Worst tech PR companies

Here's my current list of the top three worst technology PR companies. Sorry to out you guys, but you need to try harder. Plus I don't think your appearance in my list is going to affect your livelihoods too much: my powers are weak.

1. Bite PR
   Yes, it's the company that likes to say 'No'. Well, actually, most of the time, it doesn't want to say anything. They don't answer their emails, don't answer their phones and don't return your phone calls. They'll promise you stuff at events that they'll never provide. In short, drafting press releases seems to be all they're good for.
   
   Silver lining: They're better than Apple UK's internal marketing guy. He actively tries to put you off writing about Apple, even to the extent of claiming particular products “aren't very good”.
   
2. Text 100
   Not quite as bad, Text PR seems to be inhabited by people who are happy to organise parties but don't want to have to stain their lily white hands organising interviews - you know, minor things like that. Phoned to chase up a request for an interview with a Novell customer they'd been working on for a week, but they hadn't actually been doing anything at all. And then, couldn't find a customer. This was despite the fact that BrainShare, the Novell user conference, was running at the same time. I have reports from journo pals that went to BrainShare that their time had effectively been wasted, thanks to Text 100.
   
   Silver lining: They're not Bite PR. They send out press releases and will actually send you information if you ask. Unlike Bite PR.
   
3. The Red Consultancy
   For sheer uselessness, you can't really beat Red. When given the exciting task (on 7th October) to find a spokesperson for MSN Search, they reported back today (yes, three weeks or 15 working days later) that they couldn't find one, weren't exactly sure whom to ask and that it was “all a bit new to them”.
   
   Silver lining: None that I can see, beyond entertainment value.
   

Technorati Tags: Bite PR, PR, Text 100, The Red Consultancy