and be something I want to write about, they don’t bother to email or call me back once I have emailed or called them

Their job is done once the pitch is sent. DOING something with it– that’s an entirely different game now isn’t it.
very odd… and I know some of those people on that list.

I get 500 emails a day sometimes and a lOT are dumped .. a some are kept because they are actually content I can use
Stevie

#7 Mich on 01, Nov, 2007 at 1:24 pm

Chris’ response was entirely inappropriate and unprofessional, and probably to some, a violation of privacy. When he signed on as editor, he agreed to take the good with the bad. For Chris, I guess checking e-mail is the bad; however, if I were his publisher, I’d think long and hard about the potential consequences to come. I wrote this in another reply, but Chris is the epitome of why you should wait 15 minutes before posting a rant. But now, for everyone to congratulate him on a job well done–well, that’s an ethical issue, I think. At the end of the day, do Chris’ actions teach journalists and public relations practitioners where to draw the line, or how to do their job better? Not at all. It says, “Ridicule works best, kids!” – signed, Editor-in-Chief.

Bottom line: I’ve read many posts, and to either rely on media lists or to expect expert pitches are both veiled suggestions of, “I’m too good for this.” To that, I say, okay. And goodbye. I canceled my subscription to Wired after reading his post, and I sent my pitch to his publisher.

At the end of the day, it’s the ego that pisses me off. No one in this game has the market cornered on social media and communications, period.

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