In Defense of Public Relations

It’s raining DUDES! Literally. If this were a sociological experiment, I will have to conclude that men are a lot less bashful than women in promoting themselves. The sheer volume of self-promotional pitches I received from PR Dudes for this list versus the 10 Hottest PR Chicks list is about 3 to 1.

Thankfully, I had help from the PR Dudes Selection Team, which is composed of trusted PR dudes and dudettes. With their assistance, I was able to trim down the number to ten. Again, this is  purely a subjective selection process and there’s no science behind it. But judging from last year’s inaugural list, and seeing what all of them have accomplished over the past year, there may be some merit to how I choose the PR dudes on this list.

Basically, there were two requirements that I followed.  First, the dude MUST be in PR.  If the selection team and I can’t determine immediately from the dude’s Twitter profile and tweets if they’re in PR, they’re disqualified.

Second, we disqualified any self-proclaimed gurus, experts, rock stars and cyborgs (that means you @thePRguycom). So don’t complain if you don’t find the Brian Solises of the world on this list. Besides, how many of you really get a reply from someone with that many followers? And honestly, they could care less about some cheeky list of PR dudes.

There are obviously other factors that were considered for being a PR dude with the smoothest moves and I’m not talking about their lack of body hair. And in the interest of full disclosure, there are a couple of dudes on this list whom I’ve met in real life. Whether they know my true ID or not, I can’t say. And no, my “real” self isn’t on this list either, that would be what I call a douchebag move. For the record though, many of you follow me as me on Twitter.

So without further delay, here are this year’s 10 PR Dudes with the Smoothest Moves on Twitter & Real Life (in alphabetical order):

1. His real name alone is smooth. L.A. Jones is a seasoned PR veteran whose helping Detroit get back to its former glory by supporting the PR for the Detroit Chamber of Commerce.  He worked on a statewide project called Intern in Michigan, which connected Michigan companies with college students. He’s managed major press events and has strong media relations skills. Currently based in Detroit, L.A. came from Baltimore and worked at Engagement Marketing, an African-American focused PR and advertising agency. (That sentence alone had three major U.S. cities in it). Recent smooth move tweet.

2. Chris Hayes (not be confused with this Chris Hayes) is one of two dudes on this list I’ve met in real life.  He doesn’t tweet much about PR, but if you meet him in real life, you know he’s got the goods. He’s the quintessential PR Dude since he rather give his clients all the glory and stay behind the scenes. He’s done PR for big brands (P&G products) and entertainment companies (Miramax). Just discovered from his new Twitter profile that he’s planning on learning everything he can about the NHL. Trust me, in a year’s time he’ll know everything about it. Btw, he’s also Mr. NBA and loves golf. Recent smooth move tweet.

3. He goes by the handle @EvilPRGuy and yes, he is evil, but not in a satanic way. In fact, he’s been generous to non-profits that help veterans.  Rumored to have gotten into a bar room brawl and putting away a bottle of the finest scotch at the same time, and showing up the next day for a major client presentation sharp as a tact. Tremors were felt in California a few weeks ago as soon as he stepped out of the plane. The dude says his “bad news” and my guess is that’s the kind of pitches he dishes out. Don’t mess with him though or your might find yourself in the prison museum his brother runs in Philly. His name is Michael Dolan, but I’ll always call him the EvilPRGuy. Recent smooth move tweet.

4. Eric Berto is @geekgiant. He may be a giant (I think he’s about 6’5 and that’s when he’s sitting down ) but he’s no geek (in the definition Anthony Michael Hall portrayed in 16 candles.) although this tweet he sent out today might change your mind about his ‘geekiness’ level. [C'mon people help him find a softball team to join.] Eric is no stranger to PR, he’s represented a large technology company out of Redmond, Wash. Oh and congratulate him, he and his better half are expecting. I’m not sure why this hasn’t been national news since the baby is already tweeting while still in the womb. Recent smooth move tweet.

5. I’ve just been recently introduced to Jason Mollica’s tweets and blog recently.  All I can say is he’s “ballsy” for questioning the wisdom of PR industry hall of famer Peter Shankman in a blog post. I respect any dude who’s passionate about his opinions on PR and I’m guessing Shankman feels the same. Besides, I’m not sure if there were some behind the scenes campaigning going on to get Jas on this list since he received the most nominations from dudes and dudettes or he might just be that popular. Besides, the entire selection team thought Jas is a pretty smooth name. Recent smooth move tweet.

6. The second Jason on this list. Jason Chupick would’ve made last year’s list if he were working in PR not just blogging about it. You know him as the dude that founded and blogs on PR Newser, but from what I’ve gathered he’s now also working at PR maven Dorothy Crenshaw‘s newly established agency, Crenshaw Communications. He carries the title Media Director and oversees the media strategy at the firm according to his bio. But his Twitter profile says he’s a freelance PR consultant so I apologize to Jason for any inaccuracies here. Recent smooth move tweet.

7. Jeff Espo is the PR dude behind Vistaprint. Half of those reading this likely had some printing job done from there. I know we’ve used Vistaprint at our firm and PR Dudette even had her business cards printed there.  Jeff’s a beer connoisseur and even brews beer at home. That hobby alone gets him on this list. I’ve also enjoyed his recent blog posts about Tiger Woods. He’s one of a few dudes on this list that I engage with on a regular basis about a variety of topics. Recent smooth move tweet.

8. The PR dudettes on the selection team voted Mike Schaffer the cutie of the group. It’s that sparkling smile, that boyish look, that angelic face that can do no wrong. Hey, I didn’t say that, they did.  Why he changed his avatar with Capt. Awesome‘s T-Shirt only he knows.  Besides being named on this list, his other major accomplishment was coming in second in FishbowlDC’s “Hottest Publicist” contest.  Besides his looks, he’s got a heart to help other PR pros get a job in this economy. He’s been active promoting HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out).  Recent smooth move tweet.

9. This dude needs no introduction and the only other dude on the list I’ve met in real life. You could even say he inspired me to get on Twitter, but he didn’t know that. You see this dude on CNN and other major news networks talking about PR issues from the Toyota recall to Tiger Woods’ image.  If you’re in PR and don’t know @skydiver, you’re living under a rock or might not be in PR at all. In my intro, I said there are no self-proclaimed gurus, experts, rock stars, etc. on this list, and Peter Shankman is NOT one of those. He’s the most popular of the dudes on here (if you go by the number of Twitter followers), but unlike others of the same caliber, Peter actually showed interest in being on this list. He actually sent an email and requested politely and humorously to be considered. Something I totally wasn’t expecting. In any case, I don’t have to run through Peter’s accomplishments. We all know HARO (Help A Reporter Out), which actually inspired HAPPO (mentioned above) and founder of Geek Factory. Recent smooth move tweet.

10. John Sternal is another one I exchange tweets with on a regular basis. Rumored to be working on his golf game to get in the PGA Tour in the future. He’s based out of South Florida so he can play golf year round. He’s also a generous dude. I heard he gave a free ticket to the Masters to Arik Hanson.  Known for co-creating #smbizchat, John has one of the nicest Twitter personalities. His focus is to help small businesses get the media attention they deserve and he even shares some trade secrets like how to get an editorial in the newspaper. But we won’t take that against him. Besides, we all know “newspapers are dead.” I’m quoting. Who said that? Most recent smooth move tweet.

So there you have it. This year’s list of PR Dudes with the Smoothest Moves on Twitter and Real Life. For the PR dudes who didn’t make it on this year’s list, there’s always next year. I appreciate the pitches and follow-ups. It’s fun to play reporter once a year. It’s an empowering position to be in, but would never trade places. I LOVE PR!

Dashing (possibly). Debonair (maybe). Delicious (I wouldn’t want to know).

There were two things I learned when selecting the dudes that appear (using ‘grace’ just wouldn’t be appropriate) on the list below. First, for a brief yet fleeting moment, I understood how reporters feel when they get pitched.  It feels GOOD.  Now I get it, no wonder they  (reporters) seem to wield so much power over PR people. Receiving pitches can make one drunk with power.  For the record, I didn’t receive any pitches that would’ve landed in the Bad Pitch Blog, and even if I did, I would’ve just simply deleted it from my inbox and not make a big stink about it like some of my fellow media (coff) colleagues.

Second, I realized the true meaning of Star Trek’s famous opening line, “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” No, I’m not talking about venturing into outer space.  In this case, it’s getting in touch with my feminine side to select these PR dudes with the smoothest moves (on Twitter).  It is an exercise I never want to repeat. Torture comes to mind. Seriously, evaluating men is just not my expertise. Like any list published though, you can’t let it die after one, so I expect to have another one written in the future (the 22nd century perhaps).

Please note that there were only two rules I followed in developing this list–1) The dude’s gotta be on Twitter and 2) he must be in PR –the rest are based on my dark side, oops, I mean feminine side’s personal opinion (dudes, we all have one whether you admit it or not).  So please take this as my #followfriday for today.  If you’re a prdude, and you didn’t make the list, blame it on my lack of expertise, or better yet, W.  List not in any order.

@joeprguy — Joe Cockrell is a cancer survivor whose latest venture is to help ordinary folks who have extraordinary stories be in the news.  While going through treatment, he helped raise funds for the family of a cancer-stricken six year old boy whose medical bills were piling up by applying his super PR powers.  His story has been covered in the Phoenix Business Journal. Hmmm…I wonder who pitched that story.  Besides his PR prowess, if you’ve been following him (and the ladies on Twitter surely noticed), the dude’s got great guns.  Sorry girls, he pulled off his old pic recently.  Needless to say, Joe’s the above average Joe.

@keithobrien — He left his editor-in-chief post at PRWeek for a gig to be a flack at Attention! PR. A loss for the editorial side is a gain for the PR industry. A smooth move if I should say so myself especially since he’s likely to be making much more money as a PR pro. I’m sure it’s not about the money.  You can find his excuse for leaving PRWeek here.  If the PR thing doesn’t work out, he can always hit the celebrity look-a-like circuit as Seth Rogen.

@worob — The maverick of the group (no, not the Sen. McCain kind, but this one) as Andrew Worob likes to refer to himself. Also known as the Kid (no, not this one, but the one from Young Guns), he came out guns a-blazing when he started in PR as a new grad from West Virginia. He piled on hit after hit intimidating other publicists around him who were happy to fly under the radar.  Taking over the agency was his master plan, but realized he had a better chance of taking over the Mountaineers’ basketball and football programs.

@prblog and @laermer — The co-founders of the Bad Pitch Blog are smart and savvy, not only with their approach to PR, but to their management of staff as well.  The only dynamic duo to appear on this list, Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer probably know this, but every PR pro hates that BPB exists.  No self-respecting PR pro (and there are a few left) would ever want to see his/her pitch on their blog.  Policing pitches is a service to the PR industry and I say we need it (as long as none of my pitches get featured there).

@PRCog — The only anonymous twitterer to make the list.  P-Cog is deep inside the PR machine and a keen observer of everything PR. His extaordinary ability to turn his observations into the funniest yet genuine tweets about the industry makes him a target by Danko.  Unfortunately for P-Cog, his ID and mine gets mixed up at times on Twitter. Many have asked if we’re twins or the same person. That’s for you guys to find out at #masquertweet in July so RSVP today.

@Aerocles — A Greek mythology buff (judging by his Twitter handle) and a certified expert of the ABC TV series Lost, David Teicher’s insights were recently included in EW’s Doc Jensen’s weekly dissection of the show.  He is also 1/3 of the designated hosts for  #masquertweet in July.  Formerly, a semi-anonymous twitterer, David is known to tweet even in his sleep. He is a lean mean tweeting machine.

@arikhanson — His bio says he’s a savvy communications professional, and I beg to differ. Arik Hanson is more than that.  If you follow him already, then you know he’s quite the PR analyst. And guess what? He’s not based in NYC though he’s got the pulse of the NY PR and media scenes. Check out his blog, Communications Conversations, if you don’t believe me.  He also makes the list because he’s an avid golfer and writes occasionally for golf publications. How he got that sideline work living in Minneapolis is a mystery I’d like to uncover.

@kevinmercuri — One of two Kevins to be included in this list, Kevin Mercuri lives up to his last name.  He’s as hot as Mercuri.  Forget the fact that he’s the president and founder of Propheta Communications, and that he has extensive experience in all areas of PR, his Twitter pic alone gets him on this list.  How can I not select a man in a tux? Heard through the celebrity gossip pages that while walking the streets of Miami, Kevin was mistaken for Marc Anthony.

@CTMichaels — By virtue of the fact that he was my first follower on Twitter, CTMicheals (his first name is not on his profile) makes it as one of the ten PR Dudes with the Smoothest Moves (on Twitter).  If I were to guess, he does PR for Slim-Fast, Wrigley’s and the tobacco industry, based on his tweets.  The dude is also literally smooth. I hear he shaves all of his body hair.

So there ya go…if you agree/disagree, please feel free to send in your comments.  Please note that I am no longer accepting pitches.