It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth

Maybe I'm being petty - no, no maybe, I am - but it's recently come to my attention that me and my team (okay, my bosses and their team) really need to boost our profile.

It's more a case of what tabs our esteemed bloggers look at, but last week I stumbled across a presentation by the Treasury secretary which I dutifully wrote up.

We splashed it across the wire and Stuff and the Herald picked it up - no probs there.

Imagine my consternation the following day when I see not only Danyl, but DPF (he who knows all) attributed it as a Herald report. Hmph. I couldn't handle three hours on the Herald, let alone be a part of their politics press team.

I'm still a baby after all.....

Anyways, the curious aspect is that it was up the previous day on both the Herald and Stuff business tabs - my favourite bloggers only picked up on it 'cos the Herald ran it in its political tab too - hence the attribution (I'm looking for any excuse to excuse 'em).

Still, it would've been nice if it was "BusinessWire reported".....

Oh woe is me - will I only ever be taken seriously by the blogging world if I make it into the politcal realm......?

PB.

(Anyone know why Whitehead's out in the trenches rallying the troops....? I for one would love to see an uprising by senior executives and board directors in the coming year..... the streets would run red with Central Otago pinot noir.... 'twould be beautiful....)

Slippery adj. 1. difficult to hold firmly or stand on through being smooth, wet, or slimy

I've been playing this one out in my mind for quite a while.

It was one of those moments when you realise "ah crap, now I've gone and done it...."

A few weeks back a friendly, but difficult to get hold of, press sec came through for me and tee-ed up a chat with his guy. He's a fairly busy fellow and I don't tend to want much on his major portfolio, so I'm down the pecking order - I can deal with that.

Anyway, here's how the exchange should have gone:

Me: Hello minister, how're you going?

Minister: I'm pretty well -
how're you finding Brent?

Me: You must be working him like a dog,
'cos he's always tough to get a
hold of...

Minister: Ahahahahaha....

Chat proceeds as it should.

Here's how it actually went.....

Me: Hello Minister, how're you going?

Minister: I'm well - how're you finding Brent?

Me: Uhhh, well, he's a bit slippery?

Minister (incredulously): Slippery?!?

Me: Uhh, yeah, I mean, he always returns my calls.... (inward groan)

Chat proceeds - call comes straight away:

Brent: Slippery?!?!?

Me: Uhhhh, I was, it just, I didn't mean....

This is when it pays to remember the second definition of slippery:

2 (of a person) evasive and unpredictable.

Not to mention the amount use it got last year..... jeeeeez being a baby reporter can leave you with a lot of red faces.....

When I'm back on speaking terms I'll let y'all know....

PB.

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception

The life of the baby reporter can often be a disheartening thing.

Not so much because you come across such horror as to send you into a spiral of despair (although that happens too), but from having to front up to the most ridiculous mistakes. Regularly.

Here's a tip for those who have yet to suffer this pitfall:

When you're floating an idea with the flack for a chat with the top guy, be prepared to talk to the guy straight immediately.

I had the pleasure of having a half-decent idea ruminating in my skull for a couple of days - put in the call to the company's minder (not a bad sort) with some vague topic for an interview, and got a call back 30 minutes later sayng I had the head honcho on the phone.

Needless to say, I wasn't prepared and had to put it off.

Fortune smiled on me in this circumstance (it hasn't in the past, but I'll go into those when I try addressing them... my face still burns when I think of one of them), and I got my ten minutes with the guy and should be able to spin a half-decent yarn out of it. I'll tell you about it later...

But god, the flack had a point when he said he'd never expect a hack to turn down an interview with the CEO of one of the country's biggest players.

What was the lesson you ask?

Well sniffing the Smellie breeze, if you can't be prepared, just put your best foot forward and wing it.... I'm not sure if my man under the hill would agree, but I never seem to be short of red faces at the moment..... I'll tell you about them soon.....


PB.