MicroPR Personalizes Public Relations

New media is forcing the rapid evolution of communications and is reinventing the science of public relations into the art of “personalized” relations. And, with micromedia further refining and improving how we communicate with each other, PR is going to learn the hard way, that the days of blasts and untargeted spam pitching will get us nowhere with today’s influencers.

Stowe Boyd placed a stake in the ground during the Web 2.0 Expo with the introduction of #TwitPitch, a very streamlined way for using Twitter to simplify the process of booking briefings with companies during the show. It forced PR to distill their message in 140 characters, which, in the process, tightened and streamlined the typical elevator pitch. As Stowe says, “I think twitpitch takes the elevator pitch to new brevity: the escalator pitch.”

It worked so well that Stowe has officially decided to only accept PR pitches via #TwitPitch.

In this turbulent climate of blogger and media relations – or lack thereof – with PR people, brevity inspires and dictates forethought and relevance. It’s what PR should be practicing whether it’s 140 characters for 200 words.

PR not only stands for Public Relations, we’re now expanding it to also represent the era of Personalized Relations. This is the practice of matching our stories with the preferences of those we wish to reach. Yes, it's what PR should have been all along, but it's not.

Twitter is proving to be a marvelous representation of people coming together online to share and discover new information in ways that weren’t possible, or predictable, before today. It has effectively created a new channel for casual conversation as well as a full-blown broadcast network for breaking news as it happens. For many of us, we’ve heard “it” first on Twitter.

What if Twitter also became a hub for newsmakers and influencers to seek information before the story was officially news? With the globally diverse and connected community, Twitter harnesses the true wisdom of the crowds to ask and receive specific information instantly.

Introducing MicroPR.

Stowe Boyd and I are collaborating to find and share new and helpful ways of using micromedia, starting with Twitter, to connect journalists, bloggers, analysts and PR/marketing together in an efficient, unobtrusive, targeted, and productive way.

We’re starting with Twitter in large part because Stowe is already proving that the concept works and also, because journalists, bloggers, and analysts are flocking to Twitter – actively using it more than much larger social networks such as Facebook. (see partial working list below). MicroPR will become the epicenter that connects information, sources, and stories on Twitter and eventually across other social networks.

In Stowe's words...

MicroPR: forcing PR firms to approach us in the open, on open social flow apps like Twitter, and in the small, where they have to jettison all the claptrap of the old press release model. In the open, that can't lie easily, or they will be caught on it. In the small, they have to junk the meaningless superlatives, the bogus quotes that no CEO ever mouthed, the run-on phrases, the disembodied third party mumbo jumbo, as if the press release were edited by God.

Using MicroPR

PR people, subscribe to the @MicroPR feed and definitely follow it on Twitter. You can also run active searches or feeds on Summize or TweetScan.

Bloggers, journalists, analysts, send a public message @MicroPR when you want to reach PR professionals. The @tweet will get an auto retweet from the MicroPR account.

In its Alpha form, MicroPR will help channel information, starting as a service for media to source stories, share their preferences for receiving information, announce change of beats, call for speakers or awards submissions, or anything that needs to hit a very focused list of savvy and connected PR professionals.

If you’re asking why you would need to use the service if you already have followers on Twitter, MicroPR will connect you to a broader, more effective network of resources for stories today and in the future.

Examples of usage:

- Reporters looking for help with on story development can send a tweet, “@micropr Need startup recommendations for story on new micromedia tools. Reply via public tweet to @reportername” (112 characters).

- Journalists and bloggers can declare that they do or do not want to be pitched via Twitter and other micromedia tools. They can also announce their specific preferences for contact.

- They could declare what sorts of microPR they want (or don't want) to receive, and in what mode -- @public messages or direct/private.

- A writer can share relevant beats @micropr beats = #social #micromedia #networks #media #infrastructure #hosting.

- Conference and awards organizers can call for speakers or submissions.

- Media can also block certain PR people who are doing it wrong.

- Other services could include scheduling calls and or meetings, etc.

The options, capabilities, and feature-set will expand over time (with input from the community), but in the meantime, MicroPR is an effective channel to connect people to relevant information in order to be more productive. And, it also serves as one of the necessary foundations that will help shape the future of more personalized and effective communications, teach PR professionals how to listen, respond, and pursue more targeted and relevant outreach.

NOTE: PR, please do not send @micropr messages unless you want that note to be broadcast to other PR people. If you want to refer to it on Twitter, please use the hashtag #micropr.

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Journalists and Bloggers on Twitter Alpha v1.0
Please note that this list is in the process of being updated and corrected and will ultimately reside on a public wiki. In the meantime, please contact me with changes and suggestions, or if you wish your name to be removed from the list. PR, be sure to follow your favorites.

Warning: Only contact reporters and bloggers using their preferred methods and channels. Do not send spam. Doing so will not only get you blacklisted, but will also get you blocked on Twitter.

Stowe says it best, "On Twitter, I will simply block people that abuse my willingness to have an open dialog about products with PR folks, or basically anyone else, for that matter."

Reporter	Publication	Followers	Twitter ID

Adam Boulton	Sky News UK	93	@skynewsboulton
Allen Stern	CenterNetworks	2408	@centernetworks
Amanda Congdon	AmandaCongdon.com	1398	@amazingamanda
Ana Marie Cox	Time.com	1733	@anamariecox
Arthur Germain	Brand Telling	35	@ahg3
Bicyclemark	Citizen Reporter	396	@bicyclemark
Brent Terrazas	Brentter.com	152	@brentter
Brian Morrissey	Adweek	911	@brianmorrissey
C Kirkham	Times-Picayune	40	@ckirkham
Caroline McCarthy	News.com	1329	@caroliiine
D Sarno	L.A. Times	103	@dsarno
Dan Farber	CNET	704	@dfarber
Dan Thomas	WSJ	48	@danthomas100
Daniel Terdiman	Cnet	452	@greeterdan
Darren Waters	BBC News	539	@djwaters1
Dave Slusher	Evil Genius Chronicles	409	@geniodiabolico
Dave Winer	Media Hacker	8760	@davewiner
David Griner	Luckie.com	151	@griner
David Lidsky	Fast Company	34	@ASTfan2006
David Wescott	Its Not A Lecture Blog	435	@dwescott1
Dawn Foster	Fast Wonder	497	@geekygirldawn
Doc Searls	Searls.com	1938	@dsearls
Duncan Riley		2164	@duncanriley
Dwight Silverman	Houston Chronicle	839	@dsilverman
Elisabeth Lewin	PodcastingNews	565	@podcastmama
Etan Horowitz	Orlando Sentinel	209	@etanowitz
Gabe Rivera	Techmeme	1478	@gaberivera
Ginny Skal	NBC 17 Raleigh	413	@ginnyskal
Graeme Thickins	Tech~Surf~Blog	140	@graemethickins
Harry McCracken		239	@harrymccracken
Heather Green	BusinessWeek	282	@heatherlgreen
Henry Blodget	Silicon Alley Insider	169	@hblodget
Houston Chronicle	Houston Chronicle	57	@houstonchron
Hugh MacLeod	Gaping Void	5704	@gapingvoid
Jason Calacanis	Mahalo	22998	@jasoncalacanis
Jemima Kiss	JemimaKiss.com + The Gaurdian	1301	@jemimakiss
Jim Long	NBC	5362	@newmediajim
Jim Louderback	Revision3	1129	@jlouderb
Jimmy Wales	Wikipedia	2017	@jwales
John Dickerson	Slate	1060	@jdickerson
John Dvorak	Dvorak Blog	12720	@therealdvorak
Justin Beck	SF Chronicle	6	@sfc_justinbeck
Kara Andrade	Maynard Institute	120	@newmaya
Kara Swisher	AllThingsD.com	611	@karaswisher
Katie Fehrenbacher	Earth 2 Tech	71	@katiefehren
Kevin Allison	Financial Times	92	@kevinallisonft
Kevin Rose	Digg	23335	@kevinrose
Kristen Nicole	Mashable	761	@kristennicole2
Laura Lorek	My San Antonio Blog	117	@lalorek
Lee Sherman	Avenue A -Razorfish	174	@lsherman
Leo Laporte	Leoville.com	26717	@leolaporte
Lisa Picarille	Revenue Magazine	408	@lisap
Liz Gannes	GigaOm	511	@ganneseses
Loren Steffy	HoustonChronicle	111	@lsteffy
Louis Gray	LouisGray.com	814	@louisgray
Marc Canter	Marc’s Voice	668	@marccanter4real
Mark Glaser	PBS	267	@mediatwit
Mark Hopkins	Mashable	954	@rizzn
Mark Krynsky	Lifestream Blog	326	@krynsky
Marshall Kirkpatrick	Read Write Web	2670	@marshallk
Mathew Ingram	MathewIngramBlog	1035	@mathewi
MG Siegler	Paris Lemon + VentureBeat	1062	@parislemon
Michael Banovsky	Banovsky Blog	105	@michaelbanovsky
Mike Arrington	TechCrunch	13777	@techcrunch
Mike Butcher	TechCrunch UK	1627	@mbites
Molly Wood	CNET	5483	@mollywood
Natali del Conte	CNET	130	@cnetloaded
Nick Gonzalez	TechCrunch Contributor	228	@nickgonzalez
Om Malik	GigaOM	2401	@om
Owen Thomas	Valleywag	113	@owenthomas
Pete Cashmore	Mashable	6611	@mashable
Peter Rojas	Engadget	740	@peterrojas
Rafe Needleman	Webware	3427	@rafe
Richard MacManus	ReadWriteWeb	1602	@rww
Robert Scoble	Fast Company	22034	@scobleizer
Robert W. Anderson	Expert Texture	114	@rwandering
Ryan Block	RyanBlock.com	2493	@ryanblock
Sam Whitmore	Media Survey	250	@samwhitmore
Sarah Lacy	BusinessWeek	2516	@sarahcuda
Sarah Perez	Read Write Web	837	@sarahintampa
Saul Hansell	NY Times	133	@shansell
Steve Baker	BusinessWeek	363	@stevebaker
Steve Gillmor	eWeek	2004	@stevegillmor
Steve Spaulding	How to Split an Atom	857	@sbspalding
Stewart Alsop	StewartAlsop.com	362	@salsop
Stowe Boyd	/Message	2866	@stoweboyd
The Guy Report	ESPN, Playboy	21	@theguyreport
Tod Maffin	CBC	695	@todmaffin
Tom Merritt	CNET	4241	@acedtect
Veronica Belmont	Revision3	14147	@veronica
Wayne Sutton	NBC 17 Raleigh	3387	@waynesutton

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I’d also like to specifically thank Chris Peri (on Twitter) for helping us with the process of retweeting and also Todd Defren, Sam Whitmore, Chris Lynn, Brad Mays, and many, many others for contributing to the directory of media actively using Twitter today.

Additional Resources on PR 2.0:

- In Blogger and Media Relations, You Earn the Relationships You Deserve
- The Evolution of Press Releases
- Making Mistakes and Amends in Blogger and Media Relations
- PR 2.0: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations
- Free ebook: The Art and Science of Blogger Relations
- Dear Chris Anderson, an Open Letter to Make Things Right

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

twitter micropr stowe+boyd pr public+relations pr+2.0 public relations 2.0 brian+solis blogger blog blogger+relations micromedia pitch expert guru communications marcom media2.0 media+2.0 social+media social tools sociology marketing publicity promotion publicist influencer