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PR blogger Jeremy Pepper reports from last night's Third Thursday PR gathering (co-hosted by Pepper). The lowdown: Michael Arrington's TechCrunch blog is gunning for top tech news outlet.

Last night, at the always fun F&A in Palo Alto, blogger Michael Arrington (pictured) of TechCrunch fame spoke to a bunch of flacks about blogging, TechCrunch and his likes/dislikes.

  • Arrington's advice on blogging to flacks: you gotta blog to get the mindset of the bloggers. And, have passion.
  • Arrington's views on press releases: they are here to make his life miserable, and they never do anything more besides background.
  • Arrington's likes: Riya, online storage, start-ups and links - you know, that is the currency of the blogosphere (screw content, kids)
  • Arrington's dislikes: embargoes at 5 AM PDT, condescending tones, not surfing anymore (the real stuff in the ocean, not online), and press releases.

As for Wired.com ... to use HBO's OZ venacular, they're his punk. Or, that is the end-goal right now. When asked what the future plans are for TechCrunch, Arrington noted that is it no longer a blog, but something more. His competition is now Wired.com, and the goal is to add more bloggers (passionate writers) and be bigger than Wired.com. Well, looking at the Alexa graph, he's not doing too shabby a job, but he's got a little way to go.

A 30-minute audio file of the interview is here - if you want to get more Arrington dish and skinny.

The Arrington lessons: Wired.com - watch your back. Remember to email Arrington your latest press release.

Author: Jeremy Pepper [POP! PR Jots]
Photo: Third Thursday [Jeremy Pepper on Flickr]