Death of the Deskside?

Over the years one of my favorite ways to establish media relationship both personally and for clients has been the deskside briefing.

Imagine my horror when during Twitter’s #journchat on Monday some of the younger PR students and pros were tweating “What is a deskside?” or “I’ve never heard about that can you tell me more.”

For those who don’t know, a deskside briefing is when you make an appointment to actually meet a journalist face to face.  That’s right, in person.  No voice mail.  No email.  No Facebook.  No Twitter.  Nada, Zippo, Ziltch.  Just you, maybe your client, and the reporter or editor in person, to talk.

For those who the mere thought of this makes them break out in cold sweats, I assure you, if prepared, this is a rather pleasurable experience and you usually leave the meeting with an actual connection or relationship.

Now I know in this rapid-fire, rock’em-sock-em world of PR 1.5, these briefings or media tours can still be successfully scheduled and conducted.  We did a number of them last year for clients both locally and in key media markets like New York and others last year.  But the future of this tactic is a bit iffy.

Besides the fact that beginning PR folks don’t know what they are, there of course is the issue of time, or the lack thereof.  As newsrooms shrink, the media survivors have more work to do and less time to carve 15-30 minutes out of their busy days to spend with a PR person for a get-to-know-you session. 

Money is also an issue.  In some cases, where the church and state-like separation of sales and editorial is blurring more every day, we have seen cases where these meeting are being reserved for those folks who are spending money on ads with publications, shutting out others from limited personal availabilities.

And obviously technology is a third factor as reporters, producers and editors in many cases prefer to work behind the veil of e-mail and the new social networking mechanisms rather than even on the phone, nevermind breaking bread or over a cup of coffee.

The rules change everyday.  In ten years, I have seen the move from phone, to fax, to email to Twitter and public relations folks have done their best to adjust.

As we move to this next phase, I fear the in-depth personal relationship that I have enjoyed with many contacts and journalists will be limited to 140 characters or less.

Those who know me well, know I can’t even say hello in 140 characters or less.

PS:  My bold prediction for 2009…at least one major daily newspaper will announce it will stop publishing in print and move to an online-only model, clearing way for the next major shift in how we do what we do.