Who would work in PR?

This story has been picked up on many PR blogs…..mainly because it is such a great story.  Sally Whittle wrote a brilliant blog about working as a PR consultant and how rude some journalists (and lazy) can be.  I must hasten to add that in my experience this is the exception to the rule and to be honest if a journo is lazy it can sometimes be a benefit as we can help dictate the tone of thier piece.

I was at a hospitality event a few weeks ago and was discussing this very topic with some of the journalists sat around the table and they were astonished to hear that other journalists were rude to PR’s on the phone.  I know many people in our industry don’t do themselves any favours but I have to say it was refreshing to read a well respected technology journalist such as Sally blog about being on the other side.

My colleague Kate at Berkeley Pr wrote an excellent entry about what we can do as PR professionals to understand the pressures journalists are under and build a better relationship between our two camps.

Duct Tape Bandit

Most people in our office use Google alerts to monitor the media for stories about competitors or topics of interest that our clients should be aware of or could comment upon and I am no different.  One of my many Google alerts is set up to search for stories on Tape – data centre tape – for one of my clients Imation.

However, every morning I also receive stories with no relevance including the word tape.  Usually about the latest celebrity sex tape which is being sold on the internet but recently I saw one story which made me laugh out loud.

25 year old Kasey G. Kazee is looking at 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing an eastern Kentucky liquor store.  Kazee, it would appear has become notorious in the US as the ‘Duct Tape Bandit’.  This simpleton wrapped his own head in duct tape to conceal his identity during the robbery but unfortunately he was met by the Store manager Bill Steele who also had some duct tape — wrapped around a club, which he used as a weapon to repel the intruder.  Finally another employee chased down Kazee and held him until the police arrived who…wait for it….pulled off the tape (along with most of his hair and face I would imagine!).  A quick search on You tube found some of the even funnier news reports about this idiot.

Welcome back stranger

After a relaxing holiday in Oz and some technical issues at this end, I am pleased to report I am back up and running.  Sorry and please don’t think I had forgoten about you all.

In the meantime, I have been busy with the day job and am pleased that so many of my colleagues at Berkeley PR are now regularly blogging on technology, life and just about anything else that takes their fancy.