Generalities

PRNewser is closing up shop for the long holiday weekend. We hope you're enjoying it as well, wherever you are. We'll be back full force on Monday. In the meantime, why don't you RSVP for our Flacks 'n Hacks party on July 13th at Arctica Bar in New York. Jason and I will take on mediabistro.com's editorial director of content Chris Ariens and FishbowlNY editor Amanda Earnst in an epic Guitar Hero battle! Please RSVP here.

We got a kick out of this, especially in light of recent blog to book deals for This is Why You're Fat, Gary Vaynerchuk and Look at That F*cking Hipster.

[Hat tip: We Are The Digital Kids.]

[image cred]

Jason and I are signing off a bit early today to head to our respective oceanside Hamptons mansions, er, I mean modest NYC area abodes for the holiday weekend. We hope you enjoy the long weekend and come back renewed and refreshed afterwards.

In the meantime, for all you hard working PR pros, did you employ the time honored tactic of the "holiday weekend" pitch? It's pretty simple: the combination of a slow news weekend and all of the regular TV news guests being out of town combines for a perfect storm to get your client some airtime.

PRNewser heard from one booker at a cable news network who didn't want to be named but said:

I would say that it is definitely easier for a publicist to book guests on Memorial Day weekend and other holidays because:

1. It is (usually) a slower news day

2. People are away so they are less likely to be able to come on the show.

So, are you putting your pitching magic to work in an attempt to fill the holiday news hole? If you find success, let us know.

We know what you're thinking. "I love PRNewser so much, I want to read it wherever I am!" Well, have no fear, as the mediabistro tech team has upgraded our mobile platform. The same goes for all 12 mediabistro blogs. Keep us posted with your feedback.

We rarely toot our own horn here at PRNewser, but we are thrilled to be ranked as the number one PR blog according to media relations software company Cision.

From a post on their Navigator blog, the company says that the top 10 list was, "generated by comparing Unique Visitors per Month figures for blogs in Cision's media database, giving you a snapshot of some of the best read and most discussed blogs."

We're honored to be among such worthy thought leaders in the industry. Here is the top ten.

Top 10 Public Relations Blogs
1. PRNewser
2. Press Pass
3. ChrisBrogan.com
4. PRoactive
5. The Buzz Bin
6. Micro Persuasion
7. PR Squared
8. Grok Dot Com
9. A Shel of My Former Self
10. The Bad Pitch Blog

This PRNewser was happy to join FishbowlNY editor Glynnis MacNicol and mediabistro Managing Editor Rebecca Fox on our "Morning Media Menu podcast today. Rebecca and I recap SXSWi as well as talk Portfolio's unfortunate slim down, and Obama's appearance on The Tonight Show last night. Tune in below!

A year ago today, PR juggernaut Peter Shankman launched his now well known "Help A Reporter Out" service. It all started out as a Facebook group, but then quickly grew as an email list connecting reporters with sources, with its first query from the Chicago Tribune.

Writes Shankman today on his blog:

We've posted close to 25,000 queries, to almost 70,000 sources, from over 10,000 journalists around the world...And most importantly by far, we've connected thousands and thousands of sources to journalists that otherwise would not have gotten the media attention they deserve, while making thousands of journalists' lives easier.

PRNewser has covered Shankman and his HARO service from the start. Check out our post from one year ago today. In honor of the anniversary, we've posted the above video of Shankman rocking out to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" at the SXSW Mashable party earlier this week.

> ZDNet blogger Andrew Mager gives props to Porter Novelli: "As a member of the press I've gotten great information, offers to setup interviews, and many VIP party passes. These guys know what they are doing."

> Blogger Tim Street catches up with Brian Solis to talk TechSet and how it is "changing what advertisers, marketers and public relations agencies are changing because of social media."

> Steve Rubel (who is not at SXSW) points out "A Twitter visualization tool from PepsiCo with tweets about SXSW."

[image: Julia Hood, publishing director, and Keith O'Brien, editor-in-chief of PRWeek]

The PRWeek team rang the Nasdaq opening bell yesterday morning in honor of tonight's PRWeek Awards. The index went on to close the day up 32.73 points, or 2.48 percent. Coincidence? Draw your own conclusions.

We're happy to welcome the newest addition to the mediabistro blog family, media employment and career development blog MediaJobsDaily. MediaJobsDaily will be edited by Becki Heller and Rachel Kaufman.

Heller comes to mediabistro most recently from MyYearbook.com, where among her projects, she spearheaded the growth of user-generated teen outlet "MyMag," which went on to average 800,000 page views per day.

Kaufman has been on the career and business beat for The Washington Post Express for the past year, writing and developing its "Getting Ahead" section. Kaufman's prior experience includes work for daily newspapers including the Erie Times-News' features department, and her byline has also appeared in Newsday and The Washington Post, among others.

Please welcome them with open arms!