I just love press that includes marketing shout-outs. From the New York Times' Steve Smith's review of Sunday's Bang on a Can Marathon: Using an Internet metaphor seems especially appropriate, given an increased emphasis on social media this year. Elsewhere, using Twitter during a performance might be viewed as bad manners; here, crew members and volunteers wore T-shirts emblazoned with Twitter-friendly slogans: "follow @bangonacan" and "tweet #boac." Stage announcements called attention to a social-media lounge upstairs, where Twitter users … [Read more...]

I was on the Amtrak with my friend Scott heading up to a wedding in Mystic, CT a few weekends back, and he figured that was as good a time as any to tell me about another wedding he had gone to recently. Fortunately, he didn't have to describe this wedding in any sort of great detail, because we had a New York Times piece to do that for us:WHEN Amanda Blackwell of Columbus, Ga., first met Maj. Andrew Gallo in 2004, he mentioned having gone to West Point. She knew so little about the Army then that she thought he meant a small Georgia town … [Read more...]

I had a meeting with my client composer Michael Gordon on Monday, and out of nowhere he said something like, "Yeah, and with the Rock Band thing..."What "Rock Band thing"??Turns out, the following pieces are now available to play on Rock Band!David Lang - Cheating, Lying, Stealing Michael Gordon - Yo Shakespeare Evan Ziporyn - Shadowbang (Head)Julia Wolfe's Believing will also be available soon. According to the folks at Bang on a Can's label, Cantaloupe, Alex Rigopulos, founder of Harmonix and Rock Band creator, went to MIT with Bang on a Can … [Read more...]

From The Awl: This photo, sent in by this morning one of our local operatives, shows the full glory of the enormous Toy Story 3 advertisement that adorns the gorgeous Miami Herald building. Well, it's a business model.Fan-tastic. … [Read more...]

I got a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast yesterday (don't judge me, it was multi-grain), and as I was walking back to my apartment, I was fondly recalling the days at my last job when there would be bagels in the conference room for some kind of occasion. Sure, I could have bought the same bagel with cream cheese for a dollar sixty three (not that I know exactly how much bagels cost because I get them so often or anything), but it just tastes better when it's free and a surprise. I feel similarly about free-and-a-surprise press hits. Of … [Read more...]

My friend Jaime Green, a healthy-food-I-don't-eat and theater blogger, sent this scintillating pitch over this afternoon: Subject: PLEASE POST ON YOUR BLOGPlease find attached a press release for X Theatre Company's newest show - Y.If you can promote it on your blog and through your networks that would be great.Many thanksA Quicktime file is attached to this publicist's e mail, one presumes featuring video of the production at hand, but sadly...I think it's time for a Life's a Pitch "people are idiots" tag. … [Read more...]

Present (adjective, not verb) Music, a great organization with excellent marketing materials is trying to raise $30,000 this spring. Here are their reasons to give:1. If we reach our goal, the Herzfeld Foundation will match your gift2. Present Music will end the season in the black, with no deficit...yay!3. We'll put half of your gift in the Audience Commission Fund to help support a future world premiere commission4. More support leads to more collaborations with exciting guest artists and composers5. It's an investment in PM's amazing … [Read more...]

As promised, here is the real Life's a Pitch board game, courtesy of my intern Emily Ciavarella.  The Game of Life's a PitchFor 2-6 players Object: To be the first to reach the end tile, symbolizing your client's ascension into stardom. Getting Started: Every player begins with 100 "publicity points" from which to acquire publicity skills: Writing, Social Skills, Creativity, Connections, and Musical Background. Each player can distribute as many points as he or she wants to particular sections--but it has consequences, so choose … [Read more...]

A friend across the pond sent this over this weekend, from the Gap in Knightsbridge: And I think I've neglected to post about the Life's a Pitch game, which several kind readers have brought to my attention. And if I have already posted about it, I'm posting about it again. "The WILD Game of Defending the Ridiculous." I actually can't think of a more apt description of what I do for a living. My summer intern Emily and I have spent the last 30 minutes brainstorming what a classical music PR Life's a Pitch game would actually look like. What we … [Read more...]