Where are all the hip publicists?

November 19, 2005 7:25 AM

I need a hip publicist. I've been shopping around and it seems like they're all stuffy and don't know what MetaFilter is (if you know what I mean). How/where can I find someone that's young, energetic and knows the new methods for my company?

We've reached a point where we need to start considering press. We're doing a lot of work... under the radar. We have a new Google deal and we're making progress. This has prompted me to look for a publicsist that perhaps can further the cause and at least get our name out there (which I'll hold for this post since that would be bad form). We were thinking if we could find someone young or starting out in the industry but was internet savvy, we would be a perfect first-ish client. Are there any resources for finding that type of person/publicist? Where are all the hip new publicists?

posted by dsv to Work & Money (7 answers total)

My completely uninformed opinion would be that anyone associated with such a resource wouldn't be as wet behind the ears or as out-of-the-box thinking as you'd like.

I think you'd be best served by finding a progressive professor at a local college, and cherry-picking your publicist from graduating students.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:28 AM on November 19, 2005

Where is you company located? What is the size of your market? Who is your primary target?
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:36 AM on November 19, 2005

dsv, I hate to say it but after the bubble burst alot of my PR brethren had to change careers and get out of PR altogether.

What sort of exposure are you looking for? If you'd consider a freelancer offsite then drop me an email (its in the profile). I would assume you're not looking for a full time publicist at this point but maybe I'm wrong.

More information as Baby_Balrog notes above would be helpful in helping you. Help us, help you!
posted by fenriq at 9:01 AM on November 19, 2005

Response by poster: Thank you for the replies.

Help us, help you!

Our offices are located downtown Palm Beach, FL. We're principally engaged in the development, production and distribution of traditional and new media properties (TV, internet, et cetera). Our focus right now is utilizing content to the fullest. Small 8-person staff of Mac-zealots.

As for exposure, we're looking for more of a "know and be known" type. We'd like our exposure to potentially help open doors, opportunities and future partnerships. Not looking for the cover of Fortune just yet. We'd like exposure in our industry to industry people. Not necessarily the end-user just yet.
posted by dsv at 9:43 AM on November 19, 2005

You need to steal someone from inside the media industry for in-house development.
Potential candidate should have experience in interactive, b2b, and maybe some time in tv/radio sales.

I'd submit my resume, but I just got a new position in pr. :D
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:15 AM on November 19, 2005

Sounds like MeFi needs an internal pr agency.

Coming from the other end (in journalism), what I would do is look for other sites that have a decent media presence (ie you've seen industry clips about them) and give off the vibe that you'd like. Generally, they have a listing near the bottom of a page about who runs their PR flacking for them (contact stuff) and you could go through that. Or you could look for someone from msuic publicity. There are a whole lot of people in that industry that take freelance work to help pay the bills...
posted by klangklangston at 2:38 PM on November 19, 2005

Why do you need a young publicist? What you need is a publicist who understands the youth market. Not simply "I'm young, and this is what I'd like." But someone who understands trends in the youth demographic.

That's how I chose my publicist, and look how famous I am today!
posted by Paris Hilton at 3:02 PM on November 19, 2005