Grab a cup of coffee and your notebook, and prepare to be schooled by Steve Casimiro. The man has launched two successful sites, is a contributing editor at National Geographic Adventure, and graces the pages of Powder, Sierra and Sunset—and he’s got some advice for communication specialists. All he asks for in return is world peace and a cure for cancer. Oh, and calorie-free fudge.
Learn how to get his attention at OR, what his “biggest (PR-related) sin” really is, and why he might just not be that into you.
Intrigued? Read on.
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Any nicknames?
Just the usual. Cas. Casimoto. Casimofo. Dumbass.
Outlets you write for
Most of my current work is for my two sites, The Adventure Life and The Gear Stash, but I’m also a regular contributor to National Geographic Adventure and a sometimes contributor to Powder, Sierra and Sunset.
What stories are you interested in hearing about?
I want the stories everyone wants—the ones that nobody else has. But you are never, ever going to find these in a press release. They’re found on chairlifts and in bars and at the top of a mountain bike climb when you’re waiting for someone to catch up. They come from conversations and relationships and happen organically.
Preferred method of contact: email or phone?
Email. Never, ever by phone for pitches.
To follow-up or not to follow-up?
What’s the phrase? Oh yes: “He’s just not that into you.” If I pitch a story and never hear anything, it means they don’t want it. If you pitch me or any other writer, and we don’t get back to you, it’s because it’s not right for our work, we don’t have an outlet for it, or we don’t think much of the product. Don’t stalk.
And an email that says, “Just wondering what you thought of the product”—that’s right on the edge of stalking. It depends on the product, and it depends on the relationship. Sometimes it’s a legitimate question to ask, other times it’s clearly code for “are you gonna write about it or not?” This will not engender good will or earn social currency.
Use social media to get story ideas?
Constantly. Twitter streams all the time on one side of my screen (but only displays the people I’ve “listed”) and has enabled me to break several relatively major stories. Facebook has value, but less so—if I’m seeing it, I’m assuming a lot of my readers are, too.
What do you read regularly?
What don’t I read regularly? I have 300-400 key websites bookmarked, at least that many in my RSS, plus dozens of Google Alerts. Of course, what and how often I see them might be pushing the definition of “regularly.”
New York Times is my home page and its app is on the home screen of my iPhone. I visit National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Cold Splinters, A Photo Editor and the Goat every single day. Facebook … can’t count the number of daily visits.
In print, I look forward to receiving the New Yorker and Esquire. Second tier: Wired, Rolling Stone, Photo District News.
Where do you get story ideas?
Where don’t you get story ideas; that’s really the question. I find them under rocks. On milk cartons. From the manicurist. Good story ideas are everywhere—and that’s one of the biggest reasons I launched The Adventure Life. Print magazines have the inherent limits of paper, ink and printing costs. The real estate isn’t just finite, it’s precious, which invariably means two things: Great ideas are left out and commercial constraints push out so-called riskier (i.e., non-formula) stories.
Online, though, is infinity times infinity, with absolutely no limitation on space, so the stories that once seemed like crumbs at best now have a place. My list of ideas for The Adventure Life is well over 200 at this point, and I add to it every day. Last week was typical: I was in the middle of a mountain bike ride and had to stop three times to write down ideas that occurred to me.
What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen in the active lifestyle/outdoor industry lately?
Outdoor gear is outdoor gear—it’s cool, it’s enabling, it’s inspiring. But with rare exception, it doesn’t dramatically change the fundamental nature of the experience. Technology, though, is rewriting our definitions of relationships, friendships, work, play, all that. It’s rewiring our brains. It’s changing the landscape dramatically, and we can only begin to predict where it will lead. So, I would say that the most compelling development of our times is the ability to connect to the internet almost anywhere, at any time, under any conditions. It changes everything.
Editor’s Note: Miss the great article about this summer’s OR show that sparked an equally great conversation? Read it here.
Media events: helpful or just an excuse to get out of the office?
They can be both. They can also be completely pointless. Personally, I rarely do them. I travel so much on stories, and I work for myself, so I don’t need another excuse to get out of the office. And unless it’s held in some epic place I’ve never seen, time on the road not making money plays second fiddle to being at home earning the mortgage. “Do you want to go to Borneo?” vs. “Daddy, will we be able afford shoes this year?”…a surprisingly difficult choice, but the puppy dog eyes usually win. Not always. But usually.
The weirdest/craziest pitch you ever received?
Surprisingly, most are within the range of common sense. But just last week I asked for suggestions for NGA’s Gear of the Year story and one PR agency sent me an email about these hats from a fashion brand. Okay, fine. But when I suggested that fashion hats aren’t really gear and probably aren’t right for National Geographic, they became insistent. And then a day later they followed up to see if I was going to cover them. Really?
Occasionally, you encounter terrible judgment. But mostly—and this is the biggest sin—we encounter PR people who haven’t done their homework. They don’t understand your work; they don’t understand the magazines you work with; they don’t understand why the product is right or wrong. It’s more typical of agency folks, but you find it sometimes with in-house peeps, too.
Look, it’s a big world. The number of media outlets is ginormous. Not everyone’s going to be spot on all the time. That’s cool—journalists are can be idiots, too. But all too often you can tell they’re just spraying: like a little kid shooting a machine gun, shots going in all directions with no clue or intention. And since journalists are trained to do their homework (what else do we do, really?) and get the facts straight, you pretty quickly lose respect when encountering egregious examples of those who don’t.
Ultimate PR ‘no no’s (bad grammar, spelling errors, misspelling name)
Yes. Also, getting my name wrong. And telling me how much they love my work in National Geographic Traveler.
Your biggest pet peeve when working with PR people
Inaccessibility. Not returning calls or emails. Magazine editors are the absolute worst about wanting it and wanting it now. I know that, so I work hard to provide a reasonable time frame on my requests. But from the press’s perspective, we should be able to reach the PR contact reasonably quickly—and if you’re unavailable or on vacation, you should communicate to use the backup contact. Many PR folks already do this, and I applaud them for it.
Also: Not getting the product there when it needs to be there and not following up to tell you.
Word/phrase that makes you cringe when included in a press release/pitch
“Environmentally friendly.” Retch! Little we do is environmentally friendly; it’s just occasionally less bad than other things.
Word/phrase that makes you smile when included in a press release/pitch
“The check is on the way.”
Tradeshow appointments- worth the time or just going through the motions?
Genetically incapable of keeping them, so I long ago gave up making them. On the rare occasion that I cave in and agree to one, I’m invariably late.
You know what’s the absolute best approach? At least for me, and I’m guessing for others? Send me an email 3-4 weeks before the show with a brief summary of product highlights, along with photos. Let me know what days you’ll be at the show. That’s it—you’ve helped me from coming into the show blind, tempted me with great descriptions of awesome products, and given me help prioritizing my schedule, so I don’t miss you.
Coveting anything?
World peace. A cure for cancer. The end of hunger. Access to clean water for everyone. Women’s rights in the places where it isn’t. An electric four-wheel-drive that gets 1000 miles on a charge. An ultralight that’s safe to fly. Calorie-free fudge.
When you’re the gear editor for National Geographic Adventure for 10 years, there’s little you don’t receive, test, or try.
Final thoughts?
Ha! That’s an open invitation to use up all your pixels.
We’re in the midst of the biggest transformation in communication ever, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel overwhelmed by it. There are more media outlets and more channels than ever, so the PR professional has a huge job. I’m very sympathetic. But in the end, it’s still about relationships—about understanding your client or product, understanding your key contacts, and relating the most valuable information between them. If we all remembered that, the process would be a lot smoother.
