{"id":116,"date":"2008-10-23T07:12:37","date_gmt":"2008-10-23T07:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp\/?p=116"},"modified":"2008-10-23T07:12:37","modified_gmt":"2008-10-23T07:12:37","slug":"laying_the_flack_down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/2008\/10\/laying_the_flack_down\/","title":{"rendered":"Laying the flack down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hailing from 2004, this<\/a> piece from the site The Dance Insider<\/a><\/i> was sent to me in response to my post yesterday. Writer\/editor Paul Ben-Itzak <\/font>actually
\ngives awards\/taglines to the publicity firms he likes working with,
\ncalling the piece “Best Publicists in NYC”. I love hearing what
\njournalists think of publicists. Here’s an excerpt:<\/p>\n

…here are
\nsome things you should look for — at least from the perspective
\nof this writer and editor, who not only covers dance concerts but
\nreviews hundreds if not thousands of press releases from around
\nthe world and has relationships with dozens of press reps, with
\na view towards seeking coverage from other Dance Insider writers
\nfor the potentially more interesting events. First, your publicist
\nshould know dance and dance media. (Sounds pretty basic, but you
\nshould see some of the press releases I get… or never receive.)
\nHe or she should know your work or, if that’s not the case, be open
\nto learning about it. Ideally, he or she should like the work so
\nthat subsequent press releases will be written with passion, attempts
\nat securing coverage made with conviction. The publicist should
\nbe able to write with freshness about your ‘product’; take a look
\nat previous press releases to see if the same generic adjectives
\nand verbs come up over and over again. Your rep. should have manners.
\nIdeally, he or she should have an exhaustive press list and, even
\nbetter, demonstrated mutually respectful relationships with editors
\nwho determine coverage. In other words, you want to know that your
\npublicist’s press releases will be read, and his or her calls returned.
<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I
\nespecially like his point about knowing the genre you’re publicizing
\n(seems obvious, but…), or at least being willing to learn. After my
\nfirst meeting with Eric<\/a>, I
\nwas so nervous about having an opera client that I went directly to the
\nBorders at the Time Warner Center and bought Anthony Tommasini’s Times <\/i>Opera Essential Library<\/a> book; I read that puppy cover-to-cover before our next meeting.<\/p>\n

I even learned a new, mildly insulting word<\/a> from the Dance Insider<\/i> post: <\/p>\n

This is a publicist with Authority,
\none whom critics and editors regard as a colleague, not a “flack.”
\n(There’s a reason journalists sometimes apply a word describing
\nunwanted fire to publicists; no one tries to duck Murray’s press
\nreleases.)
<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fascinating.
\nReminds me of orientation week at Dartmouth when this Class of ’29 or
\nwhatever guy asked me if I was a “co-ed” at a football game. I had…no
\nidea what that meant. <\/p>\n

In addition to being a good read and offering an interesting
\nperspective, use of the word “flack” aside,  the Dance Insider<\/i> post includes contact information for
\nthe writer’s favorite publicists. I think having a directory of
\npublicists (in this case, for classical musicians and opera singers)
\nwould be useful. Once you decide you do need a publicist<\/a>,
\nwhere do you look? I will work on a list, but will refrain from
\neditorializing on each firm like he does, perhaps just listing clients
\nand contact information instead. Boring, I know, but for the best
\n((boo)). So, send on over an e mail<\/a> if you want to be included in the little directory,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hailing from 2004, this piece from the site The Dance Insider was sent to me in response to my post yesterday. Writer\/editor Paul Ben-Itzak actually gives awards\/taglines to the publicity firms he likes working with, calling the piece “Best Publicists in NYC”. I love hearing what journalists think of publicists. Here’s an excerpt: …here are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}