Picture the scene: It's Saturday morning, my son's 6th birthday. The postman brings a brightly coloured padded envelope, and we gather round to open it. I give it a shake - it rattles. Maybe some Lego from Granny? A few Star Wars figures?
I tip it open and it's a pile of broken glass. The kids and the cat jump back in alarm, but my daughter still manages to cut her foot on a shard.
So what happened was this: a PR firm have sent out invitations to an event, displayed in a mirror frame. They put the frame in some bubblewrap, unsealed. They put the bubblewrap in a jiffy bag, unsecured. So for the want of a couple of pieces of sellotape, instead of making a good impression of the company running the event, they've left a journalist (meself) thinking "Jesus Christ, what idiot did this?"
Since I've been writing for ParentDish I've had much more contact with PRs than ever before, and on the whole my experience has been good, unlike some of my colleagues elsewhere. But it's the little things that make a big difference. Like the PRs who phone up, even though I don't put my phone number on media requests and specifically ask to be contacted by email. Like the people who say "Hi, we've spoken before" even though I know we never have. Like the ones who send a PDF when you ask for a jpeg.
I will be posting about the good PR practice I've encountered soon, but till then, take care of the little details. And please don't send me broken glass again.
Unbelievable! There are plenty of people who would say you should name the company that did this - and publish any subsequent correspondence from the company concerned.
Posted by: Linda | June 15, 2009 at 08:09 PM
I think I'm still in shock. It must have cost such a lot to send out mirrors as invitations, why would you be so sloppy about the packaging? Can't believe mine was the only one to break in transit. Am still finding tiny little bits of mirror on the floor.
Posted by: Joanne Mallon | June 15, 2009 at 08:23 PM
Mind-boggling stupidity! Apart from anything else, there are plenty of plastic mirrors they could have sent which are pretty much unbreakable!
Posted by: Simon - presentation skills training | June 25, 2009 at 02:04 PM
mmmmm....mirrors as an invitation?
wow that is really stupid and neglected.....
poor little girl!!
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