72 Point Blog National News, PR and Market Research Specialists…

Where Are All The Boozy Lunches?

I’d heard the old rumour.

The one that says PR is all about the long boozy lunches.

I have to say that just doesn’t tell the whole story… because there are the brunches, the dinners and the glitzy award ceremonies too of course.

Eight weeks into my career in PR, I’ve learned the old cliché doesn’t really ring true – but less glamour doesn’t mean less fun. I hope you’ll join me in the coming weeks as I attempt to make sense of this crazy PR game.

I’d always thought I had a good knowledge of the media – I’ve got a degree in media communication which cost an arm and a leg so I must do, right?

Nope.

The news is obviously constructed, angled, shaped and reported to fit certain biases and agendas, but when it comes to brands and consumer news, it just didn’t occur to me how much of what you see, hear and read has been so carefully fed in.

It takes a bit of adjustment. Are we all walking around in one big interactive advert? Is every space occupied by someone with a plan clamouring for your attention?

Do you want beans with your tea Rick?

Oh I see how it is Mother! I suppose Heinz put you up to this didn’t they? Didn’t they?!

Once you wake up from The Matrix, you adjust to being inside the industry – and what a genuinely exciting one it is.

In my first eight weeks at 72point I’ve felt the addictive highs of securing coverage. It’s simple, there’s nothing like it.

But before that comes the worry.

The constant agonising over whether a story will make in the papers. The late night and early morning googling, scouring the web for any bites, sniffs, semblance of coverage, playing the conversation with the client through your head again and again and praying it will be a happy one.

Luckily, I’m in a place that knows how to get those happy conversations better than anyone - trained by a team of experienced news and PR professionals you simply couldn’t top.

‘Ok, I see what’s going on’ you’re thinking, ‘the new guy has been asked to write a blog post and he’s trying to kiss the arses of his co-workers in order to get in their good books.’

Perhaps, but I’ve been in the industry just eight weeks and from watching and learning from these guys, I’ve already been lucky enough to have a few highlights.

I’ve seen the words I typed at my desk appear on the front page of the Telegraph (“Rick, are you still carrying that paper with you everywhere you go?!”), listened to Steve Wright debate the exact things I’d chatted to my co-workers about on his radio show and watched Holly and Phil natter over my client’s story on This Morning.

I’ve watched another of my stories discussed on Australian TV, had a co-worker on holiday in New York spot my project featured on Good Morning America and even taken a spin in a brand new Ferrari (ok, so maybe there are a few glamorous touches).

A normal job this ain't, but I think I’m going to like it.

By Rick Maughan (AKA New Boy)