And now for something slightly different: Your new Editor, Patrick Coffee, would like to take a moment out of his first day on the job to thank Tonya Garcia for her great work over the past two years and to introduce himself to loyal PRNewser readers!

As the newest voice to report on the making of your media meat, I will work with the very talented members of our editorial staff in order to feed that insatiable desire for industry news and juicy, juicy gossip (in addition to hosting a few properly understated cocktail parties).

Some random facts: I may be a Southern boy at heart (Go Gamecocks!), and I have been known to break out the twang from time to time as a parlor trick, but more than a dozen years in the Big Apple have made me a New Yorker through and through. Like you, I live for the big, sloppy mix of high-risk egos and anxious handlers that make up our dizzying media scene.

When I’m not basking in the warm glow of Manhattan’s all-you-can-eat PR buffet, I spend my evenings and weekends in a part of Brooklyn that you’ve probably never heard of: Greenwood Heights, best known as the home of the not-quite-famous Greenwood Cemetery, or New York’s top spot to party with the Civil War dead. I also write about local restaurants and nightlife for New York Magazine and Grub Street New York.

I love nothing more than an eager audience, so feel free to email me with pitches, announcements, complaints, or creative insults. I occasionally pop up on Twitter to post things I like, commit random acts of self-promotion and give answers to questions you didn’t know you needed to ask.

Time to pile on in the comments. Or not. I’m cool either way.

Some bittersweet news to announce: After nearly two years as editor of PRNewser, Friday will be my last day with Mediabistro. I’ve had an amazing time meeting with members of the PR industry, attending the tons (and tons and tons) of events that have been hosted, and writing about all of the many (many, many) happenings, twists, and turns that have become the everyday parts of a PR pro’s life.

I’ll be moving on to a new site starting Monday (visit me on Twitter for more info about that) but our stable of writers — Liz Mitchell, Jim Thompson, Nancy Lazarus — will continue to bring you the news you can use. Please keep sending your pitches and announcements to PRNewser@Mediabistro.com. And if you’re not already getting it, sign up for our daily newsletter in the upper right boxes of our homepage. Don’t miss a thing!

Thank you readers for showing up each day, giving your feedback, and sharing our stories. Once again it has truly been a pleasure.

And if you or someone you know is in the job market, here’s a description of what I do every day when I’m not watching cat videos and listening to Pandora. You can also see where you’d be sitting in the video below. Yes, that’s me, pretending Adam Richman isn’t making a delicious sandwich just a few feet away.

Twice in one week… Thank you America!

PRNewser is shutting down at 1 p.m. today. We leave you with video of this crazy cat attacking a reporter.

We’ll be back on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone.

[h/t Jezebel]

Sarah Fenske, the editor-in-chief of L.A. Weekly, has held the title for less than eight months and she’s already seeing considerable success at the paper. L.A. Weekly is up for 18 L.A. Press Club awards. The paper scored with a great cover story about a con man who said he was going to buy the Dodgers. And they’re seeing online growth.

But there have been a few bad spots. One in particular involves a PR pitch. Calling the email “condescending,” Fenske says a publicist suggested that the paper cover startups. However, the paper already was. In a column. Called “Startups.” Oopsie.

Learn more about Fenske and L.A. Weekly in Mediabistro’s latest “So What Do You Do” column. Click here to check it out.

In the third and final part of our Media Beat interview with Adam Richman, the man behind Man vs. Food talks about his latest Travel Channel project, Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America. Instead of taking on food challenges, this time, our host travels the nation region by region (10 in all) and narrows down the best sandwiches in each based on what he calls his “BITE” system. Like March Madness itself, there can only be one winner in the end.

This and all MediabistroTV productions can also be viewed on our YouTube Channel.

Part I | Monday: Adam Richman on Bloomberg Soda Ban: ‘We Are In a Very Precarious Situation as a Society’

Part II | Tuesday: Adam Richman on Landing ‘Man vs. Food’ and His Health Regimen

In Part II of our Media Beat interview with Adam Richman, the Travel Channel star discusses the lengths he went to in order to land the hosting gig for his staple show, Man vs. Food, and how he kept healthy and in shape during its run. One interesting tidbit Richman reveals is that he has it in his contract that there must be a gym in every hotel he stays at. View the rest of our one-one-chat below.

This and all MediabistroTV productions can also be viewed on our YouTube Channel. Be sure to check out Part III of our chat with Richman tomorrow.

Part I | Monday: Adam Richman on Bloomberg Soda Ban: ‘We Are In a Very Precarious Situation as a Society’

If you want to build your brand or generate revenue for your business, make sure you check out Mediabistro’s Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, an online conference and workshop starting tomorrow, Thursday, June 7. You’ll learn how to launch a social media marketing campaign and measure its results. Read more

Ready for the three-day weekend? We are. So PRNewser is shutting down at 3 p.m. ET today to get the summer the started. We’re also out on Monday to celebrate Memorial Day.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Meet leading authors, editors, and literary agents and get your writing project professionally critiqued in our online Literary Festival & Workshops, July 16 – August 1, 2012. In our innovative, interactive online event, you will:

• Hear from accomplished authors, literary agents, and editors
• Workshop your own creative project with writers and editors
• And make connections with other writers and book lovers across the globe in our summer reading group.

Come celebrate the publishing world with us and get inspired to finish the book project you’ve been working on.

Read more

Tomorrow is the deadline to sign up for the next Social Media Marketing Boot Camp at the early bird discount.

Sign up by Thursday, May 10 and get $100 off this interactive workshop and educational program taking place June 7 through August 2. Speakers for this boot camp session include IBM VP of social business evangelism and sales, Sandy Carter; Jen Brown, digital director of TODAY.com; and Jim Tobin, the CEO of Ignite Social Media.

The Social Media Marketing Boot Camp will give you the tips and tools you need for a successful digital strategy. Here’s what others had to say about the program.

And here’s the link to register.