Friday 24 February 2012

tales of a pr novice



It all started last December when I was approached by a journalist who wanted to write an article about people using their homes in unusual ways as a result of these recessionary times we live in. She wanted to include a supper club in the piece. Being a complete pr novice and having never courted any publicity I was very surprised to find her email in my inbox but thrilled at the implication that yes there is at least one person out there who has read my blog and finds it interesting. So I did a phone interview with her and told her all about my supper clubs, why I run them, how I run them and she told me the pictures desk would be in touch. 

I waited.

They never called.

Several weeks passed with no sign of the article or word from the pictures desk and I presumed it had been shelved. I dropped her a quick email to inquire and was told it was still in the making and the pictures desk would be on to me shortly.  

Again I waited. 

In the meantime another journalist had been in touch wanting to do an article on supper clubs. This one moved much faster than the first and within a few weeks I'd the interview done and the photo-shoot arranged. 

Then sure enough photo desk number one finally got in touch to arrange a date and after a somewhat slapdash organisational mess we managed to fix a time to take some photos. Conveniently for me, the same day as photographer number two was coming round. Clever eh?

I figured if I actually waited until I was having a supper club to have the photos taken they'd never get done and it would be too stressy anyway. While it would be lovely to have proper photos of a supper club, with all those people in my tiny house there would be potential for things to go seriously wrong. My nerves couldn't handle it. Which is why my kitchen is currently set up for a dinner party that will never take place and I have a beautiful fresh baked cake that has no one to eat it. (I thought I should have at least something edible in the photograph, lest people think there's no food at my dinners.) There is a sadly poetic air permeating my kitchen right now.
I also had to get up very early this morning and put on a pretty dress and bright red lipstick which made me feel like an idiot. The things we do.





So that's that. My first flirtation with the press. I didn't break either of the cameras so hopefully the photos aren't too hideous. And hopefully the articles will eventually be printed. I'll be down the local shop scouring the relevant publications until then.




In case anyone's interested in the cake that I made for the occasion. Here it is. A beautiful boston cream cake from Lilly Higgin's Make Bake Love. As I'm a sucker for a chocolate cake I adapted it a bit and made a chocolate sponge, but I'm sure the original is as delicious. The custard filling is a new experience for me and one I will be repeating, it's extremely tasty. I'm not going to give you the recipe because I think you should all buy the book. It's a gorgeous addition to the shelf and it's supporting Irish entrepreneurs so do the right thing people.



I have just noticed that I made the same cake that Lilly poses with on the front cover of her book and the photographer had me pose in front of the table holding the cake in a very similar fashion. This was an entirely unintentional coincidence and I am now a little embarrassed. 

Keep an eye out for me in the papers!

3 comments:

  1. Ok, give me that cake, and there won't be any trouble...

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    Replies
    1. you'll have to come to Dublin and get it......

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  2. Fair enough, please make one for my visit!

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