If you’re looking for ways to meet your favorite local journalist in a relaxed\u00a0a relaxed social setting, join your local press club.<\/p>\n
Press clubs promote journalism excellence through a variety of programs, activities and monthly meetings.\u00a0 Most members are from the working press, but plenty of PR people also belong.<\/p>\n
David Niles, former editor of the Small Business Times in Milwaukee and a former president of the Milwaukee Press Club, says press club membership for either business people or publicists who represent them is a no-brainer for Publicity Hounds.\u00a0 Here’s why:<\/p>\n
—Anybody can join.\u00a0 The only requirement is that you “have an interest in the media.”<\/p>\n
–About one-fourth of the members are PR people, which means you won’t feel out of place.<\/p>\n
–You can pitch the journalists in a relaxed setting, often over lunch or dinner.\u00a0 But be diplomatic.\u00a0 David recommends you say, “I’ve got some great things going on.\u00a0 Is it OK if I talk to you now?”<\/p>\n
–Press club membership in your local chapter means you can have access to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
—Dues won’t break the budget.\u00a0 In Milwaukee, non-journalists pay just $75 a year.\u00a0 Students pursuing a communications degree pay only $10.<\/p>\n
—You can meet journalists in your community numerous times throughout the year at major events and monthly meetings.<\/p>\n
David says press clubs in Atlanta, New Orleans, Cleveland and Denver are particularly strong.\u00a0 The Milwaukee Press Club has one of the most comprehensive lists of press clubs<\/a> in the U.S. and Canada at its website at<\/p>\n Now that you’re thinking of joining, know what you must do to build those valuable relationships that will pay huge dividends later.\u00a0 See “Special Report #49: 17 Ways to Build Valuable Relationships with Media People.”<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’re looking for ways to meet your favorite local journalist in a relaxed\u00a0a relaxed social setting, join your local press club. Press clubs promote journalism excellence through a variety of programs, activities and monthly meetings.\u00a0 Most members are from the working press, but plenty of PR people also belong. David Niles, former editor of\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":3,"wds_primary_category":606,"footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[205,610,591],"class_list":{"0":"post-1114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-public-relations","7":"tag-pitching","8":"tag-publicist","9":"tag-special-events","10":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40885,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/40885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}