Pale Morning Media lauded by SNEWS® for Media Kit 2.0™

Pale Morning Media’s paperless, web-friendly, online “press room” was endorsed by the editors of SNEWS® this week as being the new standard for environmental sensitivity in outdoor industry public relations.

Known as Media Kit 2.0™, the innovation was singled out in an April 27 editorial, entitled “Enough with the paper avalanche already!!!”

“The efforts of Drew Simmons at Pale Morning Media to take his clients into a paperless world with his Media Kit 2.0 are to be applauded. Other PR agencies … are making efforts to eliminate paper. This work is both noticed and appreciated, but much more needs to be done. Media Kit 2.0 should be the standard all are held to.”

Pale Morning Media is a Vermont-based communications agency specializing in the outdoor world. Their Media Kit 2.0â„¢ was rolled out to the national media corps in January 2007.

Blending the best of old and new, the innovation accomplishes two major goals of contemporary public relations. Not only does it embrace the rapidly changing media environment of web 2.0, but it also eliminates the unnecessary waste that results from traditional paper press kits.

“This is the natural evolution for public relations in the outdoor world,” said Drew Simmons, founder and president of Pale Morning Media. “Media Kit 2.0â„¢ is easier to use for writers and editors, more effective for the brands that it spotlights, and massively more eco-friendly than traditional alternatives.”


In addition to the eco-sensibility and the media friendliness of the new concept, Media Kit 2.0â„¢ provides Pale Morning Media and their clients with full analytic capabilities. Being able to know which news releases are read, when they’re read, and how they’re used provides invaluable feedback that can then be used to craft better, more efficient, media information.


The design of Media Kit 2.0â„¢ was fueled by first-person blogging experience, developed on the agency’s internal blog, Wicked Outdoorsy, a site that is projected to surpass it’s 50,000th page view this year.

Retaining the familiar reverse-chronological blogging format, Media Kit 2.0™ includes all elements of traditional news releases such as the boilerplate, the “contact us” entry points, and a dynamic attention-grabbing headline and body copy.


Where the kit differentiates itself is through a wealth of images, hyperlinks and cross-referencing that’s designed to connect the reader to the vast resources of the web, to engage them in compelling brand stories, and to anticipate and answer questions before they arise.


The initial version of Media Kit 2.0â„¢ was developed for Pale Morning Media’s premier apparel brand, Horny Toad, and received a surprising early boost when The Piton, an outdoor industry insider’s blog, accidentally discovered the project through a backlink survey.

“…. We are impressed with (Pale Morning Media’s) uber modern press release on Horny Toad’s Fall 2007 line. It’s that time of year where editors are disgusted by the 100’s (of) shitty, same ‘ole press kits they should be reading, but instead just chuck into the round file. It sure is nice to see someone put some real effort into it and do something nice,” wrote the anonymous author at the Piton.


Working media that use Media Kit 2.0â„¢ are able to access the press information in whatever way works best for them: through individual links received via email, through a bookmark of the URL in their browser, or by opting in to an RSS feed from the site.

An additional option for the media is to go through a permanent web portal known as the “Green Room” that accesses all of Pale Morning Media’s clients.

“Our job has always been to convey our client brands in the best possible light,” added Simmons. “When we can do that and make it a easier for the working media to find what they’re looking for, then it’s a very good day.”


Pale Morning Media LLC is a Vermont-based communications firm specializing in the outdoor world. Through a combination of primary-source public relations and creative web 2.0 strategies, Pale Morning Media has been telling their clients’ stories in the best possible light since 2001. Pale Morning Media’s current brand partners include Horny Toad, Kelty, Smith Optics, Ahnu Footwear,G3 Genuine Guide Gear and the Northern Outdoors adventure resort.

For more information on Pale Morning Media, please visit our website by clicking HERE.

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