SMPS and AIA Seattle present "Meet the Press"

Architects, engineers, and construction companies want to receive positive recognition for their work, but sometimes how to get great media coverage can be a mystery. Join us for a panel discussion featuring key members of the local media to help answer questions such as: How can A/E/C firms work more effectively with the media? What are the hot trends in the media? Does advertising affect editorial coverage? What's the best way to pitch a story? This luncheon will give you the opportunity to hear from local media personalities from various consumer and A/E/C industry publications and learn how these publications work. Come and learn how you can enhance your relationship with the media that matter most to your firm and potential clients.

PANELISTS

Lynn Porter – Architecture and Engineering Editor, Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce
Lynn Porter is the architecture and engineering editor for the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Prior to taking on this beat, she was the real estate editor for the Journal, covering office, residential, retail and industrial development in the Puget Sound region. Lynn has been a journalist for more than 20 years. In her career, she has reported on a variety of topics including real estate, education, city government, police and courts. She has worked in Washington, California and Florida. Lynn has a bachelor’s degree in economics and journalism from San Francisco State University.

Leslie Helm – Editor, Seattle Business Monthly
Helm spent 7 years with Business Week, first as Tokyo correspondent and later as Boston bureau chief. He worked briefly for the Seattle P-I before joining The Los Angeles Times, reporting at various times out of Tokyo, South Korea and Seattle. Helm joined Seattle Business Magazine in 2009, soon after it acquired Washington CEO. Under Helm’s direction, Washington CEO received a prestigious Maggie award from The Western Publishers Association in 2006, and was selected as the nation’s second best regional business publication in 2007.

Charles Redell – Associate Editor, Sustainable Industries
Since February 2008, Charles has served as the Puget Sound Correspondent for Sustainable Industries. Charles currently cover the green building and food and farms beats for Sustainable Industries. Although he graduated from Adelphi University with a BFA in Design/Tech Theater, during his 10 years of journalism, he's pounded a number of beats including local music, arts and news for Seattle alternative newspapers Seattle Weekly, The Stranger and TABLET; and public housing for a community newspaper called The Voice. He fell into the sustainable business world after covering electric transmission and alternative energy efforts in the western United States and Canada for the trade journals Clearing Up, California Energy Markets and Energy Prospects West. While his expertise is clean energy, Charles is interested in all things sustainable. He lives in Seattle with his wonderful wife Alexis and his also wonderful but too fat cat Jake.

Steven Goldsmith – Associate Editor, Puget Sound Business Journal
Steven Goldsmith is associate editor of the Puget Sound Business Journal, where he supervises both breaking news and sections on topics such as health care and real estate. Goldsmith was a reporter for 15 years at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he covered beats that included politics, trade and crime. He has interviewed news figures ranging from Billy Graham to Bill Gates, and covered Oklahoma City after the bombing and Mount St. Helens after its eruption. He also spent five years on what news people regard as the “the dark side,” the University of Washington communications office, guiding researchers in how to get the media’s attention.

MODEATOR

Sheila Bacon – Founder of Scribe
Sheila Bacon is a writer living in the Green Lake neighborhood of Seattle. She worked as an editor at McGraw-Hill for seven years, and now contributes almost exclusively to the construction, engineering and architecture industries as a freelancer. She works closely with clients to develop in-house marketing material, web content and publishable feature stories. Her work has appeared in dozens of local, national and international trade and mainstream publications such as Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, Seattle Business Monthly, AGC’s Constructor magazine, and UK-based Passenger Terminal World.