Last night was our first Pub Club Event of the season – our third annual speed pitching panel featuring some of the area’s top healthcare reporters: Shaun Sutner of SearchHealthIT, Jamie Ducharme of Boston Magazine, Anne Mostue of Bloomberg Business Radio, and Jessica Bartlett of the Boston Business Journal. In case you weren’t able to attend, here were some of the key takeaways the reporters shared about pitching and keeping relationships with them:
- When you’re pitching always share a timely hook or angle. Unless something is brand new or launching, we’re never going to write “here is a cool company” because that’s not news.
- Use the subject line of your email as your dream headline. It needs to be short and quick – don’t lead with the complex, lead with the catchy.
- Most reporters hate blast emails, no excuses for them. Take the time to personalize each pitch. Some reporters still appreciate phone calls, make them in the morning before reporters are in the weeds of the day and are on deadline.
- Face to face interaction with journalists and PR professionals is incredibly important. We are both in the same boat, trying to get the latest and greatest information out to the public.
Both the reporters and PR pros walked away with some great information and a lot of interview opportunities! Check out some of the great feedback we received from the reporters:
A special thanks to our reporters, attendees and PAN Communications for hosting – it was a great event! Our next event will be on Thursday October 20th, stay tuned more details next week!