If you want to connect before you speak before your talk, let me know – happy to help.

All things considered, I think it’s quite brave of the PR companies out there who are looking to foray into the blogosphere but they are mistaken if they think it will automatically win them friends and help them influence people. It would be disingenuous for any PR company to think they can mollify opinions, steer editorial policy, and see short term results for their clients. I agree with Branedy, it needs to be based on an honest interchange of ideas not driven by self-interest.

The attitude inherent in that – they’re bloggers so we don’t have to work as hard / they’ll be grateful to get a bit of free swag – is guaranteed to get personal bloggers’ backs up. They’re not working to a publishing deadline.

Journos can complain (rightly) about getting spammed with irrelevant releases, but they’ll all admit that info in releases has helped them fill inches.

As regards the content of releases and its accuracy, ‘question everything’ is a good rule of thumb. It’s the PR people who take the blame for non-news releases, but in my experience this is usually the client’s fault. More PR people should explain the principle of ‘if you don’t have anything to say, don’t say anything’ to their clients.

Finally, as someone whose business card usually has some combination of ‘communications’ / ‘marketing’ / ’strategy’ on it, I’m glad to see you put quotation marks around “engage” Damien. If PR folks do specialise in communications, and are aware that this should be a golden age allowing them to showcase their skills in starting conversations and earning the trust and respect of a whole new kind of publisher then can we stop with the antagonistic military metaphor corporate speak please? Not having a go at anyone, it’s just a pet hate of mine.

I have no problem sitting in a meeting and listening to people throw ideas for engagement strategies around, but be aware that this is often the first step towards completely dehumanised communications. If working with bloggers is seen by PR people as some kind of battle in which there will inevitably be major casualties, things won’t change. If bloggers are aware that this is how PR companies plan to ‘work’ with them, things won’t change.

@Bernie, I admire your tenacity in challenging regurgitated press releases! Who knew that 75% of companies in Ireland were world-leaders?

Most ‘PR’ people are into coloring facts, and spinning details. This only works when they expect to never hear from nonbelievers. They will have to raise their expectations when dealing with bloggers, and expect interaction.

Sending out a press release and hoping it gets regurgitated on a blog isn’t really good enough. Blogging’s about engagement, and so they need to ask/cajole/encourage bloggers to engage with the issue/product/brand they’re promoting.

So if someone blogs about books, then sending them physical books incase they’d like to review them is pretty good. Even better, if the PR firm can get the publisher to ask the author to respond to any posted review and join in the comments “below the line”. Adds a lot of credibility to the review, and ups the PR impact.

Emailing someone to say there’s a restaurant opening is naff. Emailing and saying that it’s opening and there’s a preview evening to which you’re welcome to attend as a local blogger is better. Then taking an interest in the blogger’s perceptions – likely to be a bit more random and hard to predict than a regular newspaper reviewer – is important too.

But it’s a two-way engagement.

I wish mainstream Irish journalists would observe your last sentence. In many cases, I have challenged the accuracy of information delivered in a press release and then disseminated under a headline. Lately, when I’ve responded on my blog with specific follow-on challenges to the journalists’ articles, I’ve received boiler plate email retorts that directed me to remove my reference to named writers or face a solicitor with a demand for the same.

I believe press releases are to be challenged, not believed. And when vetted, they often give excellent copy for hired scribes.