Maarten Lafeber & Phil Kenyon at Adare Manor 2008
In 2007 and 2008 the business of sourcing news from all over the
world was straightforward. It looks set to become so once again. From the
laptop I ran a successful 2-way communications channel with client distributor
networks around the world. A lot of it was habit: once they got used to it they
were easily able to forward me business or sporting information (some of the
content being quite commercially sensitive) and I was able to sift worthwhile
bits out of the data and turn them into news output.
But from the grand stratagems and bold plans that were still
imminently to be implemented in July 2008, everyone’s cojones shrivelled
rapidly. In my case, two thirds of my
revenue stream went west in 72 hours. Two clients in Dublin went into administration
on the same day! The Trust Curve plummeted and bottomed out, giving way to a
febrile instinct for preservation. In my guts I know that in restoring that
confidence, the finished curve will resemble a bathtub in cross section.
Trust was the key. They knew they could just send me the barest
details, contact info and maybe a photo and it would be researched, written,
approved and put out. I think we set a record – Phil Kenyon and I – at The
Irish Open at Adare Manor in 2008… Phil texted me in the Media Centre to say
he was about to coach Maarten Lafeber on the practice green. From chatting to
ML, his manager and taking photos to draft approval and uploading to the web
wire services: 23 minutes.
I could trust in the fact, meanwhile, that the network was
passionate enough about their work to want to get me decent news stories in
order to file regular and relevant copy. Most frustrating of all, at the time
of the economic meltdown in the Summer of 2008 I and a lot of my contacts were
still wary of the new technology such as BBs and iPhones. The freedom and
leeway for creativity the iPhone and communications apps by themselves can
provide is frankly staggering.
But now, as a re-vitalized (and in parts new) network goes on the
road, the information stream is growing daily. Aside from the fact I now have a
new momentum in my own professional life, this is likely the most reliable
indicator of a recovery I have yet to see. And while I’m anxious not to kaibosh
my chances by declaring the recession’s over (nobody likes a smartarse) I’ll
paraphrase that nice Mr Churchill by whispering to myself that it might at
least be the end of the beginning.