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No smoke without fire
12-05-2010We had a bit of an interesting day in work. The business underneath our offices went on fire last night. Thankfully no-one was hurt and there wasn’t too much damage. We managed to get off very lightly with just some smoke damage. But my what a stench that leaves!
The reason of the fire was put down to an electrical fault which meant this morning we arrived into an office with no electric, no phone lines, no internet and now heating with every window and door in the place open to get rid of the smoke and the accompanying smell. This left us in a bit of a pickle. What exactly could we do in a PR office with no computers, no internet and no phones? The answer? Clean.
For anyone who works in an office you will understand that inevitably a certain amount of clutter will mount up. Take that clutter and multiply it ten fold for a PR office. Think magazines, newspapers, photocall props, photocall costumes, lectern branding, podium branding, press packs, table tents (and countless other event management paraphernalia), pull up stands, oversized logos, table plans, promotional posters, promotional flyers, thank you gifts from clients, thank you cards from clients, media reports, coverage clippings, not to mention a million little post it notes with 'key names and numbers' that have just been jotted down when busy that really should have been stored somewhere by now, the list could go on. I once took a picture of my office the day before an event I was working on and sent it to the other half, to say he was shocked would be putting it mildly. It is the same with any other PR person I have met. Organised chaos is how I like to refer to it - untidy it may be but name one tiny insignificant thing and I can instantly put my hand on it.
Considering we don't have time to do time sheets these days, the office tidying had got pushed to the wayside for a bit. A long bit. We have an office cleaner who comes in once a week and cleans around the clutter but the clutter itself has remained. So with little else to do while we waited for the electricians to turn back on our power we dug in.
By lunchtime I could actually see my desk, turns out it is made of wood, not piles of reports and post it notes. Go figure.
Fast forward 6 hours of sorting, moving, storing and filing, add to that 9 recycling bags, 2 black sacks of rubbish and here we are. The power is back on and I can sit in an immaculate office, at a fairly tidy desk and revel in this moment, for I can guarantee by this time next week, it will be but a distant memory.
Tags: work
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