ProfNet, along with all of PR Newswire’s services for journalists, is always free for reporters.

How do I register for ProfNet as a journalist/blogger?

To register, go to https://profnet.prnewswire.com/PRNJ.aspx and click on “Register Here,” which will take you to the PR Newswire for Journalists registration system, where you’ll be asked to fill out a short registration form.

Registrations can take up to 30 minutes to become active. Once your registration is active, you will be able to log on to the ProfNet site at https://profnet.prnewswire.com/PRNJ.aspx and submit a query.

I’m registered, but I can’t seem to log in. What do I do now?

Because registrations can take up to 30 minutes to become active, you may not be able to log in right away upon registering. If you are still unable to log in, even after 30 minutes, please drop us a note at profnet@profnet.com and we’ll investigate the issue. If you need to send a query out right away, you may also e-mail it to us, and we’ll input it for you. Please put “Query” in the subject line when e-mailing us a query.

How do I send out a query?

To send a query, go to https://profnet.prnewswire.com/PRNJ.aspx and log in. The query form will automatically come up in the middle of the page. You may also click on “Submit Opportunity.”

You may also use our simplified query form at http://budurl.com/profnetquery — we’ll take care of the rest.

I filled out the query form. How do I know it went through?

Once a query is submitted successfully, you’ll see a confirmation page on your screen. If you don’t see that, drop us a note at profnet@profnet.com and we’ll check to see if we received it.

I sent out a query and got a great response, but would like more. Can I re-send it?

You may resend any query up to three times. To resend a query, log on to the site and click on “Inbox,” then on the query subject. Once the query is open, click on “Resend Opportunity.” You will have the option of changing any of your original query preferences, such as deadline, regions and institution types. You may also edit the text of the query as necessary. Once you’re done editing, click on Submit.

Are ProfNet members vetted?

All ProfNet members must also be members of PR Newswire, which verifies that members are legitimate businesses.

In addition, all ProfNet members must sign our Terms & Conditions, which state:

1. ProfNet Opportunities (queries) are not to be used as stepping-off points for pitches that have no relevance to the request.
2. Contact with reporters submitting Opportunities is to be made only via the channels specified by the reporter in the request.
3. ProfNet Opportunities are to be treated as confidential, disclosed to others in your organization only on a need-to-know basis.
4. Opportunities are never to be posted to an electronic mailing list or shared with others on a public site.
5. ProfNet members shall in no way attempt to badger or coerce a reporter into contacting or quoting a given source.
6. E-mail addresses obtained through ProfNet are not to be used in any list for unsolicited, mass-distributed messages.
7. All Opportunities are to be viewed as exclusive to the writer or organization submitting the request.
8. ProfNet Opportunities are not to be used to advance personal interests or agendas, except in cases where reporters explicitly request responses that are personal in nature.

Also, ProfNet members may edit their query preferences to receive queries in specific categories and subcategories (e.g., a member can sign up to receive only technology requests). This means they are less likely to receive — and reply to — queries that are not in their experts’ specific areas of interest, and you are less likely to receive off-topic replies.

What do I do if a ProfNet member violates one of the rules listed above?

If one of our members sends you a response that violates our Terms & Conditions, please alert us at profnet@profnet.com and we will investigate.

I’m a freelancer. What should I put in the News Outlet field?

In the News Outlet field, you should list the publication/program/etc. for which you’re requesting experts. If you would like us to leave the publication/program/etc. name off the query, you may “cloak” your request (see below).

What is cloaking?

Cloaking means we omit the publication name from the query. Instead, we only provide a generic description of the publication (e.g., national women’s magazine, Northeast daily, regional business journal).

If you are a freelancer, we do still include your name and e-mail address in the query. The only information we cloak is the publication name.

If you are on staff and your e-mail address identifies the publication/news outlet, we will withhold your name and e-mail address. When members respond to your query, they will do so via the ProfNet Web site.

I’d rather just e-mail my queries to you. May I do that?

Absolutely. You may submit queries by e-mail to profnet@profnet.com. Please put “Query” in the subject line so we don’t mistake it as spam.

You may also use our simplified query form at http://budurl.com/profnetquery. We’re happy to take them either way.

How can I search your Experts Database?

To search the Experts Database, log on to the site and click on “Search Expert” in the dark blue section along the top of the page. You will be able to search the database by keyword(s) and location.

My registration information is outdated. How can I update it?

To update your registration information, simply e-mail your info to profnet@profnet.com. Please note: It may take up to 30 minutes for the changes to take effect.

May I submit a request for products?

If you are on staff at your publication, you may submit requests for products for review. If you are a freelancer, we will ask you to provide documentation confirming your assignment. (Usually, we ask to confirm it with your editor, but alternate forms may be acceptable.)

What are Expert & Topic Alerts?

Expert Alerts are sort of a “reverse query” — instead of a reporter asking for an expert, a PR person will compile a few sentences “alerting” reporters to an expert who is available to discuss a timely topic. Example:

LAW: New Patent Rules Equal New Strategies for Lawyers, Companies.
Jim Murphy, intellectual property attorney with Thompson & Knight: “New rules designed to make the government’s patent examination process more efficient likely will force significant change in the way some companies and attorneys manage the process. The rules essentially place limits on the number of continuations that can be filed and on the number of claims that can be made for each application without penalty. It will make it much more expensive and more difficult to justify stringing cases along as a protective or competitive strategy, requiring firms to make a more precise initial set of claims.” Murphy cautions that it may take at least a year to assess the full impact of the new rules, which go into effect Nov. 1. Contact: …

Sometimes, ProfNet editors will put together a Topic Alert, which includes various experts on the same topic. Examples of recent Topic Alerts: “Pirate Attacks,” “Earth Day,” Legalizing Marijuana,” “Stem Cell Research.”

Alerts are sent to reporters according to the following feed schedule*:

Mondays: Business & Technology
Tuesdays: Education & Science
Wednesdays: Government & Law
Thursdays: Health & Medicine
Fridays: Entertainment & Living

Alerts are distributed to reporters by e-mail, posted on PR Newswire for Journalists, and sent to more than 5,000 news organizations via PR Newswire’s US1 newswire.

To receive Expert & Topic Alerts in any of the above feeds, e-mail your contact information to profnetalerts@prnewswire.com. Please make sure to indicate which feed(s) you want to receive.

* Subject to change, depending on volume and breaking news.

Media specializing in the Hispanic space still prefer to receive news and story ideas in Spanish — and soon, with ProfNet en Español, you will be able to do just that.

With more than 5,000 Spanish-language journalists, producers, bloggers, reporters and more on our ProfNet en Español press list*, you will be able to reach them in-culture and, more importantly, in-language.

A few stats on the Hispanic market in the U.S.:

• According to the Pew Hispanic Center, by 2020, one out of every six people living in the U.S. will be of Hispanic descent.
• U.S. Hispanics will represent $1 trillion in purchasing power by 2010**.
• Spanish-language Univision beat ABC for average viewers, 3.76 million to 3.21 million***.
• According to eMarketer, there are now 24.6 million U.S. Hispanics on the Internet, and by 2012, the number of U.S. Hispanics online will reach 29.4 million.
• The Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University estimated that the Democratic presidential candidates spent at least $4 million on Spanish-language television advertising this term.

Stay tuned for more information and for details on how you can develop or expand your relationships with U.S. Hispanic media.

In the meantime, if you currently have Spanish-speaking experts listed in ProfNet’s Experts Database, we recommend updating their profile to contain the words “Spanish” or “Español,” so their profiles are searchable by reporters looking for Spanish-speaking sources.

Also, we are now accepting Expert Alerts in Spanish. For more information on how to submit Expert Alerts, click here.

Questions? E-mail us at productsupport@prnewswire.com

* Powered by Hispanic PR Wire
** USA Today, January 2006
*** Nielsen ratings for Monday, July 21, 2008

Called “IR Room,” the new tool is built upon the same award-winning technology as PR Newswire’s MediaRoom service, a tool that today powers hundreds of online media rooms for small, medium and large organizations including Boeing, Varian Medical Systems, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, The American Heart Association and Home Depot, among others. With IR Room, investor relations professionals now have full control over the investor relations pages on their company’s Web site, with the ability to create, upload and change content easily from anywhere with Internet access, at any time.

This all-in-one communication tool is seamlessly integrated into a company’s Web site so the investor relations pages match the look and feel of the entire site. IR Room features automatic posting of news releases when distributed over PR Newswire, stock quotes, interactive charting, opt-in investor notifications and much more. IR Room also helps the IR practitioner meet Sarbanes-Oxley requirements without separate maintenance of a corporate governance page.

Alan Wallace, senior vice president, corporate communications, CyberDefender Corp, a user of both PR Newswire’s MediaRoom and IR Room services, commented, “Prior to IR Room, I was not able to find an IR solution that was this flexible or priced as competitively. I also found the IR Room, and the MediaRoom service, to be the best tools I have seen when it comes to SEO optimization for every aspect of a press room. This includes every title tag and keyword by page, which is especially great for press releases. Other options include easy-to-administer RSS feeds, the ability to allow visitors to submit releases (and other content) to social bookmarking sites or blogs, a site registration page so media and other site visitors can sign up to receive press releases and even the ability to have people sign up for podcasts. The team had us ready to go with a working IR room in record time with functionality that exceeded my expectations. If you need an IR room, I can’t think of a better solution.” To view CyberDefender’s IR Room, visit http://cyberdefender.investorroom.com.

Through a password-protected interface, IR Room users can post, edit, and change information, including text, high-resolution photos, audio, video, and any other files relevant to the company and its audiences. The site contains several customizable links and pages for archiving reports and press releases, an interactive calendar for event notification, and dark pages that can be activated to include information on upcoming analyst meetings, conference calls or other investor events, as well as for crisis communications. Built-in metrics powered by Google Analytics tools help IR professionals track the use and effectiveness of their IR Room.

IR Room also includes a Google Site Search bar, social media links and RSS feeds. According to Ira Krawitz, senior vice president of IR services at PR Newswire, IR Room benefits all stakeholders from the creators of the content to the recipients: “The benefit of IR Room extends beyond the investor relations officers tasked with keeping the online repository up-to-date; it is also extremely beneficial to those who regularly visit the site to gather information, such as investors, analysts, customers, business partners and the media, because the breadth of content is well-organized and easy to navigate.”

To learn more about IR Room, please visit http://www.investorroom.com.

About PR Newswire
PR Newswire Association LLC (http://www.prnewswire.com) provides electronic distribution, targeting, measurement and broadcast services on behalf of tens of thousands of corporate, government, association, labor, non-profit, and other customers worldwide. Using PR Newswire, these organizations reach a variety of critical audiences including the news media, the investment community, government decision-makers, and the general public with their up-to-the-minute, full-text news developments.

Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in 14 countries and routinely sends its customers’ news to outlets in 135 countries and in more than 40 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters, investors and individuals who seek breaking news from the source. PR Newswire’s leading services include ProfNet; eWatch; MEDIAtlas; Search Engine Optimization; MediaRoom; MediaSense; MultiVu; U.S. Newswire, the preeminent policy newswire in the industry; Vintage Filings, the fastest-growing Edgar filing company; and Hispanic PR Wire, LatinClips and Hispanic Digital Network, the foremost Hispanic communications services. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/prnewswire/31696/

PR Newswire has developed a new CSR channel within ProfNet, where experts in diversity, philanthropy, socially responsible investing, environment, human rights, workplace issues, business ethics, community development and corporate governance, can connect directly with journalists who are working on relevant stories, in addition to interacting and sharing ideas and information with each other.

“CSR programs are becoming more and more of a driving force behind many business initiatives,” said Juliet Herman, director of ProfNet, PR Newswire. “Those in charge of these initiatives within organizations need a forum to share best practices and to engage with environmental, social, or other subject-matter experts. ProfNet was created over a decade ago as a forum for connecting communications professionals, experts and the media, and was really one of the first truly social networks of its kind. It is therefore perfectly suited to become the platform for a CSR community network.”

Through a successful partnership with CSRwire, the leading distributor of corporate social responsibility and sustainability news, reports and information, PR Newswire has been delivering its members’ news directly to influential audiences such as investors, journalists, analysts, academics, activists, influencers at CSR organizations, socially responsible investment houses, NGOs, educational institutions and government bodies within the CSR community since October 2007. The addition of CSR experts into the ProfNet network is a natural extension of this partnership.

“Although CSR is a growing trend among smart businesses, it is still a relatively new practice and as with anything new it is always beneficial to collaborate and share best practices with peers,” said Greg Schneider, chief operating officer of CSRwire. “ProfNet has connected leading academic, business and non-profit experts with the media successfully for more than a decade and it is precisely what the CSR community needs to elevate these increasingly important issues. We are excited to be able to leverage ProfNet’s proven capabilities into the CSR community that we work with so closely and so passionately.”

Effective immediately, ProfNet is now transmitting daily media opportunities on CSR-related topics to the tens of thousands of communications professionals representing ProfNet experts. In addition, CSR experts that are paying members of ProfNet can create profiles within the ProfNet database for access by media and other experts. Subscribers to ProfNet search the database using keywords such as environment, green business, and sustainability to find these profiles and connect with experts directly.

About ProfNet
ProfNet (www.profnet.com) is an online community of academics, government officials, business people, non-profit executives, and other subject matter experts. Through ProfNet, journalists, and many non-media professionals such as meeting planners, bloggers, corporate researchers, publishers, analysts, and authors can connect with these experts for story sources, speaking events, to keep up on trends and initiate relationships.

ProfNet Opportunities (formerly ProfNet Queries) enables reporters to send short descriptions of the stories and the type of experts they are seeking to the tens of thousands of experts in the ProfNet database. ProfNet Opportunities are available in 13 categories with the recent addition of Corporate Social Responsibility. In January, ProfNet distributed 3,010 ProfNet Opportunities, the most in its 15-year history.

Reporters can also sign up to receive, via email, Expert Alerts, short story ideas summarizing an expert’s perspective on a timely issue or trends, and Daily Topic Alerts, a round-up of experts on a particular timely issue or trend culled from the Expert Alerts. Currently, the ProfNet expert database has more than 25,000 experts profiles.

About CSRwire LLC
CSRwire is the leading source of corporate social responsibility and sustainability news, reports and information. CSRwire members are companies and NGOs, agencies and organizations interested in communicating their corporate citizenship, sustainability, and socially responsible initiatives to a global audience through CSRwire’s syndication network and News Alerts. CSRwire content covers issues of Diversity, Philanthropy, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) Environment, Human Rights, Workplace Issues, Business Ethics, Community Development and Corporate Governance. CSRwire is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest global corporate citizenship initiative.

As part of this new service, through a partnership with Times Square2 (www.timessquare2.com), customers will also benefit from having their photos rendered, in 15-second increments, on the Reuters digital billboard in Times Square, which reaches more than 1.5 million people each day.

Among the 175-plus Web sites that will render PR Newswire’s customer photos as part of PR Newswire’s new Internet Photo Distribution service are the Los Angeles Times, ABC Television affiliates, MarketWatch and Yahoo!

“Visual elements provide more depth to any story, and oftentimes adding a photo to a news release means the difference between the media writing a story about the news or passing on it altogether,” said Dan Hennes, director of photo services, PR Newswire. “It’s no different for consumers reading information online. An interesting photo grabs readers’ attention and draws them into a story in a way that simple text may not. We have been offering photo rendering to select consumer news sites for a number of years, and the launch of our new Internet Photo Distribution service will vastly increase their visibility by posting them on a robust network of more than 175 Web sites.”

PR Newswire’s Internet Photo Distribution service can be added to any news release. PR Newswire also offers other photo services, including national Associated Press PhotoExpress distribution, delivering customers’ photos to the desktops of photo editors at newspapers, television stations and magazines nationwide through AP’s premier photo delivery system; Total Photo Archive, which archives photos in NewsCom and AP digital photo archives for access by 20,000 news outlets worldwide; and Assignment Photography services that locates photographers around the world for customer photo shoots.

About PR Newswire
PR Newswire Association LLC (www.prnewswire.com) provides electronic distribution, targeting, measurement, and broadcast services on behalf of tens of thousands of corporate, government, association, labor, non-profit and other customers worldwide. Using PR Newswire, these organizations reach a variety of critical audiences, including the news media, the investment community, government decision-makers and the general public, with their up-to-the-minute, full-text news developments.

Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in 11 countries and routinely sends its customers’ news to outlets in 135 countries and in more than 40 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters, investors and individuals who seek breaking news from the source. PR Newswire’s leading services include ProfNet Experts, eWatch, MEDIAtlas, Search Engine Optimization, MediaRoom, MediaSense, MultiVu and U.S. Newswire, the preeminent policy newswire in the industry. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.