eBottle

What does a journalist dress like?

Well, according to my professor, you're not a business person, but you're not taking out the trash either, so...

yeah. Somewhere in between there lies the elusive uniform of a professional journalist. Mr. Gil Klein wears khakis and a blue blazer - his self-proclaimed daily wardrobe for the past 40 years. How to apply that to a female reporter? You got me.

The result of this confusion over whether or not to blend in, stand out or disregard clothing entirely (a tempting, though admittedly slightly unprofessional approach) was me completely overdressing for what turned out to be a relatively casual event.

Our journalism class assignment was to attend a press conference in the morning and have a story written on it by 4:00pm that evening.
The event, a "press conference" (which turned out to be an arranged 'discussion' between representatives from eBay, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and a environmentally conscious organization called Cooler Inc) where small online business's capabilities for improving the environment were discussed. .

I'd say the highlight of the whole affair was the complimentary breakfast that the host, the National Press Club, so graciously provided. I, a newbie to this whole being a reporter thing, however, wasn't aware that the breakfast was indeed for the attending press at the press conference, and proceeded to stand in a corner for fear of taking someone's chair or food - when both the chair and food were, in fact, intended for, well, me, the "reporter".

Anyhow, putting all embarrassing beginner's mistakes aside, the conference was a good introduction, and an interesting opportunity to watch how representatives of a cause and representatives of a corporation sometimes fail to see eye to eye. Seeing the president of eBay call the conference's designated questioner's wife a "lunatic" (to which he indignantly responded) wasn't so bad either.

I also got a free water bottle. So, overall, success.


[I'll put the article I wrote on the "event"/conference/terribly tame and painfully cordial conversation in the following post]