Describe your job.
I am in charge of all the consumer advice for buying, selling and leasing cars. I also cover insurance issues and financing. To keep in touch with the marketplace, I also buy the Edmunds.com long term cars and sell them when we are done testing them. I am the lead editor on Edmunds.com's Strategies for Smart Car Buyers and I travel extensively to promote the book and the car buying tools provided by Edmunds.com.

What time/day is best to call?
Earlier (Pacific time) is better than later but I appreciate an email first.

How do you like to be contacted? (e-mail, phone, fax, mail)
An awful lot can be covered by email.

Which topics are hot right now? Which are not?
Incentives and rebates, hybrid cars, rising gas prices, proposed tire pressure indicators, sales trends, youth market bargain basement cars such as the Scion, the return of the station wagon, first time car buyers, leasing vs. buying, when to buy a car.

What's your most memorable experience with a PR person?
On a driving trip from Anchorage, Alaska, to Prudhoe Bay I began to appreciate how much planning goes into the events we attend. I also liked getting the opportunity to put the cars to a very severe test that was actually fun to write about.

Anything else you'd like Atlanta's public relations industry to know?
If you are representing a good product or service to the right media outlets you will not have to sell it very hard.

Our thanks to this month's Media Pro Guest Columnist.
Phil Reed
Senior Consumer Advice Editor, Edmunds.com
preed@edmunds.com
2401 Colorado Avenue, Suite 250
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-309-6000