Member Monday - Jim DeLorenzo
Posted by [email protected] on Jun. 18, 2025 / Subscribe 0
Can you share about your journey to owning your own business? What is Jim DeLorenzo Public Relations mission and focus areas?
I was always an entrepreneur, even when I was working in a large organization. I really embraced it when I was at US Interactive (Feb. 1997-June 1999) as all my public relations work was towards the goal of broader awareness of not only the company but also the evolving Internet/tech sector as it fit in with expanding B2B and B2C channels. Through that process, I dealt with many entrepreneurs and executives, asking me questions that they had about how to use PR - and when we had our IPO in the summer of 1999, it seemed to me I could continue to make an impact on my own once I had achieved my goals at US Interactive. I hung out my shingle on July 1, 1999, and that spirit has carried me through engagements with clients in tech, entertainment, sports, non-profits and start-ups of all sorts. My main focus today is sharing all I have learned with my clients to create compelling and impactful media training for anyone who has a story to tell. I’ve always been a professional storyteller, and I want to help all my clients get their stories told in meaningful ways – hence my “Storytelling with a Purpose” mantra.
Where do you enjoy consuming your news and who are a few of your favorite broadcast personalities?
I read too much, watch too much, and listen too much, to all forms of online, video and audio news and content! I try to check in on the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Post, Wall Street Journal and other online resources several times per day and have tons of stories bookmarked along the way! On TV – can we still call it that? – I do tend to tune in to our local newscasts at least once per day, usually the 6 p.m. shows, and find that I flip from Ukee Washington to Brian Taff and back and forth. Then CNN and FOX NEWS, Bloomberg, ESPN, MLB Network, among others. I ‘bop’ around on the radio, too, with lots of time listening to KYW, 1210, Sports Radio 94 WIP, 97.5 The Fanatic, WHYY-FM, WNTP-AM (Chris Stigall), and some New York stations like WOR, WABC and WFAN. I keep monitoring as much as I can – especially if I have a story idea I might want to pitch, so that I can keep up with what each outlet is covering. Favorite personalities? I mentioned Ukee, Drew Ferguson at FOX 29, Ricky Bottalico at 97.5 The Fanatic and NBC Sports Philadelphia, Cherri Gregg at WHYY, Alicia Vitarelli at Action News, Pat Gallen at CBS News Philadelphia and many, many others who I have had the pleasure to interact with over the years.
Are you an active volunteer or member in any organization beyond PPRA?
I’ve done volunteer work in the past for the National Adoption Center and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, and earlier in my career, I served stints on both of their boards. Currently, I pitch in where I can with my ‘non-profit’ clients, including The Jazz Sanctuary and All Hallows in Wyncote, as well as Camden Companions (cat rescue/adoption) and others. Whenever my alma mater, Villanova University, calls, I’m always happy to pitch in!
As a public relations practitioner, how do you stay on top of the changes in the industry?
I’ve been fortunate that everything in my career has been built on storytelling – so the changes in the industry always reflect new techniques or tools that I feel can be used to propel the story. The underlying truth – the storytelling – doesn’t change. Realizing that I started in an era where I was typing on an electric typewriter, photocopying releases, and folding and stuffing them in envelopes, and now exist in an era when I can text a message and see it broadcast live somewhere, anywhere, I’ve embraced so many changes in my career. Lately, I’m using AI to help me refine my messaging, even to the point of implementing appropriate content – incorporating the right emojis and hashtags, images, and messaging for a wide variety of platforms. I’m also doing a lot with podcasting and short videos, technologies that I find to be very meaningful in storytelling. Really the only thing I haven’t done – yet! – is TikTok! I have tried to be current in every era, every resource, every platform and toolkit – all to tell stories on behalf of my clients!
What is one of your favorite moments of your career? (Any role!)
I have had so many wonderful memories and moments – from “minding the store” on campus when Villanova Basketball won the 1985 NCAA Championship, to working with U.S. Olympian Vicki Huber in the run-up to the 1988 Seoul Games, to traveling with the Villanova women’s basketball team for five years in the late 1980s, the restoration of a winning football program for the Wildcats, traveling to Tokyo with Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and other men’s tennis greats in November 1996, growing US Interactive’s brand equity to the IPO, starting my own business – it’s hard to pick favorites! Lately there have been some fun moments working with special events, like FAN EXPO Philadelphia – bringing Kate Flannery (“Meredith” from “The Office”) the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Phillies game and dance on the field with the Phillies Phanatic and seeing the sheer joy she felt in a wonderful weekend in her hometown, that’s a memory I want to keep for a long time!
Just for fun – what’s your favorite Philadelphia sports team to watch?
I’ve been a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan since my dad took me to my first game at Veteran’s Stadium in 1971 (when I was 9 years old). It’s probably why I went into my career in PR – that exposure to games got me interested in sports, which is where my PR career began. Through my early career at Villanova, I got to meet so many players and people behind the scenes – many relationships which have continued through today – that my Phillies fandom is deeply ingrained. I rarely watch the Sixers or Flyers anymore, but I do watch the Eagles every week in season. The Phillies, however, are year round! (Plus, my alma mater Villanova!)
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