…is when presenters ask for materials just for the sake of asking for materials. Are they redecorating their offices with these things?? Collecting Christmas gifts for their cousins?
Here’s an e mail that came into IMG from one of The King’s Singers’ 2010 presenters:
We are still looking for the following materials and would greatly appreciate them or the appropriate forms as soon as possible. The materials we are looking for are as follows. CDs, DVDs, TV and Radio spots, handbills, posters, the name of any opening act(s), and a play list if that is known at this time.
This e mail was forwarded to me, and I wrote back that I would put CDs and DVDs in the mail, and could design a flyer for them to print locally if necessary. The woman from the marketing department responded:
We are just looking for what was in the original e-mail that Brett sent you. Just incase you didn’t see it, were looking for CDs, DVDs, TV and Radio spots, handbills, posters, the name of any opening act(s), and a play list if it is known at this time.
Oh I saw it, sister. But it’s The King’s Singers; they don’t have an OPENING ACT. Or a “play list”. And are you really going to buy TV ad time? Because if you are, I will help you with a TV spot, but I’m not going to produce and send spots that have no chance of seeing the light of the TV screen. I just wish presenters would think about some kind of marketing plan before sending these e mails to management. “We’d love 50 posters to hang around campus.” “Do you have radio spots for our local classical station?”
Help me, help you, help my artists.
It’s ALL about specificity…a challenge for everyone!
I hear you on this gripe…could it just be an intern or entry-level staffer gathering stock material for everyone? Maybe they didn’t know any better. But the requests are serious overkill…I mean, if I was sent a press kit with CDs, DVDs, posters, etc., most of that stuff would sit in a file cabinet.
But now the flip side: on the presenter/producer side, there are some basics that we NEED and that we need well in advance to properly promote artists and their work with my company. I hate when I have to ask 4 times for basics like long bios, headshots, and especially program bios. What a waste of everyone’s time. It would be fabulous if I could ask once, or better yet, just send the info when the contract gets signed…pretty please? Or when I get the bios, and they’re up-to-date…as of the 04-05 season. Way to do your job, management company. Or when the management assistant then snarkily refers me back to the mgmt company’s website for (wait for it) an outdated bio and a low-res, b+w headshot. I’d kind of look like the jackass if I then passed that info on to my media.
The very best this past year was a manager of a well known tenor who sent me a photo copy of a headshot to use for publicity, as well as a bio with handwritten notes all over it. Attention artists: If you’re paying a manager or publicist, it’s part of their job to have this material on hand. If they can’t handle something as simple as an updated bio, find a new manager.
Actually, I was talking to a friend today who does PR for a presenter, having previously worked for a producing organization. She said it’s really hard to get to know the artists because she gets such little contact with them ahead of time, so any of these materials that you can send make her job easier. At her previous job, she could be involved in the whole artistic process and get to know everyone really well, figure out who was best for what media, etc, etc. Not so much when she only gets a few days of face time with each artist.
I am going to venture to guess that this is why they are asking for extraneous materials.
She also totally used “if that is known at this time” which is my favorite turn of phrase. “At this time.” That’s totally steward/ess speak. “We do ask you to stow your items, at this time.”
To follow up on Michelle’s comments, I am surprised by how many artists and companies do not have hi-res photos available. Even a relatively inexpensive digital camera will do the trick! It’s very difficult to market something when you don’t have a decent visual to go along with it. And I just love it when bios and performance descriptions are full of grammatical errors. *sigh*