PR Voice

Blackberry With Your Turkey?

It's amazing how much our working practices have changed isn't it? When I first started work the first thing I was shown how to use was the new fax machine. There were no mobile phones and we all just took a couple of days off over Christmas and New Year and would return between the two bank holidays without a single thought, feeling refreshed. Today, Christmas is a genuine two or even three week break.

I actually love to go into the office between Christmas and New Year. It's the perfect time for 'sorting' – for getting through the filing, for making lists (something I do endlessly!) and for planning for the year ahead. I love the peace of it all and the satisfaction you get from completing all those small chores you've been putting off.

There's also part of me that sees it as a refuge. Getting away from the Christmas fuelled children, the chaos that surrounds the endless presents (where do you put them all??), the family politics and the endless eating...

Yet, while the two week break can be beneficial, especially if you're a slave to the school holidays, there is still the odd client or contact that sees your flexible working approach as something to their benefit.

There I am, 6pm Christmas Eve evening, apron on, I'm making home made Cranberry sauce with a sense of domestic smugness. All my mail order Christmas presents have arrived (just!), they have been wrapped and everything seems to be in order. Then ping...in comes a message wanting a response.

Today, people do expect an instant response. We seem to get impatient if we don't get a reply within a couple of hours. So while modern technology has made our lives more flexible, I do question how much 'freedom' it really has given us. No more can we leave the office at the office; instead it's now all over our homes.

Perhaps I'm being harsh; after all I'd never be without my pda, laptop and data card, especially when I'm travelling up and down to London from Worcestershire. It has taken the stress factor out of not knowing what is going on, while you're out and about. The sense of needing to know what is going on seems to have taken over and now dominates. We seem to think nothing about receiving emails from colleagues at odd times of the day or night.

For me, the lesson is simple. Christmas Eve is a special time, especially with my very young family and next year I shall just switch everything off at the appropriate time...unless of course its urgent...then my mobile will always be on!!

Double bookings.......

The CIPR Government Affairs Group usually holds its Christmas lunch on the first Friday in December. For various reasons it was postponed until the second Friday - and therefore clashed with the CIPR Christmas lunch. Still, where there is a will....

So we all convened on to the Terrace for drinks at mid-day, and then in to the Members' Dining Room at one o'clock. David Dimbelby gave a very amusing speech, in which he 'outed' himself as a member of the infamous Bullingdon Club - and even donned the frock coat to prove it!

Sliding away discreetly after the speech I made it just in time for the main course at St James's Square. CIPR staffers were in the mood to relax and unwind - not surprisingly after a year of great pressure and activity.

Then back to the Red Lion to join the GAG lunchers for their post-prandial drinks. I was then supposed to catch up with the CIPR gang later that evening at the Loop in Hanover Square, but I have to confess that I actually beat an ingominous retreat homeward - knowing that another week of festive cheer lay ahead!