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Jeannette Bitz: Partner at Engage PR finds clients' personal stories
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Jeannette Bitz, who has worked more than 13 years in the high-tech public relations industry, was named partner of Engage PR in December.
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - For Jeannette Bitz, who was made a partner at Alameda-based Engage PR in December, the difference between merely handling clients and helping run a company is a matter of degrees.
“All of a sudden, now you have some accountability in … the health of the business,” Bitz said. “My role has just evolved into finding ways to integrate traditional markets and how the market is growing.”
According to Bitz, who has marked more than 13 years in high-technology public relations, the roles complement each other.
“With a client, how I have to look at it is looking at their particular industry and look at how their message or products are understood in their industry,” Bitz said. “We’re finding their particular story and helping tell that story. And when you run an agency, some of it’s the same, but a lot of it is how you run the day-to-day.”
Bitz, who is from Mill Valley, said she has been eyeing the management track for some time, but has no plans just yet to enter into entrepreneurship and branch off with, say, her own agency. However, the former journalism major at Cal State Northridge said she may someday explore writing or publishing independently about her extracurricular interests, including wine.
Lately, she and her husband, who works in tech sales, have developed a passionate curiosity about wines and invested in a 1,200-bottle wine cellar. They not only are studying California, but also traditional wine-growing regions in Europe and some South American and Australian varietals.
“It’s not just to drink it but to understand how it fits into our culture,” Bitz said, “and what wines go with food.”
Like wine-growing regions, the usually fertile technology industry sometimes experiences dry spells, which was the case when Engage formed in 2002, a spinoff of an earlier tech PR firm. The dot-com bubble had burst and dozens of Bay Area companies were struggling to find a foothold in the new economy.
Engage started with 11 employees and seven clients, beginning with a strategy to help start-ups bring new technology to the sales market.
“Like anything, technology runs in ebbs and flows,” Bitz said. “We always had the feeling that technology would come back and it did.”
Comments from Examiner Readers
2:46 PM MST on Thu., Jul. 10, 2008 re: "Dave Labuda: Former tech pioneer focuses on his restaurant, Cetrella"
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11:27 AM MST on Mon., Jun. 30, 2008
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9:41 PM MST on Fri., Jun. 20, 2008
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Bhaskar Gorti said:
I can lick my eyebrows at Cetrella
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Examiner Reader said:
Congratulations to Deryk! He's a great example of what civil engineering and ASCE is all about. And thanks to the Examiner for running this story. Civil Engineers aren't flashy and nobody makes movies about us... so good press is always welcomed. What we do touches everybody every day. Way to go Deryk! Doug Taylor, PE, M.ASCE President, San Francisco Section ASCE
5 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Jeanette Bitz seeems to have more of an advertising ("look at me folks") mindset than true public relations as it seems she, not her clients, come first. In Australia we'd say her story is an ego-driven way to use a weak peg on client relationships to tell a story about herself. Boo.
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Examiner Reader said:
Dan Angel is nothing but a practiced self-promoter. I feel sorry for everyone there at Golden Gate U.
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Examiner Reader said:
Ben this is Big Shon man. If I had the time to tell you how in so many ways you have changed my life,Id be here hours. Thanks Shon
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Examiner Reader said:
It seems to me that "green" living has become as much a marketing ploy as anything else. living "green" is not new (there was an ecology movement in the 70's) and is arguably simple common sense. When I was young my parents regularly reinforced in child's terms its best not to "mess where you eat!"
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Examiner Reader said:
I've worked with Erika Taylor and Three Girls Media for 2 years now. My business has been revolutionized thanks to her innovative approach. It's good to see her getting recognition for the great work she and her company does.
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recent San Francisco Home Buyer said:
Frankly, I don't see the need for real estate agents - and the 6% commission is proportionately excessive compared to the home values in San Francisco. Most of the homes in San Francisco sell themselves and it is easy to shop for homes online. In my house hunting experience, the real estate agent merely carried the keys to various houses. I don't really need someone to point out which room is the bathroom and which room is the kitchen. And I'm not really sure what a top producer is - since the agent isn't producing anything... except more fees in a (nearly) fixed inventory market. I'm sure Barbara is good person. But, as real estate prices continue to climb in San Francisco, Real estate agents are slowly becoming a pariah to home buyers and sellers in this City.
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