Every week I worry that these columns sound like ticking-offs from someone who thinks she knows it all. I am so sorry if that’s the case.
I try to draw on examples from meetings, phone calls or commissions I’ve worked on in the last week, and think about things that could have gone better in the hope that it will be helpful – or at the very least a bit entertaining, for people working in the PR industry.
But this week what has struck me most looking back is that what could have gone better was, um, me. All the PRs I have encountered have done their jobs admirably.
Thank you for not getting cross with me when I cancelled a dinner on the day (I hate doing that, sorry).
Thank you for being somehow understanding when I turned up an hour early for a drinks event and couldn’t wait for the actual start.
Thank you for your thank you email for the help I’d previously given you – even though I hadn’t replied to your most recent email.
And thank you for being delighted with the eventual coverage of your client in a magazine even though I had persistently not told you the publication date.
I hang my head in shame and will try to do better.
Sometimes I think the P in PR stands for patience. But you don’t need me to tell you that.
