The event was such a success and sold out so quickly that Ariel and Bob added a second session that day to accommodate the high demand! In this fast-paced, intimate workshop setting, attendees learned how to get media exposure and make the most of the latest Internet publicity trends.

Matt Maher, an intern with Ariel Publicity, wrote this great piece recapping the second session taking place that day:

Publicity Bootcamp Session 2 = Priceless

Admission to PR Bootcamp: $60

Non-working, brand new 25,000 BTU A/C Unit (including installation): $698

Knowledge gained during a sweat-stained Saturday afternoon in a packed, un-air-conditioned downtown Manhattan office on the first weekend of a New York June with industry PR experts Bob Baker and Ariel Hyatt: …Priceless

Hands on training and unabashed information sharing were definitely the two major hits of the second PR Publicity Bootcamp taking place in the successful afternoon session of Saturday’s workshop. The satisfaction of the participants was evident on their faces when they got to openly share their experiences with the other artists, Bob, and Ariel and learn about what worked and didn’t work from everybody’s collective trials and errors. Likewise, receiving expert critique on previous press kits and performing simulated pitches about their music to the rest of the group proved critical in the learning process for everybody and offered the kind of insight that is impossible to acquire from self-taught PR training or by reading from a book.

While participation and interaction between participants were great positives in the session, things would have been chaotic were it not for the guidance of Bob and Ariel. With voices of authority and time-worn experience, Bob and Ariel zipped through a core explanation of what is “PR” in the first two hours. Presented with simplicity so that both novices and those with more experience could learn equally, they tracked the importance of PR for artists at its most basic definition all the way to the PR of the future on the web and in the digital form. Everybody was aware of the ever-changing entity that is the music industry today, but with two PR veterans who have lived through and now embrace these developments directing the way, it was obvious that participants left with renewed enthusiasm and box of tools that they can use to take on the challenges of the contemporary music landscape.

The session wasn’t just “all work and no play,” however, as group exercises such as creating headlines and sub-headings for press releases and the sharing of biographies on a typical “one-sheet” provided some lighter moments of the day. With the creative spirit flowing, the group came up with catchy phrases like “Mortician Musician Resurrects Dylan.” Unfortunately, this also led to Bob venturing into his database of corny jokes (you’ll have to come to the next one to get those juicy tidbits). We had to give him credit though, the attempts at the least worked to distract everybody from the afternoon heat. In fact, by the end of the session, the A/C incident seemed to be a distant memory having been transplanted to the back of the minds of everybody by the wealth of knowledge and information delivered in the Publicity Bootcamp. A/C or no A/C, the session sent participants off with inspiration, knowledge, and confidence to tackle their musical goals that indeed, could be called priceless.