Monday, July 18, 2011

An Honest Reply to a PR Pitch... and the telling silence that followed

SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST

I received this impersonal pitch from a PR firm. I couldn't resist replying.
(Identifying information disguised because I'm a nice guy.)

From: E.... . [mailto:e....@....pr.com]
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 10:40 AM
To: E.... .
Subject: Request for editorial calendar

Good Afternoon!

I was hoping you could please provide me with your editorial calendar for the 2011-2012 year.
Please let me know if this is possible, thank you so much in advance.

Have a great day!

Best,
E....
--
E.... S.....
.... Associates
(...) ...-....
.....@....pr.com
----------------------------------
Dear Ms. S.....,
The editorial calendar is in flux. We would be pleased to see submissions related to the following topics:
  • The influence of marketing on medical decision-making
  • Comparative effectiveness trials that include behavioral or social interventions, akin to the Diabetes Prevention Program http://is.gd/jYjWYm
  • Conflicts of interest in medical research and clinical practice (although we doubt we can catch up to the stellar reporting of John Fauber at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that was recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists, http://is.gd/seMf14)
  • Community-Based Participatory Research (such as The Multisite Translational Community Trial http://is.gd/zsBrsp) that investigates actual benefits and harms of medical interventions in clinical practice, rather than the idealized setting of a typical Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research into community, economic, political, educational and other determinants of health that can help illuminate the reasons that health in the United States is steadily falling behind that of countries that spend far less on medicine
  • Research into health care system designs that track and reward health outcomes, rather than just health care inputs
I could go on, but I think you get the gist. I would be very interested in any leads on these and other related health topics.

Regards,

Andrew Holtz, MPH


I'll let you know if I hear back from this PR company. Don't hold your breath.

--------------------------

Well, whaddya know... I did get a response, though I'm waiting to see if any substance follows.

From: E.... . [mailto:e....@....pr.com]
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 2:21 PM
To: holtzreport@juno.com
Subject: Re: Request for editorial calendar
Andrew-

Thank you so much for your help!

Best,
E....

UPDATE 8/18/11

Well, it's been a month now. I've heard nothing more. Seems my journalistic interests and the marketing of their clients don't appear to match up. What a surprise.

Sad to say, though, I will bet they had more success elsewhere getting their messages placed. Sigh.