Pitch me

This is one of those posts I’ve been thinking about writing for a really long time now (ever since I started running contests, giving away stuff that is sponsored by local and sometimes, not-so-local businesses and highlighting local stuff, from the Metro Vancouver sustainability breakfasts to local theatre productions, to restaurants I have eaten at or bars I’ve had a drink). The problem is that this year I have had way less time to blog than I used to in 2008 and 2009. This year also marks the deadline for many of my current writing projects (including 3 academic books and a lot of journal articles that are in my pipeline).

The above said, I still want to be able to contribute to the promotion of local events, non-profit and charitable causes, businesses, etc. Therefore, here’s a quick, top-of-my-head list of pointers for those of you who are interested in having me attend your event, review your tech gadgets (or iPhone apps), promote your charitable cause, etc. In other words, all of you who pitch me in one way or another.

- Make your promotional materials cut-and-paste-easy. I have an insanely limited amount of time now for my blogging, so the easier you make it for me to craft a blog post based on your email, the better. Pre-shrunk URLs, pre-formatted HTML code also do wonders for me. Creative-commons-licensed photos also make my life easier.

- Try to personalize your message when pitching me. I write about sustainability, social media, restaurants, theatre, tech gadgets, all the while maintaining this blog as primarily personal. So, it doesn’t hurt to read one or two of my “Popular on HB604″ posts to make yourself acquainted with what I write.

- Don’t feel disrespected or disheartened if I didn’t write about your event/cool gadget/online platform. If it doesn’t happen this time, it is likely it will happen some other time. The same applies to whether or not I can attend your event. As I’ve said earlier, my availability this 2010 is extremely limited. That said, I am fully committed to participate in the events I RSVP to.

- Pitch me on the days that I am most likely to write. I teach at the university Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and at the college on Thursdays and some Saturdays. This means, I need to prepare lectures at the very latest 24 hours before my lecture. Usually, Tuesdays are my “I have a day to work on client stuff, research, blogging, social media, so I need to catch up on everything” days. Thursdays are also rather busy in the afternoon, but I do have some time to catch up in the morning. It is rather likely that if you pitch me by Monday or Wednesday nights, I might be able to get to it on Tuesdays or on Thursdays.

I will think of more stuff for my guidelines (if my fellow bloggers or loyal readers have any other ideas, I’d very much welcome them).

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