Good Relationships Are The Lifeblood Of This Industry

Work-related Christmas parties: you either love ‘em, hate ‘em or consider your emotional response irrelevant, depending on whether your attendance is mandatory, or a choice. As a freelance journalist, I hope I speak for all freelance journalists when I say that I’m always very grateful to be invited, even if deadlines and family commitments mean I can’t always go.

This can be a strange time of year for the self-employed who work alone. It’s party season – you only have to glance at Instagram for proof of that – but invitations can come (or not come) from unexpected sources. I’m a contributor to one mag that never invites me to any of its parties, while another I barely write for is solicitously inclusive.

This morning, a PR I’d never heard of invited me to a party for an agency I’ve never worked for. Last night, a PR whose brand I’ve profiled twice this season threw a dinner to which I was NFI. My point? Don’t expect a seat at the table just because you wrote a thing in June. That’s entitled behaviour.

For PRs, the festive season is a time to say ‘thank you’ for your support through the medium of red wine: with dwindling budgets, their guest lists will inevitably be tight. Yes, they’ll invite the masthead people, but they’ll also invite the people whom they like. Life’s too short to spend dinner with twats: anyone starting out for whom parties are as important as paychecks would be advised not just to make bylines, but make friends. Good relationships are the lifeblood of this industry: value them, nurture them. See you round the Claridges Christmas tree.