@FIRST_LIGHT

Good post, Jeff!

What you named "good PR" is what we call "media relations" at InitMarketing for the exact same reasons you pointed out.

A community-driven project such as Drupal can win a lot by combining advocacy and media relations in a smart way, because this will significantly raise Drupal's visibility both for community advocates (e.g. developers) and community agnostics (e.g. economic buyers).

The point that media relations (aka "good PR") are still important is that many analysts, journalists, bloggers, thought leaders get far too many emails from people they don't know. Media relations agencies (aka PR agencies) have over the past established good relationships with them, so they trust them as a source of valuable information. In fact, good agencies serve as a kind of filter for them, because they tell them only news which would indeed be interesting to them.

The Drupal community is great, but not every potential Drupal user will join it nor like the impression that they would have to deal with a community to make successful use of Drupal. These people can best be reached via media relations aka "good PR".

In the end, it's all about positioning Drupal well in times where everyone feels overloaded by too much information - just make sure you use all the best tools available.