Jeremy Pepper Likes to Eat His Own Kind

PR guy Jeremy Pepper somewhat runs in the same circles as I do and I would consider him an acquaintance, and frankly he’s always been nice.

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk (http://thomashawk.com/)

But this week he decided to jump on the I'm-so-important-and-hot-and-need-to-tell-the-world-who-sucks bandwagon that has the likes of Gina Trapani, Chris Anderson and others riding along. Given Anderson leads the pack, not bad company I suppose (don’t get me wrong, I really do like and respect Anderson, but his blacklist post was a crappy move, buy hey, maybe he was just having a shitty day that day).

Whatever happened to being a decent human being? This week Pepper took it upon himself to call out a colleague of mine who works on my team, is fairly new to PR and is a rising star. Pepper published a post on Tumblr calling my colleague out for an email pitch she sent him, which in his opinion, was giving him too much information on an "embargoed" announcement, and (in his opinion) for writing a pitch that was much too long (yeah, yeah, I get it, nobody likes long emails. Hell, I hate email and hope to stop using it someday).

I'm not going to get into the embargo debate because that's not what my post is about. Of course, I'm more than happy to do so offline with anyone, anytime because I have strong opinions on using embargoes as a PR tactic, and the different types and uses of embargoes.

Pepper’s actions are akin to a Businessweek reporter not liking how a Wall Street Journal reporter wrote a story, so he writes and posts an article dissing the Wall Street Journal reporter's writing style and approach to the story. It’s unprofessional.

Pepper was obviously highly annoyed at her email approach and felt she made a PR 101 blunder. But what’s funny is that another PR blogger actually direct messaged my boss on Twitter complimenting her on her approach and pitch. Funny, huh? Yeah.  And there were quite a few others who she contacted who were interested and asked her for the link and password to the embargoed video, whitepaper and additional information.

Given Pepper is supposedly "friends" with myself and others at my company, including my boss, I find it sad that he didn't choose to send a friendly email to my colleague to give her his thoughts and advice on how she could have approached him, or any other person for that matter.

Like I pointed out earlier, what happened to being a decent human being and helping out junior colleagues who are still learning and coming up through the ranks? What happened to being kind to each other? Or offering mentoring advice? Well, that's gone out the window. I suppose it’s the downside of social media because social media gives those with ego a platform to express how and why others are beneath them.

Pepper's actions remind me of a societal problem that women have had for years. Historically, women have not learned to band together and help one another rise. In business, men have always used the "good ole boys" network to advance their careers and grow together. Of course in more recent times we've created women networking groups and organizations to help one another instead of tearing each other down. We’ve learned what not to do from generations past and are finally learning to support and grow each other.

Somehow Pepper would rather eat his own kind than be a decent human being and help a junior colleague learn the ropes. PR is not a science and there's no one right way, because after all, you're dealing with people and everyone has a different opinion on what's right and wrong.

I do hope that in the future Pepper and the others who drink their own Kool-Aid will think twice before publishing someone's email or email address because they didn't like the email pitch. In my opinion, Pepper had three choices: 1) ignore and delete the email; 2) reply to email with a 'no thanks' or 'please don't send me emails in the future' or a reply that offered a fellow PR colleague some words of wisdom; or 3) be a dick and publicly tell the world how smart you are and how stupid your colleague was in YOUR opinion.

I personally always choose 1 and 2 when I'm pitched by either a PR person or even a startup CEO. Because I do videos for Bubblicious, I often get pitched and have seen plenty of PR 101 blunders and some really bad pitches (and god knows I've written my share of bad ones, just as everyone has at some point).

Most journalists and bloggers who I work with on a daily basis are professional and decent human beings and it's unfortunate that there are a few ego-driven people who find pleasure in taking others down publicly.

Pepper, Trapani and Anderson, this one's for you: Shame on You by the Indigo Girls.

UPDATE (04/10/2009): It was brought to my attention today that someone is claiming that I deleted a comment on this post. I welcome any and all discussions/comments, as witnessed by the discussion and comments on this post. No comments have been deleted or held for approval. Anyone who says so is lying.

Comments

[David Binkowski]

Instead of placing responsibility and blame on Pepper, you're missing what should have been option #1: train your team how to pitch properly. And as a backup, have someone review a pitch before sending it out. It was too long for an initial email/pitch, btw.

Double checking is just good practice; double-speak on the other hand...

[wylie]

Wow, David, you're actually condoning Jeremy Pepper's juvenile behavior?

I think you missed the point of this post. As I read this, it's not about PR 101. It's about character.

Instead of PR people talking about this... wanna hear the perspective from a journalist?

When I covered daily tech news, I received maybe 200 to 300 pitches a day. I've maybe seen tens of thousands of pitches in my lifetime. I didn't go around critiquing whether the pitch was too long or too short, or even if it was well written. After years of PR pitches and press releases in your inbox, you become desensitized. I had reached the point where I could scan pitches for 30 seconds to a minute for its news value -- the news value for my publication and its readers. The more information the better. (And I didn't care if the PR person spelled my name wrong, or whether I was part of some 200 email blast.) And after taking it all in, I decide if I'm interested. And if not, I delete it. I treated these email pitches as *personal* emails. Certainly not something to publish in a public forum.

And as for embargoes? C'mon. We all know embargoes for start-ups are a sliding scale kind of thing.

If Pepper is trying to use that PR pitch as an example of poor PR, then I can argue that it's an example of poor journalism on his part. It's not cut and dried that you post a story just because a PR person gave a little too much information before you've agreed to an embargo. If it's a large corporation that does that, and it's a huge announcement? Sure, you weigh the benefits of running the story with potentially burning your contacts at the company forever. But a small start-up groveling for coverage? Give me a break. You don't run and publish that story immediately and act like you got the scoop of the century.

I appreciate the changes that journalism is going through. I appreciate that anyone can write a blog these days -- even Pepper as a PR guy. But c'mon, this is amateur hour.

[David Binkowski]

I have no problem with what Jeremy did. What happened and happens to him (and others) has spiraled completely out of control and takes the practice of public relations down to the level of spamming. To that point, I disagree with your "put up with it, journalists do" POV. Since when are bloggers held to journalistic standards and when is it OK to spam bloggers? Pitching bloggers is part of the game - you have a blog, you get pitched - but to say it's somehow his responsibility to help this person pitch better is ludicrous. Even more so, it's bad form to not ask if someone wants to get the full download in advance. That's online PR 101.

Jeremy does help students, by the way. Ask the kids at Arizona, UGA, Auburn, or any of the students that follow him regularly on Twitter.

Pepper's blog, had they read it, is rarely - RARELY ever about publishing the sort of "news" this person sent along. So aside from strike one of the pitch being too long it's also completely off target.

I'll go back to my original point - the company needs to place blame where it belongs and learn from it. Can this girl recover from it? Sure, I've seen it first hand. It's called live and learn. But don't infer it's somehow the blogger's fault for not putting up with it - that's amateur.

[Miiko Mentz]

David, you've completely missed my point. This post is NOT about PR, flacks, journos, bloggers, pitches, embargoes, blah, blah, blah...it's about human decency and not being mean-spirited.

Let me say it AGAIN, I'm more than happy to debate PR tactics or opinions of what's a good or bad pitch with anyone, anytime because I have strong opinions on it all. Call me 408-858-7216.

[wylie]

Hilarious.

Pepper's Web site specifically says, "all pitches welcome." In fact, your Web site says you welcome pitches too. Well then, let the floodgates begin. You guys asked for it.

[Sarah Carr]

You're so right about the societal problem women have – especially in this industry. I am constantly reminded in my work that I am at a disadvantage with all of the web "gurus" who pride themselves in sitting at a computer all day long and write about how better equipped they are in business than the rest of us. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'm an idiot when it comes to the industry or business – and doesn’t mean anybody has the right to treat me that way. I work my ass off to constantly improve my work, expand my knowledge, and contribute value to my community and industry. More than what these unsocialized idiots are doing.

It's really sad that people like Pepper (who probably have had no real-person interaction in 2 years because they sit behind their computer all day) think they're on a pedestal because they made a few lucky bucks from blogging. And seriously - WHO cares! Nobody in the general population even knows who you are so just get over it! Take a step back from your life and just be human.

It’s sickening and disturbing to witness how inhumane people can be to one another – especially in the same industry (PR)! And I understand that there are always going to be assholes out there – there’s no denying or avoiding that. But I bet that if the email pitch had been from a MAN this never would have happened and THAT’S what pisses me off the most.

Thanks for writing this, Miiko and for being a TRUE mentor in the business.

[Abethurem]

Wylie, you hit the jackpot right above, something that has trialed me since I began my days of PR (which was not that long ago).

These guys have their work email, personal email, Skype, IM's Twitters READILY available for ANYONE in their right mind to contact them on ANY topic. I've come across this issue before where people throw a stink over an email, when they even have their telephone numbers, mailing addresses plastered on their site or blog. Should I give you a multiple annoying calls at very inopportune times in your day? OR even better, should I go knock on your door and sing you my message in a banana costume?? Would that get your attention better? PLEASE do tell me....

I'd assume that one email, sitting quietly in your inbox (probably alongside hundreds of other emails, some relevant to your coverage area, some maybe not) does NO harm or inconvenience to you or your daily routine, besides checking email as you normally do, deleting what your not interested in and replying to what you are.

Instead some people take one email as a huge inconvenience to their day, and go out of their way, wasting their time and the other persons time, by creating a wave of pointing fingers and backlash against PR. When very simply... they could think their thoughts, roll their eyes and just DELETE the email if they are unhappy with the approach.

If you don't want to be contacted, don't give me and the WORLD your contact information.

[David Binkowski]

@wylie I do get pitched, and I typically don't write what I get sent. Then again, I am not the one bitching about how someone else uses their blog.

[Miiko Mentz]

@sarah carr You go girl!!

Yeah, men, especially white men, haven't a clue to the added complexity of being a woman in a male-dominated industry, such as tech and the music industry. And if you're good looking (as you are my dear) god help you because it's even more challenging to be heard on key issues and taken seriously.

My best friend who's highly intelligent and one of the hardest working people I know, and happens to also be a cute blond, has had to fight twice as hard as her male counterparts to get to where she is today because sadly her good looks and blond hair has worked against her for her entire career in the male-dominated music industry. A sad reality, just like eating your own kind is.

Let's rock on and keep it real!

[Mike Driehorst]

I'm sure you can argue the best ways to teach a junior staffer who makes one or more mistakes when dealing with people outside the company walls. I would guess that Jeremy does not always publicly out someone who practices poor media relations (poor use of embargo, long pitch, etc.).

When someone decides to or not is a judgment call. If you don't like it, fine. People have their own avenues -- like your blog, Miiko.

However, when you start to speculate as why Jeremy did what he did, and essentially call him sexist, then you lose credibility. It doesn't help that Sarah Carr expands on your sexist claims, and you and Sarah both blanket "white men" about not having a clue.

And, then Sarah labels Jeremy as some anti-social computer geek. I've never met Jeremy, but I know him enough that, that claim is BS.

Did you ask Jeremy why he published his Tumblr post before publishing yours? I'd guess not.

You're using your judgment (poor judgment, I'd say) to accuse him if you didn't first contact him, and being guilty of the same crime of which you accuse him.

Miiko, you definitely can argue how Jeremy dealt with the email pitch. But, you lose credibility when the post goes off topic and start making stereotypical statements.

Take care,
-Mike

[Miiko Mentz]

@Mike Driehorst

The women struggling in male-dominated industries was just a side chat and has NOTHING to do with Jeremy. It's a historical issue in society. (btw, to correct your statement, read my post, comments, tweets carefully, I never said Jeremy was sexist.)

I hear you. Yes, totally not cool of me to say "especially white men" (my bad on the blanket statement). But there's some truth in it just as I haven't a clue what men go through on certain levels/issues, I'm not a man.

All I want is for us to support each other and not tear each other down when we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. Like I said in my post "And frankly, it gets old and I feel the need to call it out; not to be mean-spirited, but in hopes to change the climate."

As you mentioned, you don't know me or Jeremy, but just know that I really like Jeremy. He's good at what he does, he's a good guy and he's fun, too.

But he (IMO) did a bit of dick move. I've done more than my share of dick moves, too, and in those moments others help me see the light. And it's painful sometimes, but I deserve the harsh criticism and correction in some cases. But, sometimes it's just a matter of opinion and in those cases I love that we can agree to disagree. It's all good in the end.

As I tweeted to Jeremy earlier today, Let's be the light... http://is.gd/olIO

[Annie Heckenberger]

Miiko, let me first say I think your attitude toward supporting women and colleagues/team members is fantastic. I also believe too few women support each other professionally and that's disappointing.

That said, I believe your colleague made several mistakes in this instance. Your colleague emailed a great number of details about the embargoed information prior to establishing agreement on the actual embargo btwn both parties. That is a big mistake and frankly, makes the information public domain. There was no agreement.

As for Jeremy's tone and actions, we're all entitled to our opinion;)

[Meg Roberts]

Hi Miiko,

As a (very) new PR professional, I have learned a great deal about media and blogger relations from posts like Jeremy's. It is terrifying to know that one bad pitch could be posted online, defaming my name as a practitioner in the early stages of my career. For this reason and because of these "tell-all" posts, I have learned how to pitch better. While it might appear cut-throat and cruel, that is how our industry works. The knowledge that a poorly constructed pitch might be posted publicly has forced me to research ways to avoid this. Not only do I thoroughly research my audience, but as another comment said, I have several people at my company approve my e-mail. If it weren't for these bad pitch blogs, I might not have been as cautious this early in my career.

While I do sympathasize with your co-worker, I do see the benefits of these type of posts, especially from peope like Jeremy Pepper who is always willing to talk and help PR students and young practitioners.

Thanks for raising this issue - you gave me a lot to think about!

[Sarah Evans]

As a PR professional who has not agreed with Jeremy in the past, I have respect for the guy. I may not agree with his tactic, but it certainly has us talking.

I think Sarah will will have a great story to tell later on in her career...it certainly makes for a grand slam answer to the interview question "tell me about a time you made a mistake and how did you handle it."

I'm also someone who was pitched the embargoed information and had a special tour provided to me by the team. I do think the email contained too much information and was lengthy, but it's better than NO communication. Obviously there is a lesson learned here about some dos and don'ts of pitching--especially embargoed information.

I've only been in the industry 6-7 years and am learning every day. I need the advice of my peers and established colleagues to learn the ropes.

I hope people like Jeremy remember they have valuable experience and knowledge and many opportunities to teach and grow others instead of slamming them.

[markwilliams]

Amen to Miiko's original point--can't we all just be a little more decent, more forgiving and less self-important?

The problem with the media as an industry is that there is too much of it and it needs to create stories 24/7,so quality suffers.

We all know there is a lot of crap published, on tv and radio. A 24/7 cycle demands quantity of stories, regardless of quality.

Personal blogging/self expression is falling into the same category. The NEED to publish every day, because the 'rules' of being a successful blogger say you must, leads to a lot of crap being published.

More simply--

Not every thought needs to be published.

Jeremy could be pissed off all he wants. That's his right.

But he doesn't have to share it with the world.

He can hit delete in his inbox and dismiss the pitch. He can email the person back and tell her what he thinks she did wrong.

He can do nothing at all.

To CHOOSE to call someone out in public just makes him an asshole. He is essentially yelling at the person who sent the pitch, and I'm sorry, but yelling at another person in the work place is just NEVER acceptable.

And he should apologize. As publicly as he made his rant.

It doesn't matter if he's right. He's disrespectful. THAT is never right.

I work in the social media business as a community manager/strategist. In my field, there are many 'rock stars' who have the same sort of "look at me, I'm important and I have something to say" attitude.

Because enough people have told them that their words have been useful in the past, they assume that EVERYTHING they say is useful, and they are shining examples of how to use social media.

And so we get stories of should I shave or not, wear a hat, going to eat BBQ with x,y,z other important social media friends,stories of their latest pitches and every other thought that crosses their mind as an example of how open, social and transparent they are.

*yawn*

Many of these types of folks DO have something important and useful to say. SOME of the time.

But I've gotten to the point where I've taken the bold step of unfollowing them on Twitter and unsubscribing to their blogs.

Because they create noise, and the noise to value ratio is increasing and I just don't need more noise.

Miiko-nice to meet you and I'll hang out with you any day. I like your values.

Be nice to others. Be constructive. It's not that hard.

[Monica Fineis]

I can attest first hand that Jeremy does help out junior colleagues and is certainly not sexist--I'm finishing up my bachelor's degree in PR and Jeremy has been a great mentor to me. I started following his blog and twitter and introduced myself as soon-to-be-professional looking to relocate in his area.

Since then he's given me great advice, critiqued my resume and other writing projects. From what I do know about Jeremy, he would just as quickly call out a male for a poor pitch.

Like Meg Roberts said, it's important for young PR professionals to learn we need to do our homework. There's several blogs dedicated to bad pitches; this occurrence is not new or surprising. There's no way he would know that a new professional was pitching him versus someone who "should know better."

I really do wish everyone would be nice to each other and decent. But that's not what we're taught as pre-professionals. We're taught that it's not a nice world out there and should prepare ourselves accordingly by knowing our audiences. Jeremy Pepper certainly isn't known for being nice in his blog either.

Either way, it sounds like the women who wrote the pitch received kudos--so something positive came from this situation.

Thanks for the post Miiko, good debate :)

[Miiko Mentz]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for the comments. It was a good debate and I appreciate everyone's feedback.

My personal blog is truly for my own amusement and maybe a handful of friends, and this is the most attention a personal post of mine has received. Makes me think I should blog about controversy more often (joking).
;-)

Thanks everyone!

[Jeremy Pepper]

Miiko, thank you for the amusement. And, yes, for the most part, this has been amusing to me. Or, well, just laughable. I've sat on this comment because, well, I've been busy with work and life. But, right now I'm just waiting on a phone call.

Why? Because I look at this as deflection (like a fair magician) and spin. And, that's all it really is.

But, like I started with, I commend you for posting a defense of your junior staffer. I can only guess that Mindtouch is your account, and that the embargoed pitch was your responsibility. When I exposed the embargo as farcical (why would you supply all the information in the pitch, so the embargo itself is totally unnecessary?), you went on the defense. And, that is your job: defend your client and your staff.

But, well, it seems to me that you missed the obvious thing: take responsibility for your actions. As the senior person on the account, should you not have reviewed the pitch? (BTW, enough reporters said to me that it was too long and made no sense - and another reporter noted that PR is not a happy, go-lucky profession, and said "she should be happy it was [me] that exposed it, and did it in a relatively benign way.").

As the senior person, should you not have reviewed the media list? (As you note, I know Brian - and Brian knows me enough to know that I don't see much value in the social media release meme). Actually, any bit of research would have found that I cannot stand the SMR, as I think it ignores the greater issues in public relations (eg, http://lmgtfy.com/?q="jeremy+pepper"+"social+media+release" and the first result). And, I'm out there enough with that point-of-view that it is NOT much of a secret. Going down that route, why was I pitched? Was this an exclusive, or was it a scattershot PR approach with the embargo, hoping to game Techmeme with a bunch of blogs writing about the release? And, well, in a way it wasn't even a pitch, but more of a commandment to write. A pitch asks if I'm interested, or gives me the information. This read like an order.

You did damage control for the client and the agency.

But, I'm not here to condemn or applaud you. I'm here to fisk the post and expose the baseless accusations, misrepresentations, and, well, flat out lies.

And, ask why you deleted some comments such as a professor of public relations, Robert French, who has done more for public relations and social media than most - but that's neither here nor there.

But, you left others that are borderline slander up, so that's all cool.

Answer these questions though: Why do I need to be mentoring someone who can't write a proper pitch? She was not asking me for help, she was pitching me.

Pitching me an embargo I did not agree to, with too much information for me to break the story. PR and media relations are a science. Well, you do know - you're married to a reporter (nice of him to defend you, albeit with no transparency or disclosure.)

I noted this to Brian when he IM'ed me recently and I let him know about this post (he said he didn't know about it - but shouldn't he know the full situation if it's his firm?). If Brian wants to pay me, that's all good, since in the past, I HAVE flagged issues for him before they blew up. But, it's not my job. Let me repeat that: it's not my job to help Brian run his firm, or help you manage your people. It's your job.

Yes, I mentor COLLEGE students, but you are past that stage and a professional in your own right. There's a term in Judaism: Tzedakah. I mentor so many college students - helping them out, working on resumes, papers, applications at all hours - and I ask for nothing but a thank you note (actually, they're all classy enough to send them). I ask for nothing but do this to help out the next generation. Do you and your firm do the same?

Stop blaming me, and accept the responsibility. The only post and email that should have gone up was to your client, apologizing and taking full responsibility. You and your employee made three fatal mistakes: not knowing me, not knowing your audience, not getting agreement to the embargo. You owe your client an apology for the launch, and I hope you gave them one. And, you owe your employee an apology for letting her send out such a long pitch without getting a signed embargo.

As for my holier-than-thou attitude? Um, laughable. I know I'm good at what I do, and that's what matters. I never take my blog seriously - unlike so-called social media gurus, I started my blog for fun, not for profit or notoriety. I blog to educate, not for anything else. I blog for an audience of three, and that's what keeps it real. If it gets pick-up, it's all the better. But, well, this wasn't even ON my blog, it was on my Tumblr account.

But, yes, you note we are "friends" in this realm. I've met you a few times - not enough times to know that Wylie is your husband, but enough times to, well, not even realize you were married. But, you know so little about me to know that friends that DO know me consider me a feminist, that I am probably more of a feminist than you and Sarah are (isn't the point of feminism to be treated equally?). But, PR is not a career for the light-hearted or thin-skinned. And to call a professor a liar with your update is shameful and you owe Robert an apology.

As for the commentors.

@David - thank you.

@Wylie - don't speak to me about character if you cannot disclose and be transparent enough to note that you are defending your wife. I have been blogging for six years, and never considered it breaking big stories or anything else, because I don't care enough for that. If that's an issue, well, it's okay because I'm not a journalist, but a blogger that writes about PR and tries to point out what needs to be done better. But, yes, all pitches are welcome. It doesn't mean I have to write on them.

@Sarah Carr - Thanks for the idiotic generalizations, since you've never met me. I leave work and go off to live my life, because I can separate the two. I make no money on my blog, and really don't care if I do. It's my personal space - and that's the joke of you here. But, if you or your boss ever want to meet up and accuse me of sexism to my face, I'm all for it.

@Abetherum - I never said I didn't want to be contacted. I put up most of my contact information so people can contact me. It's called simple PR research, though, and there was none here.

@Miiko - thanks for calling me white. And, thanks for ignoring what pain and suffering me and my people might have suffered, or injustices we've overcome. This was never about male/female, but you turned it into that, and that's the shame. Equality, but only when it's beneficial.

@MikeD - thank you.

@Mikko - bullshit on side chat. You brought it up in the post to wrap your point around it, and let Sarah run with it.

@Annie - thank you. You know me, we've talked, you know how I am. It's been fun. :)

@Meg - thank you, it's been a pleasure working with you the past year.

@Sarah Evans - yes, we have disagreed, and even argued. But, you talk about me like you know me - and don't know how much I do mentor.

@markwilliams - Well, it went on my Tumblr account, which is linked to nothing and most people don't even know I have. It's tied to Twitter, which I totally forgot about. But, well, I don't blog everyday. I have tons of posts I don't finish, because I have other things to do that I rather do: the gym, see friends, see special friends. And, no, I will not apologize for someone not doing their job right. That's what this comes down to, and sorry, it's what PR is about - getting the right message to the right person. And neither happened here.

@Monica - thanks. I'm sure I'll hear from you soon, and I'm always here for ya. And, yes, those that actually take the time to read my blog know I can be acerbic. That's from a reporter who I forwarded the pitch and post, and said I was right, just acerbic.

@Miiko - if you ever want to debate in public, I'm fine. But, don't attempt to Google juice my name. It won't work. But, if you really want to know how I practice PR, ask me about my proudest PR moment. Or my two Silver Anvils. One will show you what I do for the client, the others will show what I've done for women (Breast Cancer Stamp, anyone?)

[Robert French]

Re: "UPDATE (04/10/2009): It was brought to my attention today that someone is claiming that I deleted a comment on this post. I welcome any and all discussions/comments, as witnessed by the discussion and comments on this post. No comments have been deleted or held for approval. Anyone who says so is lying."

I beg your pardon? You may make all the claims you wish, still ... the facts speak for themselves. I posted a comment to your your post here. I saw the comment when I posted it. Others saw it. It was removed. No doubt about it.

The trackback from my post about this never showed up, either.

It is advisable to not call people liars when there are so many witnesses. Is this the level of professionalism practiced and condoned by FutureWorksPR?

Feel free to visit the comment here: http://is.gd/4zMbH You may apologize there, if you wish.