This episode of Crucial Tech iis a bit different. It’s about technology public relations, rather than specifically about a product or service.

Tech PR has a problem. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) already damaged the ability of practitioners to connect with members of the press and large language models (LLM) are destroying their ability to tell a compelling story to the press and customers.

We sat down with one of the last great practitioners of tech PR, Beth Trier, to talk about how she is dealing with the degradation of the industry. Our 30-minute discussion was illuminating. She agreed that SEO and LLM have had significant impacts on the declline and how she and her team are making every effort to maintain professional and effective practices. She also points out that the fragmentation of the press adds significant complexity to their work. We also discuss the nature of “earned media” and how few people really understand what that means.

We wrap up with ways press and public relations can work better together to do the crucial job of providing ethical and independent coverage of what is happening in the industries they support.

Make sure you tak the poll on Spotify.