Take That, 10 Years in Journalism and Trick or Treat...

So, I don’t know if I mentioned it or not (unless you count the multiple posts on Twitter, smug Facebook  status updates and the 5,000 emails I sent about it) but I was invited to go and see Take That last week by some lovely PR people, and I took along a friend.

As we were drinking champagne and swaying to “Back for Good” my companion asked if this was the best job-related perk EVER. I said it was definitely in the top 5 – although that status might be in danger if David at Quest ever gets around to buying me that Fat Rascal he promised…

Anyway, it got me thinking about the nicest things PR people have ever done for me (using their client’s budget, admittedly, but it’s the thought that counts). Since I’ve been a hack for 10 years, here’s my top 5:

1. Eating seafood and drinking Mojitos on a steamboat on the Mississippi. At least, right up until the moment the guy pulled out the A4 ring binder folder and said: “Let me tell you about IBM’s partner strategy…”
2. Driving up from Palo Alto to see the redwoods in California with an executive from a company that had just gone public. We sped up there in a red Porsche, and the exec told me Silicon Valley kids reckoned IPO stood for “instant Porsche owner”. This was in 2000, just before the dotcom crash, obviously.
3. Doing anything in Vegas. Because it’s the sort of place you’d never go of your own free will, but when you’re there, it’s AMAZING. What’s not to love about a fake Venetian canal inside a hotel? Genius.
4. Euro Disney. See previous example. Would never go there by myself but that didn’t stop me going on Space Mountain 10 times in a row.
5. Yeah, seeing Take That. It was pretty cool.

However, wherever there is sunshine, some rain must fall, right? So here, for your enjoyment are the five WORST things I’ve had to do for my job since 1999:

1. Sitting in the back seat of an ancient Skoda in the middle of Finland, with an Irish Wolfhound and an open window. It was minus 20 degrees, and we had to stop every 10 miles for the dog to pee. The car was driven by the PR of a search software company, and we were going to see someone about child porn. After an horrific interview, we discovered the lock of the car had frozen shut and we had to wait two hours in the snow to be rescued.
2. Trying to conduct an interview with an IBM executive in a hotel while there was someone hiding under the table. One of the longest half hours of my life.
3. CeBIT. The memories of those dark days in Hannover haunt me still.
4. Visiting the Yahoo server farm. Ever been to a co-location centre? Imagine a big room with REALLY LOUD fans and lots of black boxes with blinking lights. Now imagine spending 2 hours there, trying to look interested.
5. Being served a whole goat’s head in Marrakech and trying not to offend the hosts while spending the next hour really wishing I could just throw up.

Comments

[Dan Thornton]

Someone other than myself wrote up one press trip I was part of, and sums it up far more eloquently than I could manage:

http://www.thetriforce.com/newblog/?p=1011

[Steve Earl]

Arf. My top five worst from hack days (PR ones are on the unprintable side):

1. Being bricked by fast-running gypsy children (day one).

2. Crumbling in front of Todd Carty: "You were Tucker, in Grange Hill, the cool one, weren't you?"

3. Nearly stepping on a severed head at an accident scene.

4. Being blasted in open court by a judge over subjudicial reporting by a colleague.

5. Having to make a front page story out of the fact that someone had left a rock next to a car.

[Sally Whittle]

I do so hope a copy of number 5 still exists, Steve?

[Steve Earl]

I am sure it does. Something to do with disgruntled villagers in an vendetta against an 'outsider'. Amazing what you can create out of an errant rock situation.

[Steve Earl]

A vendetta, rather. Tsk.

[Emily Wearmouth]

Did I miss something or is anyone else dying to know who it was under the table... and what on earth they were doing there??

Is it the new PR style to make journalists think they are getting some alone time with important execs? Hiding among the furniture with a dictaphone??

(chuckling on the other side of the world)

[Sally Whittle]

@Emily - I can't be sure but when I came into the room it was one of those typical hotel tables with the white floor-length table cloths ... and I could see a leg emerging from it. It moved every so often, so I knew nobody was dead, but I didn't want to get anyone into trouble if they weren't supposed to be there, so I didn't mention it.

In the meantime, I'm interviewing Irving Wladawsky-Berger, who's quite a big cheese at IBM, and kept sniggering uncontrollably. The PR and Irving both thought I was clearly mad throughout. It was horrible.

My guess it that it was a hotel worker who was preparing the room and fell asleep under the table, then couldn't come out in case he got fired. But I also like your PR spy theory, too...

[Jess]

My worst PR 'treat' EVER: Going to a theatre located on a light industrial park in Essen, Germany, in order to see 'Startlight Express' performed in German by a bunch of Australians who couldn't rollerskate very well.

[Mark]

Best press trip? Going to the Fat Duck and discussing fault-tolerant servers. Joy!

[Sally]

Mark: J-E-A-L-O-U-S