It’s the most wonderful time of the year…….. Ever wonder why?

I’m the first to say that I love Christmas and it is truly a magical time. I love decorating the tree and singing along to Christmas carols and songs. I love the jingling of bells and the multi-colored lights adorning people’s houses. I love the “mood” of Christmas. By “mood”, I mean the uplifting feel-good atmosphere that accompanies the holidays. For me, it’s all sensory - music, smells, decorations, the feel of snow on my cheek and the taste of sugar cookies.

What builds this sensory experience? The Media, of course.
When our hearts fill with warmth while watching a performance of White Christmas…….
When we hum along to “Last Christmas” and announce “I love this song!”
When we go shopping for our tree and think it’s like something out of a movie……..

I may be a sucker for the Media’s portrayal of Christmas, but I love it.

Remember those chain letters from your childhood? I would always groan when a friend sent me a letter that I would then have to replicate 5 times - by hand, I will add! Nothing was done by computer back then. Thankfully, when I was tagged today by my co-worker, Thomas McMahon, I knew that I could tap, tap, tap away on my keyboard and churn something out in half the time of the old days.

So, here you go, five things you never knew about me. Another interesting Web 2.0 move and very viral indeed!

1. I was born in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where my English-born parents lived for 3 years before my birth. I then grew up in Sheffield, England, before moving to the USA in 2003.

2. I speak fluent Spanish and lived for a year in Santiago, Chile, and also for a year in Guadalajara, Mexico, where I met my Minnesotan husband.

3. When I was a child, I always wanted to be a journalist. It wasn’t until I graduated from University that Public Relations sparked my interest.

I was recently approached by a postgraduate PR student at Leeds Metropolitan University, who is doing a thesis on media relations between PR pros and the Independent Press. Below is the interview that took place between us.

Do you think it is important for PR people to establish relationships with the independent press? If yes, why?

The relationships that PR people develop directly tie to the kinds of companies that they represent. I do PR for a lot of technology companies based in Minnesota so it is therefore important for me to have relationships with local and trade publications as well as the big conglomerate types. My clients want to reach as many prospects as possible so we are looking to get coverage in pubs that have a) high circulation and b) are comprised of the client’s target readership. As more conglomerates flood local markets and steal readership away from the independent publications, those conglomerate publications automatically become more of a focus for PR efforts because they have the readership. At the same time, it is important for PR people to develop relationships with all publications in the geo/industry they are targeting but the “quality” of the coverage is based on the client’s perception of which publication reaches the right audience and enough of them.