Love a good memory? A little nostalgia? I do too...except when it comes to story pitches...then I get a bad case of "nostalgia neuralgia". In this week's episode I'll tell you about some recent attempts to snooker me into buying "news" stories that are more like "golden oldies," and offer some advice to my PR friends how to avoid pitching stories that belong in Mr. Peabody's Way Back Machine. 

Do you bubble or float? Some PR people are talking nonsense using words like those in order to get reporters to respond to pitches. In this week's edition, I talk about this ridiculous "alternative" language many PR people have adopted and suggest a better way to give a reporter a little poke when following-up. 

Since The Art of the Spiel was first posted, there's been an update. The original episode dealt with a fairly tactless approach by a PR person to get my attention to a story. A few days after the episode was posted I decided to finally reply to her. The way she responded led to a "teachable moment". It's here in this updated episode.  

In this week's episode I'll tell you about a pitch I recently received that mark with an obnoxious email subject line followed by an equally inappropriate accusation—not the way to win a reporter's attention, and more important, agreeing to do the proposed story. Oh, I had a little fun composing a reply. In the spirit of the podcast's premise of looking at situations on both sides of the scrimmage line I offer some thoughts to both reporters and PR people on, let's say, more thoughtful and professional ways to communicate with each other.

If your a journalist or PR pro and would like to come on the podcast to discuss situations or issues you've come across and how you handled them, just drop me a note at [email protected]

What do Princesses Kate, Meghan and condoms all have in common? They represent the subjects of misguided pitches reporters receive all the time--at least the ones that ended up in my inbox. In this episode I'll tell the story from both sides, as a reporter and PR guy and offer some easy advice on avoiding this time wasting and non-productive practice. Oh, I'll also reveal what I learned about the disgusting things Kate ingests to maintain her "glow" and what dietary habits she shares with Meghan. That alone, makes this episode a royal triumph! 

It's been about three years since there was an actual auto show in Detroit. It used to be a one of the biggest and most influential in the world with dozens of new product introductions, elaborate and very expensive displays, attracting thousands of journalists from all over the globe. But times have changed. Many automakers have decided to skip not just the Detroit show but others, the multi-story displays are gone and taking the place on the show floor are suppliers and even a few companies that build machines that leave the Earth. The show has also moved from January to September, burst out of the confines of Huntington Place, formerly Cobo Center out onto the streets of Detroit. 

In this episode I'll look at those changes and challenges both as a reporter for Forbes.com and PR pro. 

Welcome to Tales From the Beat where I related real life personal case studies from both sides of the scrimmage line as a reporter and PR pro. This is our first episode. I give you a brief intro to who I am and what the podcast is all about then launch right into a situation I ran into recently, showing up to a story at the right time and right location, only it seemed to be quite a surprise to the folks at the location. I'll get into the bizarre first moments and how the day turned out.