April 08, 2005
Interview

PR Interview: How to Reach 250,000 IT Project Managers

SUMMARY: Being an IT project manager can be a lonely and intensely stressful job. Each month a quarter of a million project managers turn to gantthead sites -- ganthead.com and ProjectsAtWork.com -- for technical and professional support. The good news is, there are plenty of PR opportunities including submitting articles and releases. The bad news is \"no advertorial.\" Learn more:
Dave Garrett, President and CEO gantthead.com and Projects@Work 4035 Ridge Top Road, Suite 300 Fairfax, VA 22030 http://www.gantthead.com http://www.projectsatwork.com dave@gantthead.com

-> Reach

More than 250,000 active members and subscribers

-> Garrett's background

Before founding gantthead.com in 2000, Garrett ran knowledge management for a global IT consulting firm. Prior to that, he spent years in a broad range of project management roles.

"We created gantthead as a place where any project manager could easily access all of the tools that a large consulting firm has available. Probably more importantly, we wanted to connect people doing similar work," said Garrett.

"Being a project manager can be a lonely job. You are responsible for a project that business people in your organization care a lot about. Someone may have overcommitted you and is now asking you why you're not done yet. You and your staff are working together to find solutions as best you can -- but within your organization there is no one you can lean on for the answers you need. This is why we built gantthead. Our mission is simple: Make IT project managers more successful."

-> Current editorial coverage

The company has two divisions.

Division #1: Gantthead.com is a "how to" community of practice, including a library of project plans, deliverable templates, presentations, checklists, and subject matter experts who can tell you how to use them. Departments include:

o Business Intelligence o Career Development o Customer Relationship Management o E-Commerce o Project Management o Knowledge Management o Package Selection o Process Improvement o Program Management Office o Project Portfolio Management o Web Services and Application Development o Workforce Management

Division #2: Projects@Work is an online magazine for project management professionals featuring input from newcomers and veterans alike who share their experiences in the field.

The site, updated weekly and often daily, features several areas of focus, including Methods & Means (approaches to managing projects); PMO (project management offices); Executive Report (executive-and enterprise-level project issues); Resources (coming events, research, surveys, book reviews); Tools (new product releases, reviews and roundups); and News, Views and issues.

-> How to get coverage

gantthead welcomes submissions from authors who are experienced IT Project or Program Managers. To pitch a submission, go to "Publish on gantthead" and review the guidelines. If she likes your pitch, Senior Editor Erin DeCaprio will be back in touch to guide you through the rest of the process.

For Projects@Work, articles should be submitted as Word documents without embedded graphics, preferably in 10-point Arial, to the editor, Aaron Smith, at aaron@projectsatwork.com If Aaron decides it's a fit, he will be back in touch very quickly.

-> What editors look for in a pitch

Articles for gantthead.com should be very useful "how-to" pieces, preferably attached to a deliverable template.

They can be specific to a type of technology, like Customer Relationship Management or Business Intelligence, but they should not promote a particular product. They can also describe an approach that is original and useful regardless of the product used. Articles that are published include a bio that typically includes a company name, etc.

The site almost never accepts articles that have been previously published, but if you have an existing article or white paper, you may certainly send that in for consideration. If you have a specific article or topic in mind for gantthead.com, the editors appreciate a brief abstract so they can evaluate and approve your article before it is written.

Projects@Work looks for exclusive case studies, profiles and interviews; product and book reviews; research and analysis of trends; timely news; and a diverse body of insight and opinion from leading experts.

Projects@Work prefers objective, third-person articles that do not rely on the word "I" (unless they are well-articulated opinion pieces), blatantly pitch a service or product, or make reference to specific companies in the project management field.

The site credits authors by including a brief bio at the end of each article, which may be the author's company and Web site, or links to more information.

ProjectsAtWork.com seeks concisely written articles that are based on the experiences or quoted opinions of project management practitioners.

Articles that will be turned down: Those that do not have clear, engaging introductions and conclusions, filled in by organized sections with subheads and transitional sentences. Also, articles that rely on bulleted items instead of fully-formed thoughts are rarely considered.

-> Other ways to get coverage on gantthead and Projects@Work

gantthead offers free tools listings to software vendors and training listings via an online form.

The editors love any kind of project plan or deliverable template. These can be specific to a vendor tool and will be posted with vendor attribution if accepted.

Projects@Work offers both a free tools directory to software vendors and services directory for project management consulting firms via a form on the Web site.

-> Pet peeves

Article pitches that sound like advertising or "advertorial."

-> Favorite professional publication

Inc. and Fortune Small Business


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