I'll never get over this
"I go to so few launches that I think my reputation among PRs is poor. Perhaps I should go to more, but for me they are not a cost effective use of my time. I don’t live in London, I’m a single mother with no paid childcare, and so to travel there in order to see a moisturiser or lipstick seems wasteful – in terms of time and money (I could have written a feature in the same time and unlike salaried journalists, I am not paid for attending launches, only for writing words). I have several branches to my job and I can’t justify going to a launch when there’s always something I should be writing at home. I also prefer not to attend functions where every journalist hears the same presentation, sees the same demonstration etc. This frustrates some brands and PRs, and I understand why. But what I tend to do instead is sit at a table in a London cafe or bar for a whole day, and have PRs drop in one after the other to discuss which products they have coming up. This way I can pack in much more information and product, have unique, tailored and more insightful conversations, and can manage my own schedule. It’s a much better way of working for me, and yields better content from my perspective."