Kelly Samardak, AKA @socialmedium on Twitter, writes “Just An Online Minute” for MediaPost, a column that covers events, workshops, seminars, conferences and parties in and around the New York media world. On the scene, Kelly doubles as a reporter and a photo journalist, snapping shots at the events and taking note of the who’s who of the par-tay. A true testament to her charming wit, Kelly turned around the answers to this Q&A interview in under 40 minutes, proving to me that her intuitive, clever writing skills are the real deal.

Alyson Campbell: So, you get to test out parties & events that often entail free swag for a living. I bet most people assume you have a dream job. Is it indeed the best job ever, or does it have its limitations as well?

Kelly Samardak: Oh this lovely economic environment has been hard on us swag lovers, but they show up here and there It is a dream job, I get to do what I love: write, eat, photo stalk, eat, and eat. My Big Bosses give me the freedom to write in my own voice and people seem to like it. If I had to call out a limitation I’d say it’s currently resting in the expanding waistband of my jeans – and I’d like to have a closer relationship with my couch in the evenings sometimes. Even so, I’m lucky, so scratch the limitations.

AC: Can you give us an example of one of the best events you’ve ever been to / covered?

KS: This is tough. La Cucina Italiana was the best food mag party. The food was incredible and the goodie bag had truffle oil in it. Daily Candy also did a really nice job – great space, recognition of local goodness. You know, any event is the best when the people are welcoming, the company is truly grateful for something and that’s why they’re celebrating, and/or it benefits a charity. CoreMedia’s party was a dance fest I won’t easily forget – that company killed it.

AC: Any hilarious stories about an event gone horribly wrong!? What’s a huge event no-no?

KS: I should stop poking fun at the RADAR/Campari party, but that was a doozy because I was dying of starvation, but I’d say the event when something went horribly wrong was the Heidi Klum/Stardoll party where I was screeched at and threatened with burly bouncer extracting. Other than that, nothing has gone horribly wrong. Event planning is rough work and often thankless, so I try to go easy on that stuff .

AC: You are a very active twitter user, and I thoroughly enjoy your tweets! Is embracing social media part of your job? As in, are you expected to use Social Media as a vehicle?

KS: It’s not a part of my job, it’s something I believe in. I’ve been a communicator type my entire career. I was an avid podcaster and blogger at IBM and, in fact, I rebelled against Twitter for a long time. I caved and now I’m addicted and I’ve found it to be a great way to not only connect with others in this twisted social circuit (what time people are going, who’s there already, how long the line is, are there cocktail wieners?) but it’s also created this weird family that I genuinely care about. I think it’s turned me into a face to put with MediaPost as well and I welcome the role.

AC: How do you decide what you’re going to cover? What makes a good story?

KS: Luckily I’ve only had to choose a few times. I’m very sensitive to commitment – if I’ve RSVP’d to something, I have to go no matter what shiny invitation comes in later. First come first serve is usually the way – but sometimes a more relevant invitation slips in (like something digi/online medi/mkting/advert focused) and I have to choose that over the wine festival. Yes, that’s a true and sad example.

AC: What do you hate about PR / Publicists?

KS: I’m going to remove PR/Publicists from that statement because I call a few of those people my friends. I think unsavory qualities in any job function are: overly pushy (determination is great, but come on), not honoring a 5th 6th or 7th request for beat specific emails instead of all kinds of announcements is annoying, but you know what, we’re all guilty of sending unwanted emails at times. It’s life. Anyone who is too big for their britches.

AC: What do you love about PR / Publicists?

KS: Again, I’ll apply this to anyone – open honest communication is key. From anyone. Genuine personalities and the ability to stand around at a cocktail party and talk about life, not just the canned powerpoint pitch are awesome. A certain PR person asked me “so, how do you like to be pitched to/what’s important for you to hear” and I was floored because 1, I’m just me, not someone who needs to be pitched to and 2 – it was really thoughtful and a straightforward honest question. Help me help you. Help me. Help you.

Lightening round:

Favorite time of day? 11:00 Am, it’s when my coworker Sergei and I usually do a coffee/fresh air run.
MAC or PC? PC – although I’m currently on a Dell with a Mac sticker on it that an IT nerd stuck on it.
The one thing you can’t live without? In this day and age, I’d say I couldn’t live without a job. Or at least pay rent. Or eat pizza.
If you didn’t live in NYC, where would you live? I would probably find myself in London or some wild and wooley midwest town.
Favorite Social Media tool? Life’s too short to limit yourself with favorites, a wise man once told me.
Last thing you ate? Trader Joe’s carb reduced whole wheat tortillas. They were empty because I couldn’t break into the damn Trader Joe’s turkey sleeve!
What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to be a lawyer or a model. I’m too short for one and not diplomatic enough for the other, but sure sounds like I was a confident little girl.
PR: Yay or Nay? Some people/brands need someone to be socially/publicly savvy for them. Some do not.

*Kelly Samardak with a Gus’ Pickle of course (photo courtesy of Kelly!)

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[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

Tags: Alyson Campbell, AMP3 pr, It's All Very PR, JAOLM, Just An Online Minute, Kelly Samardak, MediaPost, socialmedium

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 11:56 am and is filed under meet the press, pr talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.