I have literally hundreds of business cards in my desk that I’ve accumulated throughout the years from trade shows, new business meetings, etc.

They range from editors to CEOs and contain nearly every bit of contact information that you can imagine: address, phone, fax, e-mail. Nearly ever way to contact someone; some even include Skype info for editors.

While all that information is valuable to the recipient, for a CEO it can be detrimental. That’s why we recommend a CEO have a stash of business cards that don’t include their cell or direct phone numbers that they can give to the press. Whyzat?

A few years ago on a press tour, a VP walked into a meeting with an editor to talk about his company’s channel strategy. Unbeknownst to the VP, however, his CEO had met with the same editor a year earlier to discuss the same thing. The editor wanted to follow up on a statement the CEO had made previously, but the VP’s message had changed.

After the VP left, the editor called the CEO on his cell phone, which he had obtained previously from the CEO’s business card he had saved. The editor couldn’t reach the CEO and ran a less than positive story accusing the vendor of changing its channel strategy and concluding with the statement, “Calls to the CEO were not returned.”

Here’s the problem: The CEO was on a plane when the editor called and didn’t get the message until after the story was published. Should the editor have called the PR agency? Yes. But many situations like this can be circumvented by ensuring that you give the reporter your PR agency’s number, or at least an alternate card.

The goal of any PR campaign is to secure interviews with media, analysts and bloggers; then follow up by seeing articles come to fruition. Aside from the pre- and live-event interviews, a quintessential component to securing coverage are post-event interviews.


Maintaining an open and immediate line of contact with your PR team can streamlining these interviews–especially since media requests can come without warning.


Every company executive/spokesperson should have their PR team cell phone and office numbers. Programming these numbers into a cell phone/PDA helps to know instantly who is calling.


The media work on very tight deadlines and need to get information as quickly as possible. There are strong and valid reasons a spokesperson should avoid allowing a reporter to call through to their cell line directly. However, there should never be a time, especially during the launch of a new product/service that a company spokesperson didn't answer a call because they didn't recognize their PR person's phone number.

Public relations play a vital role in a company's success. It is not a function handled exclusively by the internal PR department or the agency of record. Every company should implement a PR policy and regularly review the policy with employees to ensure that it is understood and followed.

The following are tips each employee should follow to assist with PR:

• Know and understand the company PR policy. If you aren't told about a policy when hired ask if one exists and if you can get a copy of it.

• Make sure you know who you're talking to at all times. If somebody calls asking questions don't be afraid to ask whose calling and what the purpose of the call is.

• Know who is in earshot. Be careful what you say in the company lobby, bathroom or when traveling while at an airport, hotel, restaurant, or trade show. If somebody overhears a confidential conversation, particularly the media it is now public information.

• If a reporter calls and wants information transfer him to the appropriate PR contact. Find out what his deadline is and what specifically it is they need. Once you have this information turn them over to the PR contact.

• Never give out cell phone or personal phone numbers to a reporter. Always take their information and pass it along to the proper PR contact for follow-up.

Jeremy Kartchner

Senior Accounts Director