PR-Net founder, publicist and freelance journalist, Brian Berkman, said he was over the moon with the evening, which was fully booked and over subscribed.
The real coup though, was to hear about the hotly awaited Glamour magazine before it hit the streets in March and explore the editorial and promotional opportunities. According to Berkman, Pnina Fenster said that she didn't believe in the often-ugly divide between journalists and publicists and that the two can and should work well together.
In his introduction, Berkman said the purpose of PR-Net was to network around best practice, suppliers, media contacts and skills sharing.
"People are clamouring to become part of the functions - and it's not only the usual suspects like the top consultants, but also corporate PROs, independents, and others from the communications, marketing and media industries."
PR-Net is open to anyone who would be interested in joining - there are no pre-conditions to membership. And it is more than just a social network, the objective is skills sharing, explains Berkman. "Shoddy work impacts on all of us. This is a network for peers - and an opportunity to connect and learn to share in that environment. When I came into the industry, people weren't willing to help me or give me their time. There is no reason not to share skills - people hire the publicists they want to work with anyway."
Meeting on the last Tuesday of every month, Berkman said the February 24 meeting would be at Le Vendome Hotel in Sea Point at 5pm for 5.30pm, on: How to get clients onto radio. Key speakers on the panel would include those from KFM, Cape Talk and Good Hope FM radio.
Membership to PR-Net is free and is open to professionals in the communications industry. To join, visit www.BrianBerkman.com. Once a member, event invitations will be sent out. Initially events will only be arranged in Cape Town, but Berkman plans to expand to Gauteng later in 2004.
