has anyone here held the position of Press Secretary -- i'm a publisher/

[nashville_brook]

writer/activist and an opportunity in press relations has come my way. I've owned a paper... working in publishing for years (as well as marketing), but i've never held a position like this.

anyone have experience with speech writing and press sec stuff? what was your experience like? did you enjoy it? what was the best and worst? what does it take to succeed with flying colors?

[Liberty Belle]

1. I was press secretary for a state legislator.

It was the best job I ever had--loved every minute of it.

Best part was helping to get good bills passed into law. My boss was terrific, always standing up for what was right or for what his constituents needed.

Worst part was the threats we got from right-wing crazies, especially the KKK and the gun nuts. Worst day ever: when we got a bomb threat while the KKK was demonstrating outside against our bill. I stayed inside anyhow and finished writing a floor speech for the Martin Luther King birthday bill, which soon after became law in California (before it was a federal holiday).

You'll need to learn to write not in your own voice, but in the "voice" of whoever you're representing. Learn their tone, mannerisms, and expressions, and you'll do just fine.

[nashville_brook]

2. wow -- thanks for this!

i can't EVEN imagine loving a boss -- i've had soooo many rotton jobs (especially in marketing) since running my own paper. i MISS work having meaning. i MISS people who really care about their work.

i have a freaking migraine today -- really bad timing. i need to get my letters together and sort thru a decade of writing for appropriate samples.

it didn't occur to me that (duh) there would days like that. in tennessee the "crazies" are the Escalade-driving anti-tax nazis. we don't have a state income tax and are in deep doo doo with education and healthcare (TENNcare). the last governor, Republican Sundquist, proposed a modest and remarkably progressive state income tax. by the way these gated-community dwellers swarmed the capitol you would have thought he was proposing everyone give up their first born. ugly, bad rich people. our sales tax is now right at 10 cents on the dollar with very few exemptions.

writing in someone else's voice does sound like a challenge, but i've been in economic dev and marketing long enough to know that my voice only comes out in my own work -- like my blog, which now, i fear, might be a liability to my chances at the job. i use curse words freely. :)

on another note -- my husband who is now a software developer, says his best job ever was making 20K a year as a set designer and technical director for a regional theater. he loved the team-work and the feeling of accomplishment after a production. when this job came up i immediately thought of that job. that in-session would be amazing in terms of pride and accomplishment.

i'm off to network and scour writing samples. thank you for your input.

[Liberty Belle]

3. Good luck! Do keep us posted.