Link to the podcast looks broken here, Matt.

Certainly PageOne has done a fine job for Alfresco (and others)...But think about all the other open source companies projects (like Red Hat for example) that do just fine using their own internal resources.

The problem with "internal resources" is that typically they don't have the constant interaction with journalists / analysts / IT events. The beauty of the PR firm (that may or may not justify the price, depending on to what extent publicity is your priority) -- is the network effect of them having frequent access to so many reporters / analysts / events by virtue of *all* of their clients.

The evolution of many IT trade stories looks something like this: journalist tracking down story talks to company x. Company x's flack works with 8 other companies that could provide useful insight into story. Company y that's a perfect candidate to be mentioned in the story is bewildered when they see the story come out and they didn't even know it was being written (let alone have the oppty to participate).

That's why, if you're an open source start-up for example, it makes sense to pay a PR firm that works with exclusively open source start-ups and has continuous contact with all the folks that drive the coverage.

Your in-house guys have other responsibilities and focus that preclude them from continuously talking with all the reporters.

And I would argue that Red Hat gets a boatload of attention because they're Red Hat (the #1 example of a successful open source player, publicly listed, et al). My experience has been that their PR people are very good ... but they don't exactly have to hustle to get publicity these days, do they? Now it's probably more a matter of making sure that all the publicity they get is consistently good and on-message.

Whereas an early to mid-stage start-up that no one has ever heard of needs people with the right connections and perspective hustling on their behalf. If you're an open source start-up, that be Page One PR.

Matt, with all due respect, sometimes I think this entire blog is getting overwhelmed by PR. Let's keep it informative rather than partly promotional. The off-topic posts also lead to doubts, so let's remember what's objective and on-topic. Then again, I could just be an irrelevant minority in this assessment. :-)

Seriously, how can infoworld let this FLOGGING of personal interests continue? Rather tahn posting news of note, the bloggers tout their own self interests and those of their buddies, colleauges and contractors.

That adds up to ZERO credibility.
NO credibility