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May 03, 2007
PR agencies get in the way - really....
Where'd I put the aspirin? If high-tech companies knew of the headaches PR firms ended up causing, they wouldn't be so quick to write a check.
Case #1 today: "Well, if you say you'll honor embargo, I'll send you the release...." Same PR firm, different representative. Homey don't play that. [reaching for the stuffed sock]. Guy sends the same thing twice.
Thanks for wasting my time. Just send me the release and dispense with the stupid games. Either VON Magazine is a trusted source to send press releases under embargo or we aren't. If we aren't, why are we playing the embargo game in the first place?
FYI, I get embargoed releases every week. PR agencies just send them. Most of them don't jerk my chain with the whole "Say you'll honor the embargo and I'll send it." Twice.
Case #2: Trying to set up an interview with QUALCOMM for a different topic.
Request for interview sent on Monday morning, 8:45 AM ET
Responding e-mail from PR firm on Tuesday, 7:45 PM ET says "Maybe Wednesday or Friday." (This is TWO BUSINESS DAYS later!)
E-mail at 1:45 PM ET on Wednesday says "Sorry, QUALCOMM spokesperson too busy today, I can get you person on Friday."
E-mail at 12:45 PM ET today (Thursday) says "Oops, rep handing this request is out of town, has asked me to reschedule, because spokesperson is unavailable on Friday and she is on travel."
How much money do you think QUALCOMM pays their PR agency per month for this type of "service"?
So, allegedly, supposedly, I may speak to someone on Monday. Allegedly.
This reminds me of how I spent over a week getting jerked around by TI's PR agency-of-record before I just said "Forget it, I can go interview someone else, and hey, the folks at BroadCom don't have a problem setting up an interview."
It's times like this that I look at my Dialogic baseball bat and have evil thoughts...
Posted by dmohney at May 3, 2007 09:35 PM