Take of the Week:
To the best of my knowledge, I have yet to cite Dan O’Mahony in ThisWeekinPRTakes; and that’s about to change. As we turn into the second half of the year, his brief yet poignant take on slowing down is a great reminder for the PR community.

Here’s hoping we all have a great H2 2026!

Resource of the Week:
Sharon Barclay at Big Valley Marketing posted an excellent resource with Q&A’s and deep dives for us to all get to know tech reporters better.

Chuckle of the Week:
Keith’s post about Southwest Airlines’ social media is almost noteworthy of a Take of the Week in of itself; but the comments he highlights absolutely had me laughing out loud.

The Rest of the Takes:
PR&AI
- Sarah’s article on the results of an AI friendly press release is certainly one to bookmark.
- I love Rachel’s article on how AI made comms the most important business function

PR & Media:
- Chris linked out to his video with other freelancers, describing what it’s like in that role
- Karen expressed some concern around the lack of phone contacts on press pages
- A publicist pitched John, a Forbes contributor, the opportunity to be in Forbes; maybe Dan O’Mahony is right about slowing down

PR misc:
-Michael had a great post about why pitches fail, and I would add that there is also tension at the root of the pitch, and we should ask ourselves, is the ultimate CTA to buy a product/service, or is it to provide a truly valuable insight to the media outlet’s readership?
- For those working at startups, or as a company’s first comms hire - Kira has a great take on questions to ask to help boost up that comms program

That’s it for this week’s takes, thanks for reading.

-Brian
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkramer/