Another day, another debate at MB HQ. This time, we’re talking about comments. Specifically, should we have comments on our vast — and brilliant — network of blogs? We already have the bulletin boards to discuss any and all things media, but should we open blog posts up to individual comments? What do you think? Let us know here (on the bulletin boards, ironically enough). We can’t wait to hear from you.
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Can you feel the excitement in the air? Is it the Yankees making a run on the Sox? (Nope, not gonna happen.) The coming of fall? (Nada. We’ve still got August to suffer through.) Tonight’s season premiere of The Hills? (Um, we’re pretty freakin’ excited, but it’s not that either.) No, it’s time for another Video Pitch Slam 1-on-1.
On August 23, we’re headed to TimeOut New York‘s beautiful office on 36th and Tenth Ave for a rendezvous with editor-in-chief Brian Farnham. But we can’t do it without you. If you’ve got a great idea for TONY (and, seriously, who doesn’t?) drop us a line. If we pick your pitch and you’re available that afternoon, you’ll get three minutes to sell your story to BF. (Despite what Gawker says, it’s fun and a great way to get face time in front of an editor. We promise. Those kids on Crosby are just jealous we bathe in Cristal.)
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Video Pitch Slam 1-on-1: Esquire
These guys do work. Now, How to Pitch does, too.
In mb editorial, we’re like most service-minded editors: obsessed with making our stories do work for our readers. We share queries that landed their writers the bylines of their dreams so you can replicate their success; we tip you off to media industry movement so you can get a lead on places seeking staffers with skills you’ve got in spades; and we dig into how media folks prevail in their work so we can take cues from them. So, to keep things as helpful as we aim to be, we’ve organized our How to Pitch archive by topic, to mirror the way we know freelancers target places to publish their work.
You may have noticed callouts on the mediabistro.com homepage to our press release blog, Release Me. With all the media-related releases we get (and we’re sure you do as well), we thought a clearinghouse was in order. Right now, we post the releases, but we hope PR people will put up their own. If we do this right, it will be a great resource for all things media-related. Our question to you: How to make this happen? Would you post releases if the form was simple, like Revolving Door?
Hit up the forum to weigh in. We’d love to hear your opinions.
Anyone who’s paged through the September issue of a fashion mag and claimed they aren’t reading partly for the resplendent double-page ads is yanking your chain — who wouldn’t? Seldom is content and advertising on such even footing as when the major print glossies strive to sway the hearts and minds of fashion consumers with their annual September opus. But how to replicate the experience online? Better yet, how to maximize the year-round opportunity the Web presents? ‘Online glossy’ and two-time Webby winner Zoozoom.com may have the answer (hint: ‘you’ and your user-generated content have little to do with it). We put some questions to Zoozoom CEO Mike Hartley CEO and publisher David McIntyre, who filled us in via email.
What about Zoozoom’s offerings were most integral to its recent Webby win?
We think it must be the unique combination of creative, professional content and ads, the approach to interactivity and format that ZOOZOOM embodies. We call it an ‘online glossy.’
What did it take for ZOOZOOM to make it onto the radar of key fashion advertisers?
Consistently delivering quality content year on year has given us a platform to work with fashion brands online. Our ad unit also speaks fashion’s language. Although even the most luxurious of brands have sucked air when we tell them our CPM, on closer inspection our long-term value is apparent. But it’s still a work in progress. Fashion in many respects is very conservative and seemingly old-fashioned. Some brands aren’t however — Chanel, NET-A-PORTER.COM, Neiman Marcus, Diesel and others. We’ve developed relationships with these brands over a number of years, we’ve been persistent, we’ve worked hard and whilst trying to be respectful, we’ve sometimes had to be cheeky. Also, one of the advantages of producing our own editorial content is that we’re out there; we’re in the showrooms, talking with the designers. If we were a blog that regurgitated press releases, we’d have no real contacts within our industry. Our video interviews with designers and Fashion Week coverage are another way we interface. These are just a few of the ways we’ve been able to get and stay on the radar.
It’s not everyday you learn about a pivotal American historical figure who was previously unknown. But on Thursday morning, when an email from author Andrew Schiff turned up in my inbox, I knew I had to learn more.
Schiff alerted me to his soon-to-be-release biography about Henry Chadwick. Who is Chadwick, you ask? Only the man who invented sports journalism, was the originator of baseball stats, and chairman of the rules committee. How could my education, both as a Red Sox fan and a journalist, be complete without having ever heard of Chadwick? Was this the sort of thing I missed by skipping j-school?
Thankfully, Schiff wrote the book (The Father of Baseball: The Life of Henry Chadwick, hitting shelves October 26), and I can just read it. The author tracked Chadwick’s life by contacting the New York Public Library, the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Society for American Baseball Research, the University of London, and countless other sources.
We constantly hear journalists complain about struggling to find stories (I know I did), but Schiff turned his fascination with a name he first heard when he was eighteen years old into an excellent book. If there’s a better way to find source material, I’m not sure what it is.
With an editorial admission policy almost as elite as its glitzy readership, this Miami-centric monthly isn’t the most accessible mag around for freelancers angling to break in. However, if you’ve got a few key qualities, your chances are better than most. Things to help tip the scales in your freelance favor include:
During one scene of Coming to America, the reality TV show starring Victoria Beckham, the former Spice Girl sees an unflattering portrait of herself on Perez Hilton. Instead of sitting around whining about it, she gets in her car (hair stylist in tow) and confronts the blogger at his coffeshop/office. She and Hilton get along famously, and Beckham leaves when the blogging star replaces the offending picture with one in which she’s wearing a crown.
This is the kind of take-charge attitude that mediabistro.com CEO Laurel Touby and hundreds of other executives and managers around the country would love. Beckham doesn’t attack Hilton, she simply asks him why he posted what he did. She’s respectful yet forceful, reasonable yet in charge, and Hilton responds. Her behaviour (spelling in her honour) provides an excellent lesson when dealing with editors. If you feel slighted, confront him or her and explain your feelings honestly and plainly. They will respond accordingly, and you’ll stand a greater chance of working with them in the future. We all make mistakes (yes, even us infallible editors), but bitching and moaning about them helps no one. Explain your position and act accordingly. If this tactic swayed the Queen of All Media, it will work for you too.
Ready for a date with the Tin Man, as a Bing reader posits?
Stanley Bing, the one who told us all our jobs were bullsh*t, is at it again — most recently with a reissue of his tome taking on Crazy Bosses. But this time around, he’s getting all multimedia about it, with the launch of The Bing Blog. Here, our favorite dual personality dips a toe into user-generated content, getting readers to write in with their own tales of crazy bosses, and even running a little competition last month. We’d be remiss not to note our up-close and personal relationship with the winner.
In the end, Live Earth probably won’t save the world. But don’t say the media didn’t try to help. Just look at all the coverage we gave the shows before they even happened.
During the event, we had 24 hours of live HD video, courtesy of Intelsat. And then there was all our reaction. The media covered every angle, from the concerts themselves to the show’s impact to the number of streaming vids (more streams than Live 8).
Maybe it’s just me, but after a summer spent focusing on Paris and Rupert, Al Gore is a refreshing break. Now there’s a sentence I never though I’d write.
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