Lynn Smith’s Post

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations

**How to work with Bloomberg News Work Shift** Please read and share as this will save us all a lot of time and trouble. *I get about 30-40 unsolicited pitches a day. I do look at them all (promise!) but I simply cannot reply to all of them, largely b/c most are so bad that they don't merit a response. Some I hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of my inbox. Don't. *Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, PICK UP THE PHONE and tell me a story. I do answer the phone unless I'm tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, I'm way more engaged. Or let's get a coffee at my (snack-filled) office. *Stories have conflict, characters and context. 99% of the pitches I get have none of those three essential elements of a story. Would you read a novel where the protagonist just breezes through her life? So why would anyone read a business story that does the same? Context is also key: What is at stake here - why do we care? *Our beat is the "future of work" but spare me the crystal-ball gazing and 2030 prognostications and tell me what's actually happening with the current of work, which is messy and confusing enough. *Show, don't tell. If you think you've spotted a workplace trend, show me some reputable recent data to support it. (Not an online survey of 80 random millennials.) There's a dearth of reliable workplace data out there, so solid data -- especially if it's exclusive to us -- goes a long way. *Then find me an actual workplace where it's happening, with a CEO and workers willing to comment ON THE RECORD. We write about work and management, so we want to talk to people who are working or managing workplaces. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about remote work 8 yrs ago and has been dining out on it since Covid. *Stop with the self-serving surveys. Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to RTO, please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) *We welcome ideas from outside the US, and have a global newsroom of talented reporters in dozens of bureaus who can chase them down. *I can't believe I still have to say this, but don't send me a pitch promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of our rivals just published. *If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince me to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts us from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys me immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. *I'm sure there are more but this will do for now. Thanks to my colleague Dana Hull for inspiring me to get this out! #usermanual #journalism101 #bloomberg #workplace #management #workshift #PR #publicrelations