"PitchEngine puts a new spin on PR, allowing users to build and share social media press releases with their contacts for free," Kintzler says. "It eliminates the need for antiquated email attachments, word documents, image CDs, and more. I believe it could be the catalyst to mainstream adoption of social media relations with these new tools. It's not a distribution service (I believe those only serve certain companies correctly). It's not an expensive service either - Social Media Releases (SMRs) will be free and we'll charge a small subscription fee for companies who want a customized online newsroom to host their SMRs and creative assets in."
But, we're getting ahead of the story. Kintzler started his career in newspapering and then switch to reporter and anchor for the Montana Television Network--first at the CBS affiliate in Butte/Bozeman/Helena, and later at KTVQ (Q2) in Billings. He quickly realized that to to pay the bills he would have to move to a much larger television market. As an avid fly fisher and outdoorsman he wasn't willing to move to a more populated urban area.
"I'd seen the wealthiest urbanites moving to the Rocky Mountains all my life," he says. "I knew there must be something here that I should hang on to. So, I decided to get creative and wound up with the job of my dreams working as 'the marketing guy' for a little camping company in the heart of Wyoming. Naturally, public relations was appealing and as the company grew and changed my role became more defined as 'the PR guy.'
The next stage of the PR evolution is PitchEngine.
"The PitchEngine SMR builder is just one phase of a machine I hope will revolutionize media relations, and that's not just smoke and mirrors, it's reality," he says. "My plan is to change the way companies, their agencies, their consumers and media all communicate and share information. It's not just about pushing out press releases and hoping something takes flight. Consumers are much smarter than that now, it's time those of us involved in the process get up to speed. Large corporations have the luxury of IT departments and bottomless budgets for agencies and consultants, PitchEngine will level the playing field."
Kintzler says his nspiration has come from all directions, including Social PR pioneers from Todd Defren, who developed the first SMR template, to Brian Solis, the father of PR 2.0,
'I've taken my cues from all of them," he says. "I bet they never thought they'd be considered 'veterans' in the business, at least not yet. I look up to those guys for laying the groundwork. Maybe I'm just young and naive, and maybe it's a lofty goal, but I truly believe I can help change media and public relations for good. To me, social media isn't just about conversations and communication. It's about utilizing technology to do that in new, more effective and efficient ways. That's PitchEngine at its core."