Q. Tell us a little bit about Trylon SMR.
We’re located in New York. We have clients in the media, technology, telecommunications, and related industries. Our approach is based on "Reverse Reporting" model, where we work closely with clients to craft stories that will receive the most effective and widest coverage possible.

Q. How did you start out in PR?
Prior to establishing Trylon SMR in 1990, I held executive public relations positions at MTV Networks, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, WNYC, Howard J. Rubenstein Associates and CBS Masterworks.  Originally, I planned to be a journalist, but I felt constrained by objectivity.

Q. Do you find a lot of resistance to the new social media, such as blogging, by long time PR Practitioners, or do you think most have embraced it?
Amongst PR professionals, yes, there’s resistance. People are intimidated by new things, new kinds of fashion. Early adapters are the exception, not the rule. It’s human nature. Large companies especially are slow to adapt. Trylon SMR was the first agency to recognize the value of the blogosphere – that was in 2002. So with this orientation towards innovation in mind, we’re continually on the lookout for PR innovators interested in joining our team.

Q. Are the results of blogging measurable?
If you’re talking qualitative as opposed to quantitative, yes.  If a story appears in a blog and then it’s picked up in the mainstream media, that’s measurable.  It’s also possible to measure the readership or audiences of a blog. You can’t measure quantitative results, but you can’t do that with other media relations either, not like you can with advertising. But with advertising, credibility is moot. There’s no real metric.

Q. There was some interesting commentary in the latest Trylon SMR Newsletter about pay per post, the practice in which bloggers get paid for mentioning a product, service or company.
The whole key is disclosure. It’s just like an advertorial in a magazine, it has to clearly state that it is an advertorial. For example, if you see pages in a magazine about how fantastic Dubai is for investment, and the information is placed by the Government of Dubai, it has to state that. It’s not journalism. The same with pay per post. If a blogger gets paid to mention a product or a service and doesn’t disclose that he/she was paid, it’s unethical.

Q. What changes do you predict for the PR industry over the next few years?
New Media and mediation of the media environment present opportunities for Public Relations and the media in general. Local podcasts can make up for the shortfall in local reporting, now that local stations often purchase news from national stations. There’s extra media real estate – podcasts,  blogs – more channels than ever before. The trends that come through the blogosphere light fires under mainstream media. People are cautious. It’s like being used to AM radio and then going to FM radio with its stereo capabilities. So it’s different, but really the same. The technology will get easier.

Q. If we agree that the last big thing in PR was blogging, what do you think the next big thing will be?
It’s pointing toward online video. There’s a mobile platform. Saddam Hussein’s execution was taped with a cellphone. With a cellphone, you have the opportunity to transmit images around the world. There’s a reason Google bought youtube. This gives a greater free flow of information. Even the Chinese government, successful now at censorship, will not be able to continue. There are too many information channels for that to last.

Q. What are some of the best practices being used today by PR practitioners in the social media sector? And where do we go from here?
Time honored traditions that apply in the old environment – accuracy, speed and transparency - still apply.  We can control information only so far, and if something is not right, if you’re hiding something, it will come out. Think of the WalMart blog. Why wasn’t there one person who said, we’re not going to get away with this? Still, it came out. In the past, it was easier to hide things. That won’t be possible anymore.