10 Things I Don't Like About Art-PR People---Part I

This post, inspired by the recent enigmatic reply by a museum's communications officer to my query about Matisse's "The Swimming Pool," is the distillation of many moments of frustration in dealing with the people whose function is, in part, to help me get my job done.

Most of the time, they do: My work would be much harder without those art-PR professionals who tirelessly track down the answers to all my niggling questions, often on tight deadline. And even when they are impediments rather than helps, it's often not their fault: They're agents for their higher-ups, who occasionally favor secrecy over transparency.

These spokespersons come in two varieties: communications officers employed by specific institutions and those employed by art-PR firms that serve a variety of clients. My own preference is for the homegrown species, who have a much more intimate knowledge of the people and places for whom and for which they speak.

So, more in sorrow than in anger (because I do like many of these people), and with the knowledge that many art-PR people really do read this blog, here's my Letterman-style list of gripes, from least important to most important:

10) The Non-Responsive "Answer": It's condescending to pretend to answer a reporter's question with a blandly worded statement that is meaningless at best and misleading at worst (as in the aforementioned "enigmatic reply"). I wish I had a dollar for every time this has happened to me. Maybe it puts some reporters off the scent. It only makes me work harder to get the real answer.

9) Interlopers on Interviews: Press officers often seem to feel that they must babysit their superiors, who must not be left alone with reporters. Often when I start speaking to a museum official at some gathering, the designated press minder rushes over to monitor our every word and sometimes to steer the conversation away from sensitive topics. It's also very common for press officers to sit in on interviews; the worst variant of this is the squawking conversation on the glitchy speakerphone, with the press officer occasionally cutting in. Press officers may say their presence is needed so they can help follow up on any questions requiring further clarification. I'd rather keep that list myself and call the PR person later with my queries.

8) "Please Leave a Message": When I call urgently for information, I want a live person to answer immediately. Deadlines are deadlines.

7) Off the Record: as in, "everything that my boss told you yesterday was off the record." Those ground rules have to be established (or, better yet, not) before the conversation takes place, not after I've spent precious time getting information that I expect to be able to print. I almost never grant "off the record" retroactively.

6) Quote Approval: as in, "you have to get my boss' approval for any direct quotes that you plan to publish from yesterday's interview." (This is a corollary to "Off the Record," above).

COMING TOMORROW: The Top Five Things I Don't Like About Art-PR People. Can you stand the suspense?