Him: So you’re in PR. How can I get some press?

Me: What kind of press do you want?

Him: I want a big story in the SF Weekly or East Bay Express.

Me: Ummm.

Him: Give me some ideas! Anything!

Me: Let me get back to you on that one.

Some people don’t quite understand that PR varies so much by industry, just like it does for other lines of work. I have a vivid memory of being a kid with a hurt leg at a family gathering, and going up to my Uncle Kami, a doctor, to fix it and make it all better.

The only problem? Uncle Kami is a dentist. I won’t even mention the prodding questions I’ve asked to one of my other uncles, who happens to have a Ph.D. … in economics.

In the last few years, it’s become apparent just how different one segment of the PR industry is different from another, in large part thanks to the onslaught of reality TV shows on the field. PR Newser says it best: “Since When Did PR Reality Shows Become So Popular?” It’s true, shows such as SPINdistry, Kell On Earth and PoweR Girls are practically creating a new genre of reality TV, but they are so far from my reality as well as the reality of many of my PR brethren. Being tasked with the front-row seating assignments at Bryant Park is as mysterious to me as prepping for a Gartner analyst briefing is for them.

There’s an inside joke in the PR industry about how many times our parents ask us what we actually do all day. I found myself in this situation just this weekend with my family yet again. I usually brush it off by explaining my job in a short sentence that dramatically underplays its true value. “I make sure people who care about my clients know about them and are updated on what they do,” I say. But this time I decided to go further, speaking in explicit detail about my daily activities and the specific reasons why they are important for tech companies to do – from market research, to extensive planning, to securing and staffing meetings with press/analysts, to media training, to writing writing writing, to reading reading reading and so on. They were astounded by the amount of work that goes into doing good tech PR. And maybe I should start going into more depth when people ask. The industry needs it. After all, a huge reason why so many people slam PR is that they don’t understand what it entails, or think it’s just about getting a story in a magazine. It’s not.

So how did I end up answering my barista when he asked me, the analogous dentist, how to fix his proverbial shin splints? I explained to him that he can’t just want press because he thinks he deserves it. He needs to start thinking about what makes him interesting and what larger trends he might fit into. Then, to think of an event or something else timely coming up that 1) the reporter can tie the story to; and 2) will meet his objective of getting some more bodies at his shows. Because whether you’re in music, fashion, celebrity, consumer or tech PR, some rules will always be universal.

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A few months back I found myself at a tech event listening to a discussion about women in technology. It struck me how bloody tired I was – and still am – of the topic. I fail to see what complaining why there are not enough women entering the technology field really accomplishes beyond female bonding and commiseration. Perhaps it’s due to my immigrant-influenced roots, but I don’t believe in excuses. I believe in…just doing.

Part of the “problem” in my eyes has always been that there are not enough women who make themselves visible in the industry, especially without feeling the need to overcompensate by pushing their “geekery” on everyone.

So, with my personal video blogging winding down, I dreamed up an idea of a video blog on SF-area technology entrepreneurs, dreamers and movers-and-shakers hosted by thoughtful, fun, intelligent hosts…who happen to be women. The video blog would be quirky yet educational, professional yet personal. I have to give a lot of props to my friend and UI designer Lindsay Tabas, who really helped hone the initial tone from the get go, was very encouraging of the idea, and brought her trademark gusto to make this project happen.

Without further ado, meet wildwest, hosted by Lindsay, myself and Camille Ricketts from VentureBeat.

Sad to say, Lindsay has decided to leave San Francisco to embark on an epic, 6-month tour of the world. This means that wildwest will be a one-off project, and I’m out a great friend to hang out with!

Still, I have an inkling – a large one – that you will really enjoy what we’ve done. For the video, we interviewed Sprout community managing, brand evangelizing, fanny-pack wearing, skeeball loving Joey Mucha. Joey’s one of my best friends here in town and an all-around great guy.

Please visit the site, wildwestshow.tv,  for the full scoop on Joey and all three of your hosts.

Sit back. Watch. And I hope you enjoy what we’ve done.

UPDATE: You should really head over to Lindsay’s blog to read her synopsis on the project. She has captured her (as well as my) thoughts on being a “girl in tech” so poignantly, masterfully drawing an analogy back to our beloved Bayside High cast of characters. She also delves deeper into why felt it was so necessary to make wildwest a reality.

Three's company

Also, I’ve said this many times before, but if you don’t watch Loren Feldman’s videos, you’re missing out. The world needs more straight shooters – and more puppets!

If you’re dying to know what TechCrunch 50 start-up was my favorite, my pick would be secondary-market ticket price forecasting outfit, SeatGeek. No, it’s not a “game-changing” company, but I’m fairly positive we didn’t see any next Googles or Facebooks at the conference, as the clichéd saying goes. (Seriously people, let’s figure out a more creative analogy!)

SeatGeek has a solid product on its hands, is already profitable and is targeting an untapped marketplace. Plus, judging by the concert obsessed folks in my own social circle, the company may have just as well called itself SeatFreak. A built-in passionate user base never hurts.

Here’s SeatGeek’s presentation at the conference for reference:

You can watch all of the launching start-ups’ presentations, along with “expert” judge commentary, over on the TechCrunch 50 site.

Now that it’s six months down the road (har), I thought it would be a good time for some reflection:

6 Secrets of San Francisco from aziari on Vimeo.

I love the comparison of coders to Freemasons and street gangs!

The question is: how to embrace it?

In the case of Samovar, they put a personal appeal to the tech community in their actual menu, called “Tea and Technology.”  It’s a simple gesture but one that communicates Samovar’s technology philosophy and also how fans can extend their Samovar experience outside of the cafe through digital mediums, such as their e-newsletter, Twitter and videos on their site.

It’s amazingly smart and a good example of a company that is really tuning into who its customers are beside the obvious (in this case, tea enthusiasts).

Check out the video, which also includes an ode to summer at the end that I made for all of my wonderful viewers.

Tea and Technology from aziari on Vimeo.

Know any other non-tech companies that are using some innovative methods to connect with their tech-y customer base? Please share!

Yes, it really is that bad.

In case you have already read the story, here’s my short rant. To preface it:

I’m NOT going to rant about the story being a misrepresentation of tech PR in Silicon Valley (or anywhere else for that matter).

I’m NOT going to rant about how PR is so much more than getting publicity.

I’m NOT going to rant about how the lead subject in the story, Brooke Hammerling, comes off as an incredibly vapid human being. If you’ve read the story, that picture has already been clearly painted.

What I WILL rant about is about how sad it is to use your “friends” to get yourself (and your client) in a New York Times article and talk about how much you can “influence” them.

You don’t make “dear friends” to influence them.

My best friend, Meg Marie.

PR is very much about relationships. It always has been and the social Web has not changed that.

On a larger scale, business as a whole is about cultivating strong relationships – whether that be with partners, vendors, media, employees, analysts…the list goes on.

But as Doug Haslam of SHIFT said on Twitter tonight, having a relationship and name dropping incessantly are two very different things.

I will promise you all one thing: No matter how “connected” I ever become and how many of you I know and one day hope to know, you will not find me bragging to anyone who will listen about how I know you and how easy you are to influence.

If I had a friend who used me like that, I would run. And fast.

To my mom, dad and the rest of my family who may have read the story, please keep in mind that this story is the furthest representation from who I am and what I actually do all day.

After all, I am still waiting for my chartered yacht invitation from [insert random tech billionaire here].

Now, where did I put that swimsuit?

Getting my toenails did

In between starting a new job, moving, and working on some major projects for clients, June was an incredibly busy month for me to say the least. So much so that I withstood blinding walls of pink, the smell of lavender and clichéd femininity to treat myself to a pedicure yesterday as my master reward (see right).

It was lovely.

With that said, June didn’t leave much time (read: any) for my videos, but I’m brainstorming some new ones as we speak!

While you are awaiting impatiently for those, I did do a video for my work that I wanted to share with you about a really great San Francisco-based nonprofit called WeOwnTV, which trains youth in Sierra Leone the art of filmmaking. One of my colleagues has already written about it extensively on the company blog, including an interview with the co-founder, so please go there to get the full scoop!

WeOwnTV serves as a reminder to all of us that video is not only a mechanism to record our family outings, friends’ weddings, or even create silly tech videos for that matter, but to change lives:

WeOwnTV – Sierra Leone Youth Tell Their Stories from aziari on Vimeo.

Here’s my video recap of the event – from the serious announcements to the inane observations. I took very detailed notes…so much so that I’m pretty sure people will be scared to sit next to me at future conferences. The things I do for you!

WordCamp 2009: On Crushes and Mergers from aziari on Vimeo.

Don’t know what WordPress is? Well, this site is run on it. So are millions of other blogs, and a good number of its users also use it as a CMS (content management system) for their sites. It has a handful of competitors, but WordPress is known for being very intuitive; at the event, creator Matt Mullenweg said his goal for WordPress was to make it “invisible” to users.

I was a virgin WordCamp attendee, but had a great time and it got me thinking about some changes I would like to make on this blog. I also listened to a handful of speakers including:

• Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week. Tim discussed the reasoning behind specific decisions he’s made in his blog design and content. One good tip Tim had was to study the “heat map” for your blog to see where people are clicking. For instance, he personally found that by changing a description from “categories” to “topics,” he received a substantial increase in click-throughs to the newly minted “topics” section of his blog.
• Matt Cutts of Google, who discussed building your blog for SEO. I was surprised to learn that dashes in URLs, not underscores, fare better when you’re optimizing your content for search.
• Matt Mullenweg (see above). Matt’s the same age as me, and I was really impressed by his composure, humulity and speaking abilities. He talked for nearly two hours during the conference – a “State of the Word” speech and a lengthy Q&A – and didn’t miss a beat.

I think my big takeaway was that I need to think more strategically about the features I integrate into my site. I also came away feeling really confident in my decision to change the topic of this blog to something I feel really passionate about. I’ve found my voice here.

Were you there? What were your big takeaways?

I definitely don’t fall under that target demographic myself, but…um…I was looking at where to buy cute dresses. And in the midst of my apparel-lust, I saw 7X7’s feature story about about San Francisco leaders’ views on the upside of the economic downturn.

Six leaders. All men. And all but one white as lightning (thank you Guy Kawasaki for shaking things up a bit!).

Now, the line-up of leaders is obviously an example of editorial discretion rather than the actual demographics of who’s who in San Francisco, but it made me wonder: What about the chicks?

(Now, HOLD UP: This is not going to be a feminist rant griping about inequality. Not in the least, so please read on.)

In the Bay Area, there are a number of groups devoted to women in tech. But public-facing women? Not really that many. Marissa Mayer at Google is the cliche answer that comes to mind, but beyond that, only a few.

And the ones we do know – dare I say – are probably not the ones doing the greatest stuff. A lot of women in tech stand out for the sole fact that they are women in technology. And especially when they are semi-attractive. It’s the way the world works.

Back in Portland, I attended a Ward Cunningham talk at AboutUs about wikis. I remember one girl asked a question to Ward in the middle of the event. You could tell she was smart as hell. But after she asked her question she looked around the room so timidly in a sort of subconscious approval seeking of the others in the room – mostly men along and a handful of women, including myself.

On my way out of the talk, I turned to the person I was standing next to and asked him about the girl.

“Did you notice that?” I said.

“Yeah.”

“Why do women second guess themselves?” I asked. “Why can’t they be confident in who they are? Why are some smart women so freaking insecure?”

Fast forward to the present and I’m still asking myself that same question: Why did the girl ask Ward the question the way she did? Why are some smart women so insecure?

And when I saw the 7X7 spread today I was reminded of that wiki talk. The approval seeking. The lack of internal confidence. No matter how minute it is still visible in so many women I meet.

It makes me think “what if.” What if women in technology allowed themselves to feel as confident in this industry as the men they work alongside? What would happen if they felt they really could go and wanted to go as far as their male counterparts?

Would one of us have a decent shot at being in this 7X7 spread? Or, more importantly, would more of us be known just as much for our brains as we are our minority status and perhaps good looks?

Something to think about.