Creating and Maintaining Press Lists

One thing that I found very beneficial this summer at my internship, was the way the company managed their press lists. They had a program that allowed every employee to enter new contact information for new press people. There was also an option to add notes about these particular contacts. Our main boss was very, very strict about making us write something for every time that we spoke to someone; whether it was on the phone, in the showroom, or at a random fashion party, we had to write it down.
I think this is very helpful when creating relationships with other people in the business. We wrote down the date that we spoke to them, what we talked about and any other pertinent information. I wrote down things like "So and so told me about the new dog she just got and how it was keeping her up at nights." Although this didn't pertain exactly to our business relationship, these types of things were recorded because it helped us build a more personal relationship with them. The next time we talked to that person we made an effort to ask if their dog was still keeping them up at night -- this way they know that you are paying attention to what they are saying, even if it is something trivial.
PR is all about networking and creating/maintaining relationships with other people in the business. By taking a little extra time to jot down notes about your last conversation, you can help build those relationships into something that is beneficial to both of you.