Valley PR Blog

Pitch Me: Patrick O’Grady

By Charlotte Shaff on January 22nd, 2008 In ValleySource

Name: Patrick O’Grady
Title: Managing Editor
Outlet: House of Elliott Media Group
Phone: 623-536-5967
Email: managingeditor@houseofelliott.com

What are your main daily duties? Overseeing the production of a weekly newspaper, The Wester, that covers the Valley west of I-17, and West Valley Magazine, which does the same only on a monthly basis and on slick. Obviously, the mag is more feature oriented and the paper more news driven. Check them out at www.thewester.com/ and www.westvalleymagazine.com/.

What kinds of stories are you looking for? Geographically, we’re looking for hooks for the West Valley, preferably strong hooks. We get pitched on a lot of things, but we really want it anchored in the region.

What’s the best way to approach you with a pitch?  E-mail. I may not get back to you quickly, however. Usually the smaller the better. Few lines just to see if it’s something we’d be interested in. It may end up only as a brief, but I’ll let you know.

What recommendations do you have for PR professionals?  Know the publications to which you pitch and what they are looking for and be ready to have that hook for them on the first crack. You may only get one shot at it, and given my e-mail totals somewhere in the hundreds per day, it’s best to be relevant to the specific publication. And please don’t say, well, they’ve got a health section so I’ll pitch this idea about this thing I have in Tucson to a Phoenix publication. Know their geographical boundaries as well.

What’s the strangest/weirdest pitch you’ve ever received? There’s a resort in town that always sends some kind of toy or something with its press releases. Got them six to 10 times a year. It was out of our coverage area so we never ran anything. And while I wouldn’t call it strange, two baked chickens was different, as was the time I got four half gallons of ice cream.

Share This

Hide Sites

Want Your Picture Icon? Go to gravatar.com and set a picture up to your email address for free. It also works on thousands of other websites, too!