Classic tale of how not to approach blogger relations, and other news
This morning I read in a Dutch paper that the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam received a subsidy of 2 million Euros from the province of North-Holland. Just to renovate the hallways, bathrooms and coat room. How wonderful to see that in some countries, arts organizations do get the support they need from the government.
In other news, over at The Guardian blogs, Ryan Gilbey reports that his blog was invaded by PRs. These type of stories are fast becoming the classic tale of how not to approach blogger relations. I posted a comment:
“I am a public relations practitioner and it really pains me to see PRs (and were they really PRs, or just employees of the production company?) mess up the already tarnished name of the industry.”
“Real PRs would never comment on a blog without disclosing their identity and their relation to the subject being blogged about. There are lots of good discussions in the public relations blogosphere about the blogger relations ethics. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association has guidelines and some PR professionals have started an anti-astroturfing campaign.”
“So maybe, on behalf of the PR industry, I should apologize that you were invaded by faux-PRs. Just remember, we’re not all like that!”
Culturegrrl Lee Rosenbaum at Arts Journal writes how she is amazed by how fixated some are on “managing” the press. She says, “If I sense that you’re “managing” me, you’ve aroused my suspicion, not my trust.” Read the post, she offers some great advice from the journalist’s perspective. And you will find the WOMMA guidelines here, and the anti-astroturfing campaign here.
2 Responses to “Classic tale of how not to approach blogger relations, and other news”
Comments
1 ambala 24 March 2007 @ 4:32 am
On the other hand, does CG really need 2milion for cloakroom and toilets. Nothing wrong with them the last time I was there. And it’s not money for culture it’s money for constructing industry. I would pefer if they gave the money into culture itself: orchestras, ensembles, musicians…
2 Marc 29 March 2007 @ 10:05 am
I don’t know how exactly the 2 million is distributed, the article only mentioned it in general terms, so it probably is more legit than it sounds from here.
And of course, the bulk of the grants and subsidies goes to the culture, orchestra, ensembles and musicians, but you can’t have them perform in a sub par building either.
It still remains notable that the Concertgebouw gets more money from the government for this kind of stuff than most American orchestras get in a decade.
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