You’d think former President Bill Clinton, master of shameless self-promotion, would know all about hyping himself on Twitter, right? Apparently not! In his famous state of perpetual insecurity, Clinton asks Stephen Colbert, “What if you tweet and nobody tweets back?”

Colbert isn’t just a genius when it comes to self-promotion: he knows how to win attention for other people, too. On last night’s show he didn’t just advise Clinton to start tweeting — he had an account ready!

Fast Company calls this a “giant guerilla marketing stunt”. 83,000 followers on the strength of a single tweet? We might just have to agree. Somebody name this man Pope already! (Not really.)

Just spent amazing time with Colbert!Is he sane? He is cool! #cgiu

— Billy Jeff Clinton (@PrezBillyJeff) April 6, 2013

Oh, and the feed’s bio reads: “I am President William Jefferson Billy Jeff Rodham Clinton. Stephen Colbert is my BFF.” We greatly admire Colbert’s unparalleled ability to make everything all about himself, but most importantly we hope that @PrezBillyJeff follows our 7 hashtag strategy tips. If a tweet falls in the forest…

If you have tech or startup clients, your dream score would be a feature in Fast Company, the magazine of choice for those obsessed with the tech biz. The mag’s Chris Dannen, editor of the software-focused Co.Labs, recently published a “how to pitch us” article that every tech-oriented PR pro should read, like, yesterday.

In summary, Dannen emphasizes that the magazine strongly prefers pitches framed as stories designed to help others in the field succeed — a sort of “look how we did it and how excited we are about it” model. He writes that email pitches should be extremely short and focus on enthusiasm for the lessons learned during the journey rather than the details (which can and will be fleshed out later, warts and all). He follows by elaborating on the components of a compelling story for those who love the product/initiative but aren’t as clear on the underlying narrative behind it.

In other words, you need to avoid making your story sound like another press release or dull product roll-out announcement — this is not a sales pitch.

We would go into greater detail, but all PR pros (especially those with a tech focus) should really just read the full article.

Ask the average guy on the street for a prime example of a generic, mediocre “casual dining” chain and chances are very good that he’ll name Applebee’s, The Olive Garden, or both (though you might get the occasional Outback Steakhouse or T.G.I. Friday’s).

These restaurants often do pretty good business, but we think you’ll agree: they have something of an image problem. Yet Applebee’s, also known as the microwave industry’s best friend, has witnessed big sales growth over the past two years.

How? Let’s call it self-acceptance.

Julia Stewart, CEO of parent company DineEquity, uses her recent Fast Company interview to talk about selling locations to local operators, yada yada, but her main point involves embracing the fact that people tend to make fun of Applebee’s (if they mention it at all).

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Chances are you’ve heard the name Kickstarter, the fundraising startup that calls itself “the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.”

The site looks like the leader in crowdsourced funding right now, and we don’t think we’re going too far out on a limb in saying that it has revolutionized the blunt and often ugly art of raising money for artisans and organizers who don’t have much.

The site has helped fund everything from graphic novels to “comeback” albums for troubled jazz veterans to full-length films featured in some of the world’s biggest festivals. We were particularly drawn, via Fast Company, to the tale of a team looking to build an underground park in an abandoned warehouse on New York’s Lower East Side. The video and photos of the “LowLine” project are impressive and, dare we say it, a little inspiring:

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This week the people of Ogilvy PR’s Media Influence group did a bit of what they do best: hosting an informal get-together for representatives from some of New York media’s biggest brands and inviting your humble editor along for the ride!

The third quarterly MediaXchange event took place at the East Side’s Club A Steakhouse, a restaurant known for its prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, its low-light atmospherics, and the strategically placed mirrors that make its upstairs lounge area look even more spacious than it actually is.

The event included representatives from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Fox News, Fast Company and more, and its main concerns were networking and discussing the shifting influence of “traditional” media on the national conversation.

Jennifer Risi, EVP of Ogilvy Media Influence and director of content creation, explained the purpose of the series: “Despite the emergence of social media, events such as the MediaXchange series are proving to be an invaluable forum for promoting the stories of our clients and establishing lasting connections with key influencers.  The informal setting fosters an ‘old school’ environment where we are able to promote, share and collaborate with some of the leading reporters and conference organizers in the industry today.”

There was indeed quite a bit of healthy fraternizing going on: Read more

If you missed Fast Company‘s “Rules of Social Media” feature last week, now’s the time to check it out. In a great example of crowd-sourcing content, the company asked top tweeters (and any interested parties) to submit their own rules, then organized the responses by topic. It’s definitely worth a read, and we’re sure you’ll find some nugget worth re-tweeting.

Here are this week’s media highlights from Mediabistro’s Revolving Door Newsletter:

Kate Rockwood has been named senior editor at O, The Oprah Magazine. She had been senior editor at Fast Company. (mb)

Jason Feifer has been named senior editor at Fast Company. He had been senior editor at Men’s Health. (mb)

Josh Max has been named reporter at Forbes.com. He had been correspondent at AOL Autos. (mb)

Kayleigh Donahue has been named beauty editor at Redbook. She had been assistant editor at Allure. (mb)

Kayleigh Donahue has been named beauty editor at Redbook. She had been assistant editor at Allure. (mb)

Click here to receive mediabistro.com’s Revolving Door Newsletter via email.

On Tuesday, October 5, Weber Shandwick will be hosting its third annual VOICEBOXX event in New York City. This year’s topic of discussion is “Breaking Through the Sound Barrier: How to Get Heard in a Death-by-Information-Overloaded World; Leveraging Communications as Innovation and Business Performance Driver.” Panelists will include Bruce Jasurda, CMO of the U.S. Army; David Steel, EVP of strategy and corporate communications for Samsung North America; and Peter Land, SVP of communications at PepsiCo.  The discussion will be moderated by Jeff Chu, senior editor at Fast Company.

Jennifer Risi, Weber Shandwick EVP, gave PRNewser advanced info about the event. The Q&A after the jump. Read more