Representin PingWi-Fi.com
It may surprise you that I don’t particularly like self promotion.
However, PingWi-Fi.com has two staffers … so you do the math. Like it or not, I have to go out and tell people that I can be somewhat interesting … sometimes … when I am not totally boring which is probably most of the time. (How’s that for over confidence?)
Conversely, I do actually enjoy media relations — when representing other people, brands or products. In PR, I have pitched other clients to reporters on the business desks of ever newspaper, in every major city in The United States. Network TV too. They used to have a PR joke about this …. the saying was, “I give good phone.”
That was before phoning was interrupted by faxing, which was replaced by e-mailing, which begot texting, which was replaced by tweeting, which rivals status updating on FriendFeed or LinkedIn … no MySpace … no wait, Facebook … and soon to be GMail … yada yada …
Ha! The point — if you are a news reporter, no matter what the communications tool of the day, we publicity types will find you (read that in a creepy voice). Promotion … it’s what we do.
That is why I was so surprised when I was contacted by USA Today‘s travel columnist Harriet Baskas … totally out of the blue. I didn’t harass her … not even a little bit. LOL. I think she must have had a deadline approaching and just had to talk to someone … ANYONE. Well, like they say, I would rather be lucky than smart. (Probably not much choice there …) Well, the other day I got lucky … and it lead to a very beneficial appearance today in USA Today.
Harriet was looking for someone with opinions on Wi-Fi at airports. It was just a few days earlier that I was testing out the Boingo at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport … In fact, I launched this blog with a press conference hosted by one of the biggest of the big Wi-Fi hotspots — San Francisco International Airport.
If you read the stuff I was doing back in 2004, with my Wi-Fi Guy blog, you may remember I was also in USA Today for that blog. Both = good times! Such a national hit, or actually worldwide hit can be a great shot in the arm.
But this time, despite the potential for similar benefits … there is just something extra special — it’s all about working with a really nice person. I think I may have met Ms. Baskas once, maybe … and we have only exchanged e-mails a few times. Regardless … she is just one of those people who are nice! Why aren’t there more of those? (She’s funny too. Read her archive.) I mean, wouldn’t it make everyone’s job that much more enjoyable.
Anyway … I just followed Harriet on Twitter … and yes, she followed me right back … Who don’t need more nice followers?
Know what i sayin?
