The weather in Melbourne, as Crowded House sang in the song "Four seasons in one day," can swing wildly from cold to hot, and back again. Last Friday while on a one-day trip to the southern Australian city my emotions ebbed and flowed as varying degrees of heat, humidity and storms swirled around me.
* Up at 5:30am and out to the airport. Tired, but doing ok.
* Off the plane in Melbourne at 9am to get greeted by voicemail from PR guy saying the international IT big-wig due to fly in that day for my face-to-face interview in Melbourne was now coming a day later. The big objective for the trip was undone. Very low point. Rare moment of anger for mild-mannered Mr Jones. (Here's a little tip for PR people: don't do this to journalists. Call the Fairfax switch, and ask to get put through to my mobile even if it is 8:30pm at night the day before I was due to get on a plane.)
* Other meetings scheduled for the day went well, including lunch with Cameron Reilly. Great to finally meet the man behind the Elvis sunnies. :) Happy days.
* Got caught in stinking hot, Melbourne downpour. Turned up at Fairfax Melbourne office "hot & bothered" as my mother would say. Grrrr.
* Caught early flight home, wrote stories on the plane and finished reading The Big Moo. Very thought-provoking. Things are getting better...
There's only so many times a humble 'PR guy' can apologise. Once again Mark, I'm sorry.
As a PR practitioner who values his reputation, I'm not in the habit of 'doing this' to senior editors.
I was unaware the Fairfax switch operated after hours (many do not) and my experiences of requesting personal contact information from switch operators usually results in denial for reasons of privacy.
Here's a little tip for journalists: When a PR person specifically requests your mobile number so they can inform you of any change in circumstance, give it to them.
Posted by: Scott Pettet | Thursday, February 09, 2006 at 10:41 AM