Getting my schmooze on

I’ll just say this: yesterday I gave Patrick Gower, possibly New Zealand’s best political news reporters for 3 news, a ride to the pub in the back of my beat up old Toyota Sprinter with the broken doors. He took a photo from the back seat and tweeted it. I mentally performed a self-hi five.

Yesterday we had the Wintec Press Club, a cool little event that happens three times a year, where all us third year journalism students get to go have a free lunch with a whole bunch of people from the media. 

This time, the organiser and our editor in residence Steve Braunias has set up a little competition. Get as many business cards as you can (with points for whose business card it is) and the winner would get a prize. In true Braunias fashion, the prize was alcohol, which a lucky second year student managed to snatch up. Still, I’ve got some pretty cool contacts now, including the editor of the NZ herald, and numerous politicians.

I had a particularly awkward moment with the editor of the Waikato Times after I’d been chatting with him for a few minutes. He said he was off, and I sort of touched him on the shoulder while he went to shake my hand, and I went to shake his hand, while he sort of went in for the hug. So yeah, I ended up hugging the editor of the Waikato Times goodbye, but he’ll now probably remember me as that awkward hug girl. Making an impression.

After hitting the pub, (I didn’t want to drink so I was the sober driver of the night), we headed over to a karaoke bar with a reporter for the Waikato Times and ex Wintec student Jenna Lynch, and Sebastian Van der Zwan from Woman’s Day. We then discovered two things: the asian guy behind the counter at the karaoke bar could really sing, and the one other patron there was possibly crazy, and very into her karaoke.

That was definitely a day to remember.