The daily TV show “The Lab With Leo Laporte” continues to feature a quick two-minute showcase of brand new gadgets: GPS units, MP3 players, Skype accessories, games, toys, phones, etc. And wacky is *good*. He is looking for all the coolest new gear to show off, and all gadgets featured in the show will also appear on the show’s Web site. This is for a September taping of “The Lab With Leo Laporte,” which is available in over 2 million households in Canada (on G4TechTV) and Australia (on the How To Channel), with segments available on Google Video to the United States and the rest of the world. The show carries on the legacy of the popular “Call For Help,” but with a newer look and a quicker pace.

Vendors submitting products must be willing to cover all shipping and customs charges both to and from their studios. The show does not feature services or software in this segment.

Contact Sean Carruthers at sean (at) labwithleo.com.

Bookmark to:
         

News flash…Fleishman-Hillard establishes animal care practice to grab piece of $41B market. Growth fueled in part by new services such as pet travel, lodging.

How come we only read about PR agencies establishing new “practices”? I think O’Dwyers, PRWeek and the Holmes Report should start asking agencies to announce when they close down these idiotic “practices” because they didn’t generate a ROI.

I bet you can get really creative with the closure announcements too.

BTW, how long do you think it’s going to be before FH shuts this practice down or mergers it with another practice? One month, two maybe a year.

Bookmark to:
         

Ziff Davis Enterprise is looking for two panelists for an upcoming e-seminar on “Virtualization Management.”

The e-seminar will stream live on Wednesday, Sept. 12. They need panelists from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. EDT to comment on the following: how to determine the virtualization options best suited to a business’ needs; which policies and events can cause deployments to spiral out of control; what companies need to know about guest/host relationships and discovery tools; how to stay on top of security and access permissions.

The audience is IT decision-makers and senior business leaders. They are looking for vendor-agnostic analysts, consultants, experts and end users. Please send a bio with inquiry. Contact Charlene O’Hanlon, charlene_o’hanlon (at) ziffdavisenterprise.com.

Bookmark to:
         

According to O’Dwyers, San Francisco-based Spark PR has opened in London. Rachel Bremer heads the unit. The U.K outpost, according to Bremer, gives the firm a “front row seat to the technical innovation coming out of Europe.”

Maybe it’s me, but to get a front row seat shouldn’t your agency have already been in Europe? It’s not as if technical innovation has just started coming out of Europe in the last week or two.

Also, how do we know there are front row seats available? Because Spark PR says so, get a life. I can think of a handful of agencies that have been in Europe a lot longer. And one last thing is anybody curious to know how many seats are actually in the front row 1, 10, or 139?

My point is this. When drafting a quote whether from an agency head or client stop producing drivel and put some effort into the process.

Bookmark to:
         

St. Christopher’s, the Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., not-for-profit providing quality care to children and their families for more than a century, seeks a celebrity “goodwill ambassador” for its 8th Annual Golf Event, Tuesday, Oct. 9, at The Leewood Country Club in Eastchester, N.Y. This ambassador would receive VIP treatment, greet guests, pose for photos, and have the option to participate in event activities including golf, dinner and award ceremonies.

Contact Michael Jefferson, Roher Public Relations, at michaelj (at) roherpr.com by Aug. 31.

Bookmark to:
         

This past weekend my wife and I spent some quiet time at our second home in upstate New York. Two and a half hours from New York City, year round mountain views and total privacy. We cannot see or hear our neighbors and they cannot see or hear us. Just the way we like it.

Anyway, I happened to bring some reading material with me including the July 23rd PRWeek to catch up on some industry news. And you know what? Talk about publishing industry rubbish. What was PRWeek’s editorial board thinking when they published Ed Moed’s Op-ed on “Staffing pyramid impedes service?” Did anybody at PRWeek read the piece before printing it?

The premise of the piece is that PR firms get more bang for the buck and clients receive the strategic counsel they are “screaming” for by inverting the staffing pyramid and having mid to entry-level employees participate in the strategic direction of communications programs, thereby producing real ROI and lowering staff attrition rates.

Bullshit. You don’t need to stand a pyramid on its head. What Moed’s firm and other PR firms need to do first is create a corporate culture that thinks outside the box, pushes the envelope and generates new ideas and suggestions from employees no matter where they are on the totem pole. And then they need to get rid of the deadwood that currently exists among staff and replace them with really smart people. Look, if you’re not smarter than me, you’re not good enough to work at BlinnPR. Period. Also, for Christ’s sake pay top dollar for talent. And lastly, avoid the comical bait and switch during the pitching process. It’s an insult to the prospect/client. Top-flight advice from senior level practitioners should be a 365/24/7 amenity for CMOs and/or VP of Communications. No questions asked.

Follow my advice and you won’t have the high turnover rates Moed speaks of or disgruntled clients asking us how BlinnPR can do better.

Anyway, I have other issues with the Op-ed, like the numerous statements Moed made that were not backed up with supporting statistics. But I guess that is what an Op-ed is all about, opinions not facts.

Bookmark to:
         

WNBC-TV
Sreenath Sreenivasan, 212-664-2731, recently joined WNBC-TV as a technology reporter. In his new role, Sreenivasan will contribute segments on technology trends, new gadgets and online issues. He had been with WABC-TV and 7online.com since December 2001.

NEWSDAY
Associate business editor A.J. Carter is leaving Newsday at the end of the month to begin a position as the spokesman for the Empire State Development Corp. In addition to serving as an associate business editor, Carter also pens the Inside Stories column, which explores small and medium-sized businesses in Long Island, N.Y.

FORTUNE
Fortune has named Jennifer Reingold senior writer. She previously held the same position at Fast Company, where she covered big companies, compelling narratives, investigative stories and management. She has also written for BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and the now defunct Financial World Magazine.

Peter Lewis has stepped down from his position as a senior editor covering personal technology at Fortune magazine. Prior to joining the magazine in 2000, he was a senior writer for The New York Times and also wrote the paper’s Personal Computing column from 1984 to 1996.

BUSINESS 2.0
Evelyn Nussenbaum has re-joined Business 2.0 as a senior editor after spending the last five years as a freelance writer. She will focus on editing the What Works section and will also cover advertising and media features. Nussenbaum’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Fortune and Wired.

WALL STREET JOURNAL
Katherine Boehret, 202-862-9288, has been named a technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal. In her new role, Boehret will take over writing the Mossberg Solution column, which discusses consumer electronics. Boehret previously assisted in co-writing the column with Walt Mossberg, who now shifts his focus to his two other columns, Personal Technology and Mossberg’s Mailbox.

Bookmark to:
         

Last week, Starbucks placed a video on YouTube responding to a video posted by the Oxfam Charity. The Oxfam video was launched in conjunction with ‘Starbucks Day of Action,’ held December 16th, when activists visited Starbucks locations across the world in protest of the coffee retailer’s alleged mistreatment of Ethiopian farmers.

The Starbucks video calmly addresses the Oxfam allegations, citing an impasse over Ethiopian trademark legalities. Starbucks claims the refusal to sign a trademark agreement with Ethiopia is a stumbling block they hope to resolve on behalf of the farmers. The coffee chain’s representative goes on to refute the contention that Starbucks refuses to pay a fair price for its coffee reserves and, in fact, routinely pays well above commodity price, and above fair trade price.

Unlike many recent ineffectual corporate reactions to social journalism and networking eruptions, Starbucks’ response is unique in that the corporation managed Oxfam’s unconventional assault in a very unconventional way, via YouTube. Regardless of the outcome of this particular incident, the move on Starbucks’ part comes off as unmistakably in touch with today’s communication modes and methods.”

Bookmark to:
         

PC Magazine is launching a new news section and is looking to develop a list of reliable sources for this department. They are looking for innovators in a number of fields including new media, health care, robotics, home automation, and other technology related subjects to inform us of new breakthroughs and research developments.

PC Magazine has a circulation of 5 million people, with readers in over 40 countries. Contact: Angela Chang, angela_chang (at) ziffdavis.com.

Bookmark to:
         

For a story about Wikipedia’s role in PR planning, Chris Kent would like to talk to PR professionals about the importance of monitoring and updating Wikipedia entries about your organization, execs and clients.

What are the challenges facing communicators re: the entries in this online encyclopedia? How can Wikipedia influence or impact your communications efforts?

Ragan’s Media Relations Report is a national newsletter covering the media for people in PR and communications. Contact Chris at chrisk (at) ckeditorial.com. His deadline is December 4, 2006.

Bookmark to: