Tag Archives: Visual PR

Content We Love: Empire State Building’s Visual Storytelling

Posted on December 14, 2012 by | Leave a comment

ContentWeLove“Content We Love” is a weekly feature written by a team of our content specialists.  We’re showcasing some of the great content distributed through our channels, and our content specialists are up for the task: they spend a lot of time with the press releases and other content our customers create, proof reading and formatting it, suggesting targeted distribution strategy and offering SEO advice.  In Content We Love, we’re going to shine the spotlight on the press releases and other messages that stood out to us, and we’ll tell you why. We hope you find the releases enjoyable and the insights gained from discussing them enlightening.

 

Are you a storyteller?

Stories shape us, mold us, and impact us. It has brought us around campfires, grandparents, and friends who weave a delicate tale into our minds. Every message is a story! Finding the way to tell your story can be beyond difficult in this modern age.  Add the pressure of being the “World’s Most Famous Office Building” in the wake of Hurricane Sandy along with the incredible Alicia Keys… all eyes are on you!

empire gawkerThe Empire State Building put out a press release unlike any other– taking our visual world and telling a visual story! When I first read the release, I couldn’t help sharing it with friends and colleagues, exclaiming, “this is awesome!”

Because it is. Seriously awesome!

Not only are the LED lights impressive (especially in tandem with Alicia Keys singing), but the streaming video, the pictures, and the story compiled in a manner that is clear and visual bring me to a mental campfire to listen and pay attention.

Adding multimedia components to tell your story automatically boost its visibility.  It is often said, “pictures are worth a thousand words.”  Seeing images across the world of different events, disasters, elections, victories all fuel this as being true. Imagery is important!

Empire huffpoThis multimedia news release** not only had a panoply of great images that showcases the message, but also a video (!!) which perfectly captivates you in the moment, in the hype, in the excitement for the Empire State Building.

 

Wrapping up the beauty of this release is my adoration for all things social. Not only are we supplied with a compelling message, but we can take the next step! Empire State Building on Facebook? Check.  iHeartRadio’s social aspects? Check. More pictures on Flickr? Yes.YouTube? You bet.  Twitter?! YES!

empire mashableAre you a storyteller? Never forget the power of multimedia when you distribute your news– it can leave a lasting impression that is seriously awesome!

In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago we release the results of a study of press release formats, and the results  they generate.  In a nutshell, our findings revealed that more multimedia within a message increases that press release’s results.

**Want a Multimedia news release like this? Contact our Multimedia Team, MultiVu, and they can help! And you can see the original multimedia press release here:  http://www.multivu.com/mnr/59258-empire-state-building-first-ever-led-tower-light-show

Author Emily Nelson is a Customer Content Specialist for PR Newswire. Follow her adventures on www.bellesandawhistle.wordpress.com or on twitter www.twitter.com/emilyannnelson.

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Content We Love: Johnnie Walker’s Social Camera

Posted on December 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

ContentWeLovePreparation for a trip is a lot like writing a press release. How? You want to make sure you get things right – so you do some research and use that information to turn your vacation into the trip of a lifetime. Or, the press release of the decade. Your excitement is real, you’ve planned for it, and it’s going to be incredible. Who knew press releases could be so…cool?!

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/johnnie-walker-launches-the-spice-road-inspired-by-travel-and-made-exclusively-for-travellers-180966531.html

Eye-catching. Intriguing. Those are the first words that came to mind when I read this Johnnie Walker press release. What’s so cool about this release? Lots of things!  But what stands out most notably is that they tell a story using photos and social media.

The headline: Johnnie Walker Launches The Spice Road, Inspired by Travel and Made Exclusively for Travellers

The Travellers' Room

The Travellers’ Room.  Image courtesy of Johnnie Walker

It catches attention. Without a great headline, you could be losing potential readers.  Keep it punchy. Keep it interesting. In this case, the headline attracts a variety of readers, from world travelers to whiskey connoisseurs and even those in between. Ask yourself this: Would you want to read this press release? Would you “click” on this content? You want your headline to have a BAM! factor. This is a good rule of thumb to follow to make your release stand out.

The photos.

After the headline, the photos are the first thing your eyes are drawn to. Did you know that by including visual offerings in your press release, you can get almost 10 times the views logged by plain-text counterparts? That’s significant. And this release has two photos. They complement each other and Johnnie Walker helps set the tone for the release with their images. Kudos!

The social media.

We live in a social world. Releases are shared and talked about socially. Johnnie Walker is out there navigating the world to find different trade routes and flavors. And they want you to join them – in the social sphere. Not only did they give you a handle to follow, they went a step further and gave you a #hashtag to include in your own crafted tweet. Think of this as an invitation: Come join the conversation with the hashtag! Let’s talk on Facebook! See what we’re up to via our Instagram photos!

Whether it’s sharing drinks or sharing tweets, Johnnie Walker is the tour de force with photos and social media. So now that we’ve touched on the highlights of what makes this release so catching, let’s talk about you. You’re a business or an organization — How do you make your content social? What gets people talking about you? With almost everything we do now finding a place in the social world, from coupons to customer service, you want to make sure that you’re utilizing all potential tools to get that BAM! factor.  Take the time to do some prep work before you send out your release. Write it for an audience to read. Include your social media links so readers can quickly access you. Add images to spice things up.

Find a photo, craft a headline and get social.

Remember, just as you make sure you have everything packed for an incredible trip, you want to make sure you have everything included in your press release to take it from basic to extraordinary.

Author Kristin Roach is a Customer Content Specialist for PR Newswire. Follow her adventures on www.elephantsandgardens.wordpress.com or on twitter www.twitter.com/knroach

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Content We Love: LendingTree’s Outstanding Infographic

Posted on November 30, 2012 by | Leave a comment

“Content We Love” is a weekly feature written by a team of our content specialists.  We’re showcasing some of the great content distributed through our channels, and our content specialists are up for the task: they spend a lot of time with the press releases and other content our customers create, proof reading and formatting it, suggesting targeted distribution strategy and offering SEO advice.  In Content We Love, we’re going to shine the spotlight on the press releases and other messages that stood out to us, and we’ll tell you why. We hope you find the releases enjoyable and the insights gained from discussing them enlightening.

Without a doubt, we live in a visual world. All around is a panoply of color and information coming at you a mile a minute. Standing out is difficult.

A very audible, “oooooh!” was heard when I read LendingTree’s release ranking all 50 states by an average monthly mortgage payment.  The release is chocked full of great information… but then again… most releases are.

So what made this one stand out?An outstanding infographic!

Infographics– Information by way of a graphic are a fantastic way to present information in a lively way. It makes your story jump off the page, transforming text to something more tangible.

  • There is a reason we like the picture books. There is a reason we adore movies. It is dynamic and exciting— no reason for a release not to be the same!

LendingTree’s release itself is a perfect example of working in a visual world with the text broken up with bullets, bolding, hyperlinks, a great table, and images. By adding the images and making it easy to read, the chances of connecting with your audience skyrocket! (Plus weren’t you just a little curious to see the infographic?)

* Know another great perk of an infographic and images on a release? Not only does it boost your visibility, but thanks to sites like Pinterest, your content can grow wings and fly! Are you pinning and using social media? Loop it together for a unified message you’re sending.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lendingtree-ranks-the-50-united-states-according-to-average-monthly-mortgage-payment-180992531.html

Author Emily Nelson is a Customer Content Specialist for PR Newswire. Follow her adventures on www.bellesandawhistle.wordpress.com or on twitter www.twitter.com/emilyannnelson

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Online Video: Integral to PR & Content Marketing

Posted on November 29, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Earlier this week, we released the results of a study of press releases and rich media. For those that missed the post, press releases that include video and other multimedia assets generate almost ten times more views than plain text message garner.  (See: Press Releases With Multimedia Get More Views)

At the Monaco Media Summit,  David Levin, CEO of PR Newswire’s parent company, UBM, was interviewed by Beet TV (“Online Video is Multi-Million Dollar PR Biz for London’s UBM“) on the subject of content marketing and video.   The video clip of the interview at the top of this post offers some great perspective on the role (and effectiveness) of video in PR and content marketing campaigns.   Specifically, Levin discusses how we’re syndicating customers’ videos via our network of thousands of Web sites and providing tools to “socialize” video campaigns.

If you’ve thought that video was a one-trick pony named YouTube, it’s time to think again.  Fact is, video content is wildly popular.  Early roadblocks to consumption, such as incompatible formats, bandwidth constraints and high barriers to entry, have largely fallen by the wayside.  We’re streaming video on our phones while we wait for the train these days.  The format is not just one our audiences enjoy – it’s one they expect.

And YouTube? It’s the second largest search engine in the world, behind its parent, Google.  Integration between the two is already tight, and is becoming even more seamless.   Video is becoming ubiquitous.  Is this medium embedded into your content planning and PR campaigns?

Need some help getting started with video for your organization?  We have a free white paper titled “Building Brand Engagement Through Online Video” that will provides some great guidance and tips.

Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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Press Releases With Multimedia Get More Views

Posted on November 27, 2012 by | 15 Comments
best press release format tips multimedia news release

Press releases that offer readers a variety of multimedia options (e.g. video, images, downloads) generate almost 10 times more views than plain-text messages.

A couple years ago, we looked at big chunk of press release data, and learned a lot about what drives results.  We’ve discussed press release writing tips and tactics – such as headline structure, release timing and embedding links – that contribute meaningfully to generating more readership and engagement for press releases.

But nothing – NOTHING – does a better job of driving press release reads than adding some sort of visual.   Today, we’re releasing the results of another survey of press releases,  and the benefits of adding visuals are clear – press releases with an array of visual offerings get almost 10 times the views logged by their plain-text counterparts.

Ten TIMES.

I think we can all agree that competition for audience attention is fierce these days.    In addition to competing for attention in the newsroom,  our messaging also needs to compel social media denizens to share, like and tweet the content.   Search engines also pick up signals from readers of your content that ultimately determine where the content lands in the search engine results page (SERP) that users see when they use Google or Bing to find something online.    Suffice it to say,  the press releases and other content we publish are now wearing just as many hats as we do.  And when planning a campaign, it’s important to think about that.  The press release you write to communicate with key media will also be seen by bloggers, analysts, employees and customers – both current and prospective.   Including multimedia content that captures and focuses attention on your message will give your content real competitive advantage in today’s crowded information marketplace.

Need some help getting started with planning visuals for upcoming campaigns?  Take a look at our collection of blog posts about Visual PR.  We’ve collected all sorts of advice from best practices for brands on Pinterest to scripting video yourself to creating infographics.

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

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Ask PRN: How to script a PR or marketing video

Posted on October 26, 2012 by | 7 Comments

Every Friday afternoon, we’ll answer a question we hear commonly from our customers about some aspect of public relations or marketing. 

Planning a family vacation?  It’s unlikely you’re just going to jump in the car or show up at the airport and literally wing it. Instead, you’re going to plan, pick your destination, make sure the kids are off from school, and book a hotel that has something for everyone in your clan.

Successful videos are similar in this regard. It’s essential to plan the trip you want your audience to take before jumping into a script— destination unknown.

Creating a good PR or marketing video campaign requires the same attention. It’s essential to plan the trip you want your audience to take before jumping into a script.

As a producer, I’m used to fast turnarounds where a client hands me his materials and  ideas and I whittle everything down into a script with b-roll and sound bite.  But as we in the industry are faced with more and more clients in search of content that evokes real emotion, rather than just a news report, I’m finding myself looking at the creative GPS, searching for the Valhalla of creative content.

Enter The Creative Treatment – a tool script writers have been using for years, and why? Because it works.  A treatment is a one page concise compilation of an idea– the itinerary for the video you will eventually create. The reason why it’s such a useful tool is because it allows you to present your idea to the client creatively without assembling a script that may not be what they’re looking for.  The treatment is a client check point, if you will.  Many of us have been in the position where we’ve sent our client a script or an edit we’ve worked on for days only to find out they don’t share our enthusiasm.  These things happen of course, and while the treatment doesn’t guarantee it won’t happen again, it does at least give everyone the ability to work out the kinks and get to the core of what is desired before getting too far along in the process.

The treatment consists of four parts (see example above) and with this we can present our ability to conceptualize a unique idea, respond to client needs, and be, hopefully, better producers.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one,” said Mark Twain.  It’s good advice for anyone building a content strategy.

CREATIVE TREATMENT

Type of Video (Webisode, Training Video etc.)

Prepared for: (Job name/client)

Background:

A short summary of the background information client provided on a call or with background materials

Objectives:

A bulleted list of the videos behavioral objectives aka the goal you wish to accomplish with this video…It can begin with “After experiencing this video our audience will be able to: and then the list

Strategies:

A bulleted list of what will be done in terms of structure, devices and techniques. For example: Create the behind the scenes feel using several GoPro cameras etc.

Creative Approach:

Finally the place to present your creative idea. Should be a one paragraph present tone narrative using detailed descriptions to set the tone and the style of your video. For example: We are bombarded with the sounds of a busy city street as the faces of its hurried inhabitants stop to stare in curiosity etc.

Like the idea of using online video, but need some help getting started? Our free white paper, Building Engagement with Online Video, is loaded with ideas and case studies to help you get your video projects underway.

Author Jill Wax is a producer for MultiVu, a PR Newswire company that specializes in multimedia creation, production and distribution.

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Big League Pinning: Pinterest Best Practices for Brands from Pinleague

Posted on October 24, 2012 by | 11 Comments

The Online Marketing Summit is a playground for marketers to expand their knowledge and to network with their peers. With the convergence of PR and marketing, it seemed like a natural event for me to attend and extend the knowledge shared with my clients, and now all of you.

One of my first sessions for the day was “Tapping into Pinterest: The Time is Now!” Presented by Danny Maloney, CEO and Co-Founder of PinLeague.

Pinterest is still a platform that a lot of businesses are trying to harness. According to Maloney it is a platform that brands are taking notice of but struggling to get traction. For me, I am trying to find ways to elevate our company boards, especially the one I help curate for @PRNHealth.

Maloney stressed that the “I” in “who I want to be” translates to brands. Where is your brand headed? What are you trying to shift in your brand perception?

Pinterest goals can be divided into two plays for companies: Is your presence for branding purposes or to drive more traffic? Both have value, the latter can be linked to harder ROI figures – both to elevated SEO.

Pinterest audience stats:

The Pinterest audience is in planning mode by nature, they are looking for who they want to be or want to do:  this, coupled with the large numbers of women 25-44 on the platform, leads to more referrals and more revenue per referral.  Here are some powerful Pinterest stats he shared:

  • Less than 1% negative sentiment on the platform.
  • Contributing 20% of social commerce.
  • The half-life of a pin is more +1 week compared to 80 min for a Facebook post, and 5-25 min for a tweet.
  • It is not about conversation it is about quality content. It is a 175 to 1 ratio on repins versus comments.
  • The average order value on Twitter $69, Facebook $80, Pinterest $179.
  • PinLeague estimates that Pinterest is will have 90% of the top 1500 brands within 12 months.

Now the question becomes how to make Pinterest work for your brand? According to Maloney, “If you lead with monetization, it is a recipe for failure.”  This is a platform, like other social platforms, that have a long term benefit for your brand. His advice was, “Invest in building the audience now, and monetize later. “

Getting your brand started in Pinterest:

Should you invest time and effort into Pinterest for your brand?  Maloney’s short answer was YES. The longer answer entailed that fact that becoming an “early adopter” allows your brand to establish and audience and credibility within the platform prior to the inevitable push for monetization when ads could be sold or promoted pins could be created. Right now Pinterest helps elevate power pinners and boards without cost.

If you’re new to Pinterest and paralyzed, Maloney recommends creating 12 boards to get past “pinners block.” 5 boards about things your users love, 5 boards about things they have a hard time finding, and 2 boards about your brand.

If you have already started leveraging Pinterest, look at the data. What pins are performing? Do you have high influence followers? How are you competitors doing? PinLeague can help with a lot of that data, in addition to targeted outreach to people based on their current usage status of Pinterest. Other tips on how to elevate your Pinning:

  • Get your cover photos right!
  • With the fans you have on other platforms, drive them to your boards with content not a request to “join you on Pinterest.”
  • Create a contest.
  • Have content live on your boards that people want to see.
  • Mix owned content and other content that interests your audience.
  • Optimize your Pinterest profile
  • Leverage an in-kind exchange of pins
  • No need to be an “over pinner” even the largest brands only pin a couple times a day. If you inundate your followers with an too much content too fast they’ll get annoyed with you filling up their feed.

When I asked Maloney his top brand boards he offered a couple with different strengths. GE for a strong brand building set of boards, Mashable has great content, Whole Foods provides information and ideas for their followers, and Karmaloop is a great example of a growing brand displaying engaging images to tell their story.

Additional resources

Visuals play a crucial role in garnering online attention.  In addition to being loved by social media denizens, images, infographics and videos are also given extra visibility by search engines and social networks alike.    If you need some ideas on how to create and use visuals for your organization’s communications campaigns, here’s some additional info that can help you out:

Building Brand Engagement Through Online Video (free white paper)

A collection of posts about Visual PR (lots of tips about using images and videos in social networks)

Infographics!  How to create them, some ideas for developing them and some case studies to help you get started on using them!

Author Natalie Bering is an account manager in PR Newswire’s San Francisco office.

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Tips for Using Photos for PR (#ConnectChat Recap)

Posted on October 8, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Every other Tuesday, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. EDT, ProfNet hosts #ConnectChat, a Twitter-based interview that covers topics of interest to media and communications professionals. You can also find recaps of previous #ConnectChats on ProfNet Connect. Interested in being a featured guest on an upcoming chat? Find out how.

Visuals are playing an increasingly important role in companies’ PR and marketing efforts. A good photo can increase visibility for your news release, and photo-sharing sites like Pinterest and Instagram are more popular than ever.

(Take a look at images people have pinned from PR Newswire press releases on Pinterest recently!  PR Newswire  press releases on Pinterest.)

So, what makes a good photo? What should companies be thinking about when looking to increase their use of photos in their PR and marketing campaigns?

Jill Ulicney, PR Newswire’s manager of photo products, answered these questions during a #ConnectChat in September.

In her role as manager of photo products, Jill oversees PR Newswire’s image distribution options, which include delivery to the media, online distribution, placement on the Reuters Sign in Times Square, and photo archival. She also manages PR Newswire’s assignment photography service, which provides customers with event coverage, executive portraits, and product shots. To view PR Newswire’s Photos feed on Twitter, follow @PRNphotos.

Following are highlights from the chat:

What kind of images are good for press releases?

Logos are important to include with press releases. They draw attention and add branding.

For product announcements, it is essential to add a product shot. Would you buy something without first seeing a picture?

Charts and infographics are also helpful and can convey a lot of ideas within one image.

Can you recommend any resources for creating charts and infographics?

Both Visual.ly and Piktochart have great infographic-creation tools.

What about for intangible products, like software or services?

For software, I would suggest using screenshots. For services, a logo is always helpful.

Any other types of images that are good for press releases?

When announcements mention executives, it’s a perfect time to include a portrait of the executive.

What makes a good executive portrait?

Executive portraits should be appropriate for the position and industry of the subject.

Professional photographers excel at portraits. They can suggest what to wear, how to pose, background, lighting, etc.

A tip from our staff photographer: Environmental portraits can have more impact than a traditional portrait and can give more context. For example, an executive of a restaurant chain can pose in a kitchen. Personality makes the photo stand out from hundreds of similar shots.

What are the benefits of using photos with press releases?

PR Newswire’s Web analytics show that adding a photo to a release can increase views by up to 1.8x. Distributing a photo with a press release results in broader reach than if the photo or release is sent alone. Press releases with multimedia content are shared more often than plain text releases via social media. Multimedia news releases have longer online life. They generate visibility for an average of 20 days vs. 9.4 days for a text-only release.

How many photos are ideal?

I always suggest using at least one. Use your logo if you don’t have other images handy. Research shows that sharing multiple photos in a Facebook album can result in a large increase in clicks.

What makes a good photo?

PR photos should be high-res, at least 300 dpi and nine inches on longest side. Clear images with good lighting and composition are key. Larger photos are preferred because an image can retain quality if it must be sized down, but quality is lost when enlarged. Mobile device cameras are improving, but photos from digital SLRs are still preferred.

Also, action shots are more interesting to viewers. Show the subject doing something instead of having them pose. Posed large group shots don’t always read well and are less likely to grab attention.

Professional photographers are often the way to go. They have experience getting the best shots and top-of-the-line equipment.

What are the typical rates for professional photographers?

Photographer costs depend on lots of factors: image usage, time, location, subject matter. For a half-day photo shoot (under four hours) and PR/editorial usage, photo-shoot prices are around $900.

Besides the photo itself, what else should PR pros consider?

It is important to remember photo captions to give context to your images.

What makes a good photo caption?

Major keywords should be at the start of the caption, which should not exceed 2,000 characters. Photo captions should hit the five W’s — who, what, where, when and why – and can include the URL for the company site.

What about photo SEO? Any tips for optimizing photos?

For photo SEO, descriptive captions come in handy. Use 3-4 keywords for the image name instead of using a vague image name straight from your camera. “IMG_0037.jpg” will not help SEO.

Don’t forget alt text for your images. Use 3-4 solid keywords as alt text to further optimize your images.

Are there any photos you can recommend as good examples?

This release uses an interesting action image to bring attention to the company’s product.

One more example: Here’s a great food image.

ProfNet, a service of PR Newswire, has helped journalists and experts connect since 1992. Writers can search the ProfNet Connect database of more than 50,000 profiles; send a ProfNet query by email to thousands of subscribers around the globe; or get timely experts and story ideas by email.

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Hidden Gems for Social Marketing on a Shoestring from Stella & Dot

Posted on September 26, 2012 by | 1 Comment

“Amy Gilmer, Social Media Director, Stella & Dot shows the audience a screen shot of one of their more successful Facebook campaigns.” Photo credit: Diane Harrigan

If you’re going to hold a Facebook sweepstakes, give away the sort ofprize that will generate true fans to your brand.  The common iPad giveaway is not always the best choice says online jewelry innovators Stella & Dot.  Social Media Director Amy Gilmer says they offer up the sort of sparkle their followers savor – a chic necklace or gold cuff.

Donning her own Stella & Dot estate necklace, Gilmer shared best practices to leveraging key channels at the Social Media Strategies Summit in SanFrancisco.

Gilmer says every social channel needs an objective and her company’s goals are clearly defined.  She suggests for Facebook  — to create an interactive experience; encouraging fans to engage with the brand daily and share with their network.

Her tips include:

▪ 1-2 posts a day

▪ Maximum 250 characters

▪ Always include a photo

▪ Ask for engagement

▪ Reward loyalty

Gilmer recommends that brands experiment with the Facebook Offers feature that recently opened up to include e-commerce last week. The feature allows for coupon-style promotions that when claimed, display as an activity on the customer’s timeline.

Stella & Dot’s business is jewelry and accessories sold by over 12,000 women through Trunk Shows – each with their own website.  All that bling is promoted as eye candy over Instagram.  Stella & Dot’s aim is to expose brand culture and develop a human-like personality.  They want to share products in a visually stimulating way.   Over Twitter, the goal is to build relationships and engage with their community in a way that is meaningful.

“Twitter is a place to let your brands personality shine,” she says.  Promptly responding to messages is key, as is re-tweeting positive messages. @stelladot also offers up strong exposure and encouragement for sellers of their products.

Amy Gilmer’s generous amount of social savvy is helping the Stella &Dot brand reach new audiences and target new entrepreneurs to fulfill the company’s core vision outlined on their Facebook page, “[To] give every woman the means to style her own life.”

Related reading:

Developing a Facebook Plan for a Busy Small Business Owner

Is Facebook Right for Your Business?

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Inside PR Newswire: Meet the Director of Multimedia Engagement for MultiVu

Posted on September 21, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Tom Miale – multimedia guru and king of ‘cue.

To some, the idea of walking away from email, Twitter, and Facebook for an hour seems impossible. But Tom Miale looks forward to unplugging for a bit each day. He’s not doing mantras or meditating. Miale spends that hour doing research.

“I try to take an hour where I’m not distracted by email and social media,” said

Tom and his son (and fishing buddy) Nate.

the director of multimedia engagement for MultiVu. “I actively research new technologies, and I’m looking for ideas and products to help get our clients’ messages out there. Technology is changing our industry, and you have to be on top of it.”

Tom and his new daughter, Ellie.

Miale is an entrepreneur. He helped start up two webcasting companies right out of college.  It began simply enough: Miale saved his money and bought a computer. He’d always wanted to be a filmmaker, telling visual stories and finding the balance between audio, video and technology.

The moment he figured out that you could do it on a computer, “the video geek was born,” he said. Miale was immersed in the webcasting industry for a decade before joining PR Newswire in Aug. 2006.

Today, as the director of multimedia engagement for MultiVu, PR Newswire’s broadcast and multimedia division, Miale handles multimedia distribution. He was the creator of the Blogger Media Tour, which takes PR Newswire’s satellite media tour product and tailors it to bloggers.

Essentially, this allows a client’s spokesperson to be available to bloggers for live interviews. Some of the more popular PR Newswire multimedia engagement products include the multi-media news release and the ARC, an easily shareable and distributable engagement platform that functions like a container holding clients’ multiple multimedia assets, including video, audio, PDFs, and infographics.

Miale now is concentrating on working social distribution into all PR Newswire products.

“We’re making sure our clients’ content is distributed out to as many social channels as we possibly can,” he said. “In this role, I’ve become sort of the multimedia storytelling evangelist for MultiVu.”

This has led to many speaking engagements about multimedia – something that has surprised Miale, who never imagined himself a public speaker.

“I enjoy speaking at conferences,” he said. “I like being a teacher to the brand world. I wrote a proposal that got accepted with some colleagues that got into last year’s SXSW. This is a big deal for someone who never thought they would be a public speaker.”

While Miale likes being behind the camera, he’s also become quite comfortable in front of it.  In fact, you might know him as half of the TnT team, the “Tom and Tom” videos that are produced by PR Newswire. For the last couple of years, Miale has teamed up with PR Newswire’s blogger relations manager, Thomas Hynes, on a bunch of videos that began at SXSW.  The to collaborate on other videos throughout the year, too.

When he’s not digging into the latest technology, the New Yorker writes a food blog called I’m Not a Foodie.  Miale also stays busy with his family. All reside in and around Long Island, and Miale admits he “gets the shakes” if he leaves New York too long. He currently resides in Queens with his wife and two young children, who are almost 1 year and almost 3 years. They also have a dog, Oakley, who’s almost 4.

Christine Cube is a media relations manager for PR Newswire and freelance writer. You can follow her @cpcube.

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