Here at V3.co.uk we receive hundreds of press releases and phone calls a day, mostly all from over-worked, under pressure PR professionals trying to pitch their clients to us.

A combination of persistence, luck, timing, a good story and a close working relationship with the journalist in question will give that pitch the best chance of succeeding.

What doesn't work, however, is bribery. Yet today, a certain PR agency sent some members of the team, and probably most of the tech press, an email promising the chance to win an iPad. The catch? We'd have to mention the firm's client somewhere on the site, or our Twitter feeds or blogs.

Now, call us old fashioned but wouldn't doing something like that undermine the integrity of a news site? Entries to the competition apparently close tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see whose name is in the hat for the draw...