These fragments I have shored against my ruins

Initially, I was going to blog about how crazy and hectic my days are as the count-down to graduation looms, and I find myself struggling against the tide.

But then I saw this piece of claptrap - I mean, honestly, what kind of lame PR outfit is looking after Vector Arena these days?

I mean, writing a profile of the chief executive to sneak in some figures about how well the venue did last year, and preview some of the upcoming gigs this year is not my idea of savvy marketing.

My favourite line is the intro: "Passing Auckland’s Vector Arena daily as it was being built in 2006; Guy Ngata would think 'that’s going to be great, I’d love to be part of that'." Barf.

I sincerely hope Star PR isn't still looking after this account - when they started up a few years back, they seemed to know what they were doing.

Compare that to Network PR's latest job to make hay for bankers in the middle of a financial collapse and you can see quite easily who's doing the better job.

(Incidentally, it's nice to see Network have figured out that they really shouldn't be advertising their wares when they're on the job - well done.)

End rant (and destructive procrastination),
PB.

When first we practise to deceive

I shouldn't really pass judgement on the purveyors of public relations as I spent a considerable amount of time trying to enter their hallowed ranks (only to be rebuffed at every turn), but perhaps one of our larger spinsters should wipe their fingerprints from certain releases they issue.

Network PR, a trans-Tasman comms company, is no novice. They know what they're doing, and they tend to do it very well.

Which makes me wonder why they didn't wipe their name from a press release for Tritec Manfacturing which announced the sacking of 25 workers two weeks out from Christmas.

Sure, they slipped in "Attempts have been made to minimise the impact by reducing costs", but I note Tritec didn't deem it necessary to let their public relations consultants go.

I wonder how many staff members could have kept their job if the manufacturer had penned its own press releases?

As it stands, we don't even know how much redundancy the workers will get - it looks like negotiations with the union have stalled and the workers will only get four weeks.

And to think I wouldn't have batted an eyelid at another round of lay-offs if I hadn't seen Network PR's handiwork.

Gee, I wonder what Network's rate card is looking like right now...

PB.