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Press relations For customer-focused high-tech companies. P.R. Experience Bandwidth P.R., President, August 2000-present GCI Group, Senior Account Executive, November 1999-July 2000 Silicon Valley P.R., Principal, sold August 1998 Independent Consultant, June 1997-November 1999 A press agent needs two things: a solid contact list and editor appeal. I believe that the latter is more important. For while knowing the Editor In Chief at a particular magazine is valuable, the attrition rate in publishing is enormous, and such people eventually move on. But if you're good at getting through to editors and writers, knowing them from previous contacts isn't that important. I was a journalist for four years before entering the P.R. field. As a result, I've learned how to reach writers and editors in ways agency-bound public relations professionals often overlook. I understand deadline pressures, word counts, editorial calendars, publication focus; I know how to gauge press enthusiasm, and how to capitalize on it. In short, nine years in publishing have given me an empathy for working journalists, and believe that shows when I present a client. That's not to slight my contact list, and I'd be happy to talk with you about particular journalists. However, I consider a solid general understanding of the press more important than my schmoozing credentials. You can read more about my philosophies about press relations in Tom's Top Tips for Reaching the High-Tech Media. And, of course, a trip through the writing archive will give you a picture of the sorts of products and services I covered as a journalist. Past clients include: Sun Microsystems Solaris (operating system). Part of the team that launched Solaris 8. Developer's Tools. Media contact for Forte for Java, Community Edition. iPlanet (server software). Helped plan communications for the integration of AOL, Netscape and Sun products into a cohesive line. Globalstar LP and Globalstar USA (satellite telephony). Created and ran highly successful reviews program, resulting in widespread coverage in business, trade and consumer press. Telseon (Internet infrastructure -- metro-area Ethernet). Metastream (3-D visualization software for the Web). Thinq Technologies (training software). Franz (software development tools). Quintessence Architectures (core IP for microelectronics). Coverage scored in dozens of media outlets, including: Associated Press CNNfn BusinessWeek Business 2.0 Dow Jones Newswire eCommerce Business EXE Government Computer News Investor's Business Daily PC Plus Performance Computing Popular Science Salon.com Computer Reseller News San Francisco Chronicle Silicon Spin (TV) Smart Computing Smart Reseller Sunworld WGN-TV Wall Street Journal The Money Machine (TV) Wired News This page was last updated on Monday, February 09, 2004 at 2:50pm CST. All contents copyright 2005 by Tom Geller.