I was reading a recent post on here (http://badpitch.blogspot.com/index.html) today and it got me kind of excited. The blogger talks about his dealings with a reporter when trying to book her for an appointment at a trade show (a basic PR task). He upped the conversation from regular PR and client business, to something more interesting, what I would call “life interesting” versus “work interesting”. He casually sent the reporter a site that he thought she might be intereseted in and they engaged in a conversation not relating to the client. He sent her a simple blog to read.
The days of wining and dining reporters will never cease. However, engaging them in a casual conversation – via blogs and personal interests – may just be starting. Just something to keep in mind. As we ALL know, PR is 99% relationships – the relationships are just using different tools now – they are stil there and still JUST as important, if not crucial.
