X-Message-Number: 1526
From:  (Delena E. Roth)
Subject: OMNI Article
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 92 15:43:59 EST


In Regards to your letter <>:

For what it's worth, here are my observations as an account supervisor
for a public relations firm who has worked with national media (but
not OMNI) ...
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: #1492 - OMNI Cryonics Contest
> Date: 23 Dec 92 00:35:11 EST
> From: Charles Platt <>
> Message-Subject: CRYONICS
> 
>  
> 1. Publicity. Omni has an excellent PR department, as I know 
> from experience. Nothing like the contest has ever been done 
> before, so it should be newsworthy.

I wouldn't count on Omni's PR department to spread the word.  Obviously,
since this is a cover story, they will promote the topic, but it can't
hurt for Alcor to do its own promoting.  After all, wouldn't you rather
that an Alcor representative was quoted, not an Omni editor?  Remember
that Omni's PR department is focused on promoting Omni, the magazine. 
>  
> 2. Names and addresses of potential members, whom Alcor can 
> contact. Obviously, anyone who enters the contest is 
> seriously interested in cryonics.

Is access to the response list a condition that Alcor negotiated with
Omni?  I wouldn't assume that Omni would be forthcoming with this
list, necessarily. 
>  
> 3. A chance to improve the image of cryonics. By offering a 
> suspension as a prize, it seems more valuable, less like a 
> grim fate.

I agree. 
>  
> 4. A chance (maybe the first ever) for Alcor to control the 
> media actively, rather than wait passively for journalists to 
> do whatever they want.

Alcor has always had the chance to "be pro-active with the media,"
as we say.  Your contacting Omni and the resulting story is just such
an example.  Alcor could hire a PR person or firm to represent the
organization, "pitching" favorable stories to news media actively.
 If Alcor waits passively, chances are they will either get passed
over or their story will be misrepresented.  Most journalists just don't
have the time to pursue stories, and they are constantly bombarded
with ideas from PR folks like me.  Organizations that wait for journalists
to discover them usually have a long wait coming. 
>  
> 5. Omni would get to publish the winning essay, giving them 
> free material and cryonics yet another mention.

Yes, I agree. 
>  
> Keith Ferrell liked the idea. Alcor's board of directors 
> approved it. There was then a long, long wait. Every few 
> weeks, I called Keith and asked if he was still serious about 
> the contest. He always said he was. He even asked me to write 
> an introduction to preface the contest, explaining cryonics. 
> This I did (with Alcor's approval). More time passed. I made 
> more calls. I got paid for writing my introduction, but the 
> contest was still not scheduled. Keith is a busy man, and 
> there was always something more pressing.

This is not unusual, so don't take it personally.  The fact that Omni
asked for, and paid for, an introduction meant they were certainly
serious about publishing something.  Even so, it's not unusual for
stories to get "killed" (sorry, that's the term they use) at the last
minute. 
>  
> Finally, just before I went away to Australia for three 
> weeks, I received word that the contest was being scheduled, 
> and it was now a rush job. By this time, six months had 
> passed since I'd written my original cryo-intro. I had 
> learned more about cryonics, and I regretted that I hadn't 
> done a better job on the text. I asked to do a rewrite. Alas, 
> I learned that my previous version had been typeset, so there 
> wasn't much room for revision. But I did improve the piece a 
> little. (I'm still not entirely happy with it.)

I had a similar experience with Newsweek in 1989.  For several months,
we waited and waited for the magazine to decide to take action.  Then,
it was rush time.  Several times, I was contacted by the correspondent
to provide tons of data on a Friday afternoon, and he needed it by
Monday. 
>  
> Meanwhile, negotiations were in progress between Ralph Whelan 
> at Alcor and Keith Ferrell at Omni. I had no part in this, 
> because although the contest had been my personal project, I 
> was not asked to represent Alcor, since I am merely a member, 
> not an employee or a director. Nor was I consulted about any 
> subsequent developments (such as changing the essay topic and 
> reducing the length from 500 to 250 words, which I think Omni 
> chose to do). But Ralph did an excellent job of negotiating 
> terms, and I doubt that I could have done as well.

This again is pretty typical.  In the role of the PR person, your
job was to link the publication with the source.  Once they get together,
it's often a matter of staying out of the way and being ready to assist
where needed. 
>  
> The January issue of Omni has now been mailed to subscribers, 
> and it should be on the stands soon. Looking at that issue is 
> a strange experience, since it presents cryonics in a way 
> that no mass-market magazine has ever presented it before: as 
> a normal, acceptable, *desirable* idea. Omni had to present 
> it that way, because they were offering cryonics as a prize! 
> I hope the lesson here is clear. 
>  
> Unfortunately, in my opinion, the photographs that appear 
> with the article are not very edifying. I understand that 
> some time ago, a photographer spent three days taking 
> pictures at Alcor for a feature in Longevity magazine. 
> Evidently he received a lot of cooperation--more than was 
> wise, in my opinion. A (simulated?) body with bare feet 
> sticking out from under a black sheet in an operating room 
> lit to look like a dim crypt, with monitoring equipment under 
> red lighting, as if it's a tool of Satan...! But what puzzles 
> me as a mere cryo-consumer is that Alcor seems to have asked 
> Omni to use these pictures. As I understand it, Omni did not 
> realize that its sister magazine, Longevity, still had the 
> photos lying around unused.

You would have to ask Alcor, but I would hazard to guess that Omni
asked Longevity for the photos after Alcor told them about the Longevity
photo shoot.  This would seem logical, since the photos were originally 
taken under Alcor's supervision.  If Alcor provided the photos knowing 
that Longevity had "dibs" on them, then they made a serious mistake.
 Editors prefer for people to be up-front with them. 
>  
> I'm puzzled because here was an opportunity for Alcor to call 
> the shots. Surely, among Alcor's members there must be a 
> photographer who would have been delighted to take pictures 
> of the lab the way WE like to see it. And let me tell you, 
> Omni's rate of payment for photographs is sufficiently 
> generous, the photographer could have flown across the 
> country, if necessary, without complaining too much about the 
> cost of the plane ticket.

The magazine was probably trying to conserve costs in using the Longevity
photos.  Remember that even though these are slick magazines, they
don't have lots of money to throw around needlessly. 
>  
> I try to maintain a double perspective on cryonics, as an 
> outsider as well as an insider, because I think this makes it 
> easier for me to write about cryonics for outsiders. When I 
> apply my outsider's perspective, I see that cryonicists are 
> very tough and very savvy about laws and justice. They win 
> great victories in situations where the rules are clearly 
> stated. But cryonicists can also be very naive in ad-hoc 
> practical matters, especially where "image" and PR are 
> concerned. This is commendable in that it means cryonicists 
> present their case honestly. And yet, I feel sad to see 
> photographs that shout "Death, death, death!" where the 
> opposite message would have been so much more desirable.

This is a reasonable argument for hiring a PR professional who 
can provide an objective opinion on how to present your case. 
>  
> I am also unhappy that the magazine page describing the 
> contest was written by someone at Omni who did not (so far as 
> I know) get the choice of words okayed by Alcor. Consequently 
> "death" recurs here, several times. Once again, Alcor could 
> have controlled this.

Not true.  It would be very unusual for a national publication to
submit copy to an organization for approval prior to publication.
 That's one of the trade-offs of so-called "free" publicity.  You
gain credibility, but you lose some control.  In this case, I think
Alcor won big-time. 
>  
> I would like to see an Alcorian actually given the job of 
> handling PR, if any member has the qualifications and the 
> time. Needless to say, I would volunteer myself, but I have 
> no training whatsoever. I've promoted my own books on TV and 
> radio, but that's about it. I'm still amazed that I was able 
> to interest Omni in the contest in the first place. I'd never 
> done anything like this before.

A good idea is a good idea.  A PR pro might have handled some of the
details with more finesse because they are more experienced, but basically
your approach was similar to what I might have done.  In fact, contests
are a staple in our PR "bag of tricks." 
>  
> Naturally, I hope the contest attracts a lot of entries, so 
> we get a lot of new names of potential members. Otherwise, 
> one of the main purposes of the contest will be unfulfilled, 
> and I will feel that my idea was a wasteful failure.

Don't sell yourself short!  You are to be congratulated on getting
a cover story in a major national publication.  That's a major coup
that many PR people never get to see. 
>  
> Meanwhile, I am very interested in hearing people's opinions 
> on this subject and on PR in general.
>  
> --Charles Platt
Hope my comments were enlightening.  Again, congratulations! 

Delena Roth


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