You know what really grinds my gears?

To follow up on Michelle's comments, I am surprised by how many artists and companies do not have hi-res photos available. Even a relatively inexpensive digital camera will do the trick! It's very difficult to market something when you don't have a decent visual to go along with it. And I just love it when bios and performance descriptions are full of grammatical errors. *sigh*

She also totally used "if that is known at this time" which is my favorite turn of phrase. "At this time." That's totally steward/ess speak. "We do ask you to stow your items, at this time."

Actually, I was talking to a friend today who does PR for a presenter, having previously worked for a producing organization. She said it's really hard to get to know the artists because she gets such little contact with them ahead of time, so any of these materials that you can send make her job easier. At her previous job, she could be involved in the whole artistic process and get to know everyone really well, figure out who was best for what media, etc, etc. Not so much when she only gets a few days of face time with each artist.

I am going to venture to guess that this is why they are asking for extraneous materials.

I hear you on this gripe...could it just be an intern or entry-level staffer gathering stock material for everyone? Maybe they didn't know any better. But the requests are serious overkill...I mean, if I was sent a press kit with CDs, DVDs, posters, etc., most of that stuff would sit in a file cabinet.

But now the flip side: on the presenter/producer side, there are some basics that we NEED and that we need well in advance to properly promote artists and their work with my company. I hate when I have to ask 4 times for basics like long bios, headshots, and especially program bios. What a waste of everyone's time. It would be fabulous if I could ask once, or better yet, just send the info when the contract gets signed...pretty please? Or when I get the bios, and they're up-to-date...as of the 04-05 season. Way to do your job, management company. Or when the management assistant then snarkily refers me back to the mgmt company's website for (wait for it) an outdated bio and a low-res, b+w headshot. I'd kind of look like the jackass if I then passed that info on to my media.

The very best this past year was a manager of a well known tenor who sent me a photo copy of a headshot to use for publicity, as well as a bio with handwritten notes all over it. Attention artists: If you're paying a manager or publicist, it's part of their job to have this material on hand. If they can't handle something as simple as an updated bio, find a new manager.

It's ALL about specificity...a challenge for everyone!