It was while I was enjoying a pleasant three-course lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street that I wondered about the popularity of press clubs. You see I was attending the long-standing monthly First Friday event for the first time – a sort of gathering of important journalists in the engineering industry.

At first glance – and being a cynical IT PR at heart – I thought it might be a good excuse for a nice meal and half a bottle of wine. I couldn’t be more wrong! Admittedly, the food and surroundings put you in mind of some long-forgotten age of hacks in hats with very long deadlines! Nowadays of course, that’s all changed, but the importance of regular and informative press gatherings that provide real value – and a chance to meet and greet and put names to faces, all in a rather agreeable sociable way – hasn’t.

We have become so obsessed with deadlines, email communication and quick turnarounds that to spend a few hours with client and journalist ‘chewing the fat’ over a glass of red is a rarity.

The problem is there are very few regular press events like First Friday anymore. Sure, you can meet your mates in the press office at MWC in Barcelona, Infosec or the BETT Show – but that’s usually once a year and in between running around like the proverbial fly . The engineering sector does it well and it does it regularly, so perhaps it’s time we used their example and replicated this type of event across other markets.

Cheers!