Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Always say yes to the camera

WGEM.com: Quincy News, Weather, Sports, and Radio
YESTERDAY AFTERNOON WAS hectic inside Second String Music. Yet when WGEM's Kendra Whittle came in looking for an interview, we were happy to oblige.

Never, ever, EVER, say no to the media when they want an interview.

Kendra was talking to business owners about TIFF money being used to clean up the Newcomb mess. She said she was having trouble finding somebody on the on the square to talk on camera about the issue.

It's an interesting story and because I was the only one apparently willing to talk, I got a ton of good stuff out of it. It showed a store full of people and we waived the flag for Second String Music and downtown Quincy.

Sheryl won't go on camera because she says she won't look good. Well, I disagree. She looks good all the time, in my opinion. But I'm biased, of course. And she can fall back on the ex-newspaper guy to do the media stuff, so it all works out.

Look. If you are a small business owner, and you interact with the public, you look good enough. I mean, somebody should have told the geeky music store owner to brush his hair, but really, does it matter?

Anybody who owns a business in downtown Quincy should have an informed opinion about what to do with the Newcomb site. The media won't make you look bad. Only you can do that to yourself. When I was a reporter and people turned me down for interviews, I often wondered if maybe they had bad experiences or simply didn't understand the value of the the free love.

If there is breaking news downtown, and Kendra is there and is looking for people to talk to, and one happens to be a person who turned her down for an interview, and the other person is me, well ... who do you think she'll approach?

There are a few PR firms in town, but really, there is nobody who used to work in the media who can advise businesses and people how to deal with the press. Hmmmmm .... double hmmmmmm ....

Thank you Kendra for your time.

It's good press.

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