When you're grateful for the excellent PRs and press officers

I’m writing this from Merida, a pastel-hued city where I’ve been firmly ensconced for the past six days. Travelling is bringing me so much joy. I’ve relaxed on the idyllic and car-free island of Holbox, stayed with an arty Mexican family in Valladolid who surprised me a vegan chocolate cake on my birthday (which also involved having a peaceful solo 30-minute rotation of a cenote, checking into Casa Olivia in Merida and having a two-person deep tissue massage (woe my back from the 80-litre backpack), and dinner in a hip Mexican restaurant with a Chinese former journalist who now resides in Merida….all in all, a very bueno day), and over oversized margaritas in one of the oldest cantinas with local A told me that he and his family moved here as they wanted a safe sanctuary as kidnappings sadly became the norm in their home town in northern Mexico.

While I’m having this experience, I am also working. I’m juggling travel writing alongside my usual journalism and my media consultancy services, bringing together PRs for brainstorming sessions with journalists. And, on top of that, exploring. No requests for sympathy, of course. It’s a lot but it’s my decision. I can’t afford not to work.

I’ve been working alongside some press officers recently and although I work with many PRs and press officers that are absolutely fantastic, sometimes the experience just makes me shake my head. There’s often a lot of chasing from my side, and a total lack of effort and engagement from theirs. People doing the bare minimum: putting up just a spokesperson for a national interview and then when pushed for the CEO saying they can possibly arrange the following week. This is after asking for this initial request six weeks ago. There’s so much potential to go beyond, and dig deeper to help bring a story to life. I don’t know what their workflow is like on the other end, although I understand I am one of many journalists they’ll be in touch with. But it feels like such a contrast to when you work with excellent PRs and press officers who do everything to make a story happen: who set up the interview pronto, who you don’t have to chase, who send you additional useful information.

Although some of them I still need to work with because of the lack of companies in that space and because we’re nearly at the finishing line, you know you’ll remember the poor communications and will no doubt avoid in the future.