The Buzz Bin

This is part two of two in an interview with DC’s Jonny Goldstein. Jonny is a social media consultant and host of Jonny’s Par-tay, an interactive online TV talk show.

Part one of the interview series can be found here.

BB: What are your thoughts on the whole Trapani blacklist controversy?

JG: Part of the problem is a technological problem. Since it’s so easy and cheap to email bloggers, some PR people will spam them. And that will piss off some bloggers. And they will filter email from offending senders.

One group of folks that have been on the receiving end of voluminous quantities of PR pitches for years are traditional media reporters. I would love it if you could interview a reporter on the Buzz Bin to see how they navigate all the pitches they get.

(Definitely would be interesting)

I do know that in some ways, PR makes the lives of journalists much easier. Stories come to them. I know how effective PR can be with traditional media. I had a friend who used to do PR for a book publisher in New York. She’d tell me about some book she was working on promoting. A month later I would hear the author being interviewed on NPR. It’s not like NPR went and looked for that book. Someone who already had a good relationship with them presented it to them in an engaging way. In my opinion, that’s how good PR should work.

BB: What has been your favorite experience hosting Jonny’s Par-tay?

JG:

Wow. I have had a lot of good experiences. Can I give you two?

1. My birthday episode has to be the highlight. Unbeknownst to me, my wife and Scott had solicited a bunch of people to make me video birthday greetings and we played them on the show. That blew my mind.
2. My second favorite moment was with this fantastic guy Jeff Hibbard. He is a vehicular lifecaster. He streams video to the web from his truck. He was a guest on the Par-tay one night.We had his video on the show live from his truck as he drove to my house. Then he knocked on the door and stepped in and we switched to the video from our perspective as he comes and sits on the couch to be interviewed. That was a brain bender.

BB: What’s next for Jonny Goldstein?

JG:

Mmmm….I don’t know. I learned a lot at my last job where I was the producer of new media for a nonprofit, but about a month ago, I stepped down from that position, mostly because I don’t want to work 40+ hours a week for somebody else. I want to have time to spend on the show and other projects. So I’m doing some freelance work right now, but I’d love to land a steady 20-25 hour a week gig helping people communicate more effectively with audio, video, blogging, and/or other social media.

I am certainly open to doing PR stuff, partly because I find it interesting how all the parts of the media sphere fit together, and partly because I want to learn how to promote my own projects better.

I have some ideas for combining marketing, creative expression, and emerging communications technology that I’d like to explore. I’m getting the urge to get back into doing more visual art. And I want to keep working on the show, just making it better. I’m also interested in figuring out how to use contests to drive interest and engagement in the show and for other brands.

We just got our first couple of sponsors for a contest we ran, which was very exciting. So that’s where I’m at right now. It’s been a long and winding journey, but a good one. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.

And, as an added bonus, a quick video interview with Jonny in response to SMC-DC last week with Chris Dorobek: