So you found me on Twitter…
Hi there! Chances are, if you’re hitting this page, it’s because you found me via my Twitter page.
If you did, then I thought I’d give you this quick page to get some kind of quick background as to who you just followed. And before we even get all into that, thank you for following me! That’s quite nice of you!
So… Much like 24 does when you start a new Monday night episode, I’ll try and catch you up to speed on who you just followed, all in two minutes or less.
Who am I?
My bio is here, which will tell you a lot about me. I started my career by getting lucky enough to be one of the founders of the AOL Newsroom back in 1995, when AOL was cool.
From there, I moved back to NYC, where I still live today. I’m a born and raised Manhattan kid, and went to LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts. (Yes, the “FAME” School.)
When I’m home in NYC, I spend the majority of my time being bossed around by two psychotic cats, Karma and NASA.
My overlords
What I do
I run several companies, ventures, etc. Most popular is HARO, or Help A Reporter Out. Currently the largest source repository in the world for journalists looking for sources, and the largest place in the world for any company or any person to get free shots at PR, Help a Reporter, for free, connects over 1,200 sources per week with journalists looking to quote them. Want to know more? Sign up. It’s free. Oh – want to advertise on HARO, and reach an audience of over 100,000, with over a 75% email open rate?
Email advertise@helpareporter.com
So that’s the big one. HARO. Other things I do include talking to companies around the world about how to better implement social media in their corporate environments to generate additional revenue. See, I’m one of those people who believes that as “cool” as social media might be, if you’re using it for your business, and not using it to generate revenue, either by creating additional users/buyers/customers, or solving problems with it before it costs you revenue, then you’re doing it wrong.
In fact, I’m currently writing a book for Pearson on that very topic. My first book, “Can We Do That?!? Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them,” was published by Wiley in 2006.
So in teaching all those companies about social media, and traveling as much as I do to do it, a lot of my tweets come from either airports, planes, or similar locations. I try to keep them interesting, usually throwing something in about why the TSA sucks as much as it does. I frequent countless President’s Club Lounges on a regular basis, as I’m a loyal Continental Airlines flyer.
I do a TON of corporate and conference keynoting. I spend a LOT of time keynoting and speaking at conferences, ranging from local PRSA conferences, all the way to multi-thousand person mega-trade shows, where I usually try and swipe someone else’s name badge and then ask people what they think of the keynote. That’s always fun.
Boards: I sit on several advisory boards and councils, some of the more fun ones include NASA, the ScotteVest, and TrustCloud.
In my spare time, (about two hours a month,) I’m a B-licensed skydiver, and I’m currently training for Ironman Cozumel, November 28th, 2010 in Cozumel, Mexico.
Finally… Here are the multitude of ways to find me:
AIM: PShankman
Skype: Geekfactory
Email: peter (at) shankman.com
Foursquare: Skydiver
You obviously know Twitter…
Facebook
Any other questions? Feel free to ask me.
Lastly, for no apparent reason, here’s a photo of me holding a Koala.
All soft and furry! (The Koala. Not me.)
Thanks for visiting!
-Peter Shankman
