Public Relations and Investor Relations Professionals

“I’ve had a business cell phone for a while, but after 9/11, the company equipped me with a BlackBerry - it was one of the few communications channels that worked. I also have a PDA with wireless access.

“I find the BlackBerry really helps me. For example, I’ll use it to check my e-mail during my commute to work. It gives me an edge on the day, and it makes me more productive. Also, if I’m away from the office, I can access all my Outlook information on the BlackBerry - my e-mail, my calendar, my contacts’ information - so I don’t have to call in to find out phone numbers.

“The one problem with the BlackBerry is the teeny keyboard! E-mail responses sent from it can seem very terse, which could be taken as inattention and rudeness. No one’s ever complained, however. Also, when you send an e-mail from it, you have to be really careful that everything is spelled accurately, because you’re dealing with people who work with words for a living.

“Cell phones don’t really play a role with my work unless I’m in a time-sensitive situation. I’ll use it if I’m at an offsite meeting, or on the run, but I try to limit my business hours use of it. After hours it’s more important - we have offices all over the world, and our overseas affiliates can reach me more easily on my cell.”

– Melissa Gitter, First Vice President, Public Affairs,
TD Waterhouse & Co., New York, NY

“Right now, my cell phone is the only piece of wireless equipment I use for business. For the most part, I prefer to stay hardwired.

“Cell phones have their upsides and their downsides. The upside, of course, is accessibility. If news is breaking, cell phones let calls be made from anywhere.

“But I’m still finding that sound quality on cell phones is problematic. I counsel my clients not to be interviewed on a cell. There’s too much chance of not being clear – a source can legitimately be misquoted!

“Also, you don’t want all the information you give in an interview to be out there for everyone to hear. When I was a commuter, I was appalled at how many people did business on their cell phones. Someone can find out a lot of competitive information that way. Over the past year, it’s gone down, but people should still be aware.

“I found that once I was reachable by cell, I lost some freedom. I used to leave a message on my business voice mail saying that if a call was urgent, I could be reached on my cell phone. But a lot of people called my cell even if it wasn’t urgent.

“On the journalist side, I’m finding that more and more reporters are giving out cell numbers, and functioning on cell phones. Last year, the firm I worked for was doing a major feature with The American Lawyer. Their reporter was on the West Coast, and working with her on her cell phone made the process much easier.”

– Tom Mariam, President,
Mariam Communications, Rye Brook, NY

“It’s hard to imagine anyone practicing media relations these days without a cell phone. When a deadline hangs in the balance, reporters know that if they have to reach me they can, anytime.

“I prefer my landline when I’m at my desk, but if I’m away from it – on the road or out of the building – a cell phone is my best tool for keeping in touch. Off the record conversations, however, are probably better off held on a landline.

“Bottom line, though, what matters to journalists is not whether you’re using a cell phone or landline, but whether you are handling their inquiries promptly, whether you are a credible resource, or, if you’re pitching a story, whether you are providing them with ideas they can sell to their editors.”

– Oscar Suris, Director, Corporate Communications,
AutoNation, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, FL

“If cars were as unreliable as cell phones, we’d still be riding to work on horses. That being said, reporters are forgiving if calling them on a cell phone lets you reach them sooner. If a call to a reporter breaks up repeatedly there is annoyance, but I’ve never found a reporter who didn’t appreciate the attempt.

“Cell phone technology is getting better, but still can’t compare to the landline. I will do interviews on a digital cell phone without hesitation, as I am not overly concerned with security issues (the case was different for analog cell phones). But I would always try to move to an interview to a landline, if possible, for optimal sound quality. Also, if I’m on my cell phone, chances are I’m in the middle of something else. I prefer to give an interview my undivided attention.

“Overall, I’m probably on my cell phone about 10% of my time. I’m a classic user. Web browsing on a cell phone is awkward and of limited use.”

– Jeffrey J. Simek, Vice President/Executive Director, Public Affairs,
Medco Health Solutions, Inc., Franklin Lakes, NJ

“I leave my cell phone on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That enables me to maintain availability and I can do two or three jobs at once.

“About 80% of my work is done on a cell phone, and 20% on the landline. I find that, more often than not, reporters call me from their own cell phones. They care more that I’m calling them back than that I’m using a cell phone to return call.

“I also have a BlackBerry, which keeps my e-mail on my hip. It’s invaluable.”

– David C. Frail, Manager, Financial Communications,
General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT

“With my cell phone, I can stay connected during critical times. I use it in the car during my commute to get my morning and afternoon calls done. I use it to take care of voice mails as well. But I still find I’m using it less than I use my landline.

“I do get on conference calls with it. But I’ll only do on-the-record interviews. I’ll never use a cell phone to talk on background or say things I wouldn’t want others to hear.”

– Tyler Gronbach, Vice President, Corporate Communications,
Qwest Communications, Denver, CO

“A cell phone is my extended office. It increases the amount of working hours I have in my day. I’ll use it between meetings, and I will frequently arrange conference calls to increase the value of my drive time.

“The only time I prefer using a landline is during an interview, if clarity of communication becomes an issue.”

– Sally Fernandez, President,
The Fernandez Group, Tucson, AZ

Journalists

“I have a two-way pager, a Palm Pilot and a cell phone. I like having multiple redundancies. Sometimes I’m in a place where if two of the devices won’t work, chances are, the third will.

“I store all my interview notes on the Palm, which is really convenient. From October to January, I was working in San Francisco, and I didn’t need my files e-mailed to me. All my notes from my past stories were right on the Palm.

“I also have a collapsible keyboard, which I’ve been using with my Palm for the past three years to type up my notes. As long as there’s a flat surface, I can also take notes on it during an interview. It impresses people – gets that “oooh-ahhh” reaction – and it cuts out a step.

“I also sometimes use my Palm to send notes. A Microsoft licensing facility in Reno, NV had a post-9/11 anthrax scare. After the press conference at the state Capitol, I had to jump in a cab to go to a health board meeting. On the way there, I was scribbling notes into my Palm and sending them in chunks to the rewriter. The press conference started two hours late, so I sent updates via the Palm as well.”

– N’Gai Croal, General Editor – Technology,
Newsweek, New York, NY

“I would be concerned if wireless technology were to drive reporters to become nothing more than court reporters or stenographers, who just type in what is said. One of a reporter’s jobs is to add context and coherence. A whole story can wind up being “they are there,” rather than having the context a reporter’s mind can add.

“What I’m seeing with a lot of my students (I teach mass communications at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus) is that they first think of receiving and retrieving information electronically and wirelessly. You can see that’s the direction in which the industry’s heading. Not only are bosses going to have higher levels of impatience and speed, reporters themselves will be impatient with anything logy and luggy, like a book.

“In my day-to-day work, I’m not especially wireless. I’ve used my personal cell, but it’s not an ideal reporting tool. You might miss a key word, or get interrupted and not be able to reconnect.

“That being said, I’ve been impressed by what public relations people can orchestrate when acting remotely. It has opened up lots of opportunities for me that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

– William Schmitt, Senior Editor,
Chemical Week, New York, NY

“I use my personal cell quite a bit for business, especially when I’m on a trip for the paper. And since 9/11, I’ve been carrying my cell with me at all times – which I didn’t do before.

“Though 90% of my work-related calls are on landlines, I see that changing. Now that Regulation FD is in place, the analysts I deal with are on the road more, doing more in-person legwork. They’re more willing to give me their cell numbers, and it’s easier for me to reach them.

“I’ve also noticed that occasionally, I’ll send an e-mail and a source or a PR person on the road will pick it up.

“I hope we get to the point where we can be on the road, and can pull over and send stories wirelessly, right from our laptops. As for me, I might get a Palm, or a BlackBerry, at some point.”

– Richard Papiernik, Financial Editor,
Nation’s Restaurant News, New York, NY

“When I was out pounding the pavement as a beat reporter, I would have loved to have had a cell phone, but they weren’t big then. Right now, I use my cell phone primarily to pick up my messages when I’m on the train.

“About eight years ago, when I was at the National Law Journal, I was writing a Page 1 story about attorney hiring trends – at that time, law firms were hiring more first-year associates than ever. A pivotal source was only available on his cell phone, and he called me at 7 PM on the deadline day. I was relieved that he pulled over on the side of the road. 

“After 9/11, American Banker distributed cell phones on a temporary basis to all the newsroom reporters who lacked personal cells. Our offices are in Lower Manhattan, and we were in the same boat as thousands of businesses down here. We wouldn’t have been able to put out the newspaper without them.”

– Marian Raab, Special Projects Editor,
American Banker, New York, NY

“It’s taken for granted now that the good PR contacts, and the good sources, will give out their cell numbers and pagers. They get it. The bad ones give out their numbers, but they don’t turn their cells or pagers on!

“Just about all of our editorial people have their own cell phones. The company only provides cells to The Daily Deal’s editor in chief and the managing editor. I also have one, because I edit the Web site, but I have it for technical needs, and my phone is part of the technical staff’s Nextel network. (The other editors’ phones are not.)

“Cell phones are really good to have in the event the phone system goes down. For example, after 9/11, phone service was intermittent. The cell phones were the only way we were able to get work done during that time. In fact, I found out about the attack via my Nextel phone, and kept up with coverage of the attacks using its Web browser.”

– Tom Groppe, General Manager,
TheDeal.com, New York, NY

“When it comes to breaking news, it’s now down to the second. We’re not competing just with wire services any more: TV news programs, newspapers and magazines all have their own websites.

“One story where wireless technology did come in handy for us was at the ImClone trial. We keep a few BlackBerry units for reporters going out to cover stories. You can’t take cell phones into courtrooms, but you can take a BlackBerry. That’s how we were able to get the story out so fast when [former ImClone Systems Inc. chief executive] Sam Waksal pleaded not guilty in early August.

“We’re finding that some analysts have their own BlackBerry devices, so we know we can reach them by e-mail, even if they’re on the road. Most information is coming to us by e-mail anyway at this point – e-mail has almost completely supplanted the fax.

“Late last year, Reuters gave every newsroom reporter a cell phone, and we also keep some wireless-equipped laptops for reporters. However, the laptop connection is slow, and if the reporter’s not by a window when transmitting, the connection can go out. If reporters are going to use wireless equipment, I think it’s going to have to become more affordable and reliable.”

– Edward Tobin, Health Reporter,
Reuters News, New York, NY

© 2004 Heyman Associates, Inc.