SHIFT Communications Debuts First-Ever Template for "Social Media Press Release"

The "re-mixable" press release provides relevant context & content in a hyperlinked format for journalists, bloggers

May 23, 2006

News Facts

• SHIFT Communications - a mid-sized independent PR agency - is the first to offer a template for use by PR professionals looking to evolve traditional press release formats for the dawning "social media" age.
• The format is available, in PDF format, from SHIFT's website and agency principal Todd Defren's blog.
• Use of the template is freely available; no copyright protections apply.
• SHIFT Communications believes that journalists and bloggers are now fully adapted to using the World Wide Web for research purposes. The "Social Media Press Release" merely facilitates their research by using the latest tools (social bookmarking, RSS, etc.) to provide background data, context and on-going updates to clients' news.
• The "Social Media Press Release" is also distinctive for tying together various multimedia elements in one place, enabling the journalist to view and/or "re-mix" media elements.
• For example, the journalist can learn more about the client's story via a demo video, or, adapt the multimedia content for their own stories.
• The next-generation press release format was inspired by Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher.

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Quotes, attributable to Todd S. Defren, principal at SHIFT Communications
(click here for Todd Defren's LinkedIn profile)

• "The ubiquity of broadband Web use, combined with ever-easier-to-use online tools and relevant, user-generated content is creating a unique opportunity for the PR profession to re-think what we do and how we do it."
• "The 'Big Change' is the recognition that journalists are Internet users - they are increasingly comfortable researching and working online, across many types of 're-mixable media' (hyperlinks, text, photos, videos, etc.) ... The Social Media Press Release merely amplifies prospective source materials; it does not replace a well-crafted, customized pitch nor replace the need to provide basic, factual news to the media."
• "As the consumer-generated media wave continues to crest, it will be incumbent on the PR industry to stay current, in order to remain a relevant source of story ideas for the media."

Please contact Parry Headrick to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes.

About SHIFT Communications

SHIFT Communications' high performance public relations and marketing communications services bolster clients' marketplace reputation and produce measurable results that directly lead to increased revenues. The independent agency works with both new and established companies competing in a variety of technology, business-to-business and consumer markets. SHIFT Communications' offices are located in the Boston, Mass., and San Francisco, Calif. metros. For more information, visit www.shiftcomm.com.

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