Publicists who have been in the industry for many years possess techniques and strategies for reaching out to journalists that are not only valid, but have been proven to work. However, Social Media is changing the methods we’ve all known and loved for years. Embracing and adapting to these new methods may prove difficult, but they’re very crucial.

I’ve heard people call Twitter “lazy,” but when used correctly, it opens up a door to infinite possibilities, new contacts and strong relationships.

The good publicist understands the power behind having a strong relationship with a journalist and most often than not, spends time harvesting it; talking about activities that they both like to partake in, the latest news and their opinions on it, etc. No where in that conversation will the publicist pitch anything to the reporter, but he/she will drop hints that they are knowledgeable in a certain area and that they know people that the reporter may call on should they have a need for their expertise. This results in the publicist becoming a source to the journalist.

The majority of us already know this. What not all of us know or are willing to embrace, is Social Media’s role in making, building and strengthening these relationships.

More seasoned publicists will set up lunches or quick coffee meetings with journalists to make, build and strengthen their relationships, but as journalists’ workload increases, their available time to meet face-to-face decreases.

I spoke to Niala Boodhoo (@NialaBoodhoo on Twitter), a Business and Multimedia Reporter at the Miami Herald, who confirmed that she doesn’t have time to meet with anyone. “There’s no time for lunch, much less a budget for it.”

So what do we publicists do when our media counterparts are too busy? We tweet!

I’ve gotten mixed reactions to this solution – the good ones are from younger, fresh out of college or early adapter publicists and the negative ones are from the older school of Public Relations.

Times are changing and whether we like it or not, we need to keep up with what journalists are doing and go where they are. And they’re on Twitter!

I advised my colleague to search and begin following various journalists on Twitter. Listen to what they’re saying and chime in every once in a while. I can’t stress enough how important it is to refrain from pitching them right away. Treat your Twitter relationships like you would all others – nicely and with sensitivity. The pitching comes later.

Joy Oglesby (@SSEntertainment on Twitter), Online Producer for Entertainment and Lifestyle at the Sun Sentinel, explained that Twitter is a good tool to “build relationships and start conversations. It also cuts through the mess of imploding emails.”

Not every journalist we want to reach out to will be on Twitter, just yet, but those who are on are at our fingertips.

I have six Spaces (the equivalent to six different desktops on one computer) open on my computer and have assigned all Microsoft Office documents to open in one particular Space, but it seems that MS Office doesn’t like its assigned Space. The document I’m usually working on loves to move and I have to search through five different Spaces to locate it.

Amidst my frustration, I turned to Twitter and posted: “I HATE, HATE, HATE microsoft office (I hate it so much, it doesn’t even deserve to be treated like a proper noun) HATE it!!!”

When Tweetdeck announced that I had a reply, I checked it and @kelbyj with a bio reading “Marketing/AR @ Microsoft” responded to me saying: “@AgustinaP what happened to make you hate Office so much? Can I help?”

I thought, “Cool! This is the first time Customer Service comes to me! Thanks Twitter!”

I explained to @kelbyj how my documents moves around and he replied about 20 minutes later: “@AgustinaP seeing if I can find you a recommendation from the Mac Office product folks…”

I eagerly awaited his response, but when I got it, I was let down. @kelbyj: “It’s actually a Mac OS Spaces issue. Here’s a blog post that might be helpful: http://bit.ly/45f9vW”

First of all, I felt slightly offended that he would say the problem was with my Mac. I try my very best to keep my computer clean and running perfectly.

Second, should I be surprised that someone from Microsoft would say the problem is with Mac?

And third, @kelbyj, why did you send me that link? Have you read it? I’m no computer software genius, but that link leads me to a blog that doesn’t look like a Microsoft or Apple blog. Who wrote that and why should I listen to what that person says? And most importantly, the post is long, too long for me to care to read past the first paragraph, especially when that first paragraph doesn’t directly address my problem.

I’m very disappointed. I almost felt like Microsoft was listening to me and trying to help. All they did was waste my time and give me false expectations.

Sigh.

Kate was one of the co-stars of Kyle Schickner’s film, which was premiering that evening, Steam. For this film, she worked alongside Hollywood legend, Ruby Dee and 80’s icon, Ally Sheedy.

My co-worker and partner in crime, Liela Chambers, and I were immediately drawn to Kate… she’s gorgeous, but we weren’t “drawn” that way.

Her charisma took over the screen that night and during the events’ after party, we got to know her a little better on a personal level. The best part about Kate is that her new-found fame (and if you see her on screen, she so-rightly deserves that fame) never went to her head. She’s extremely down-to-Earth and loves sharing her thoughts and experiences with whomever is interested.

During her stay in Miami, Liela and I spent plenty of time showing Kate around and learning about her passion for theater and film.

Kate has the perfect combination of intelligence, talent, drive and beauty.

She recently teamed up with Michelle Nunes to respond to Justin Timberlake and Adam Samberg’s Saturday Night Live “Jizz in my Pants” skit – it’s called “Puke in my Mouth” and it’s way too funny! She’s the one in the white dress at the beginning and then the yogi:

Gabriel Goldberg is managing Spain’s latest Bachata and R&B sensation, Sonny Monreal. Sonny, just moved to Miami in the hopes of launching his album in the U.S. So, in case you Refreshers didn’t know, you were among a Spanish, pop singing icon, Wednesday.

After Refresh Miami, I went with Schek, Golberg, Sonny and Ulises Orozco to Lime Fresh for some late-night dinner. That’s where Sonny sang along to the radio playing over the restaurants’ speakers. I wanted to ask him to keep singing throughout the meal, but I decided to let him eat, haha!

I’m sure we’ll all be seeing much more of Sonny and hopefully, it’ll be through his successes.

If you know me and how camera-crazy I am, you know I had to take a picture with him

My friend told me that every time the commercial for the film came on TV,  his little niece drove him crazy about wanting to see it. Not too long ago, he said to his niece, “So, you want to go see Monsters vs Aliens?”

She suddenly looked panicked and said, “No. No monsters and aliens.”

I wonder if the marketers behind the film ever thought about the reaction kids might have when they hear the name of it, being that kids are typically terrified of monsters and aliens.

As someone who has been stood up when going on blind dates, I actually find this concept alleviating. It’s a great way to meet the person, from the comfort of your own home and with very little risk of humiliation (assuming you feel humiliated when your date says he’s going to the car to get something and never returns). You can meet the person face to face, so to speak, and gauge their conversational skills, eye contact and hear their voice – I saw a show called “The Science of Sex Appeal” on the Discovery Channel and they concluded that women are also attracted to the sound of certain men’s voice (and vice versa, too).

Although I would never replace an actual date with a virtual one, I think it’s a great, and comforting, way to break the ice.