It's not everyday at work that you get an email sent round entitled 'Champagne on the mezzanine'. Well, actually, it seems to be getting that way in my company and I'm not complaining. This is the second day on the trot that I have floated home in a booze-filled haze giggling quietly to myself unperturbed by delayed trains and signal faults.
Yesterday was my first glimpse into the champagne lifestyle that can be publishing. Towards the end of the day, we all received an email inviting us to join Lauren Weisberger (author of The Devil Wears Prada for those of you who, like me, didn't have a clue who she was) in celebrating having sold 1 million copies of her novel on the mezzanine floor now. Not wanting to appear too 
keen, I waited to see if anyone else was already out of their seats and hot-footing it down to the party, but no. It appears that events like this are commonplace in publishing and not at all unexpected. I did manage to drag along my friend Lucy and we proceeded to get light-headed in amongst the schmoozing. We didn't trust ourselves to speak to Lauren so we hung around the food table instead and happily scoffed on spring rolls, sausages and posh smoked salmon canapes. I have every faith that Lucy could have found something intellectual to say but I certainly couldn't think above "I liked your book!" Hopefully my banter will improve. Lauren did seem very sweet and kept thanking everyone for all the help and support she had received when publishing her book with us. When she looked in my general direction, I nodded in a kind of "That's OK Lauren" way, having played not one single part in her fame or the success of her book.
keen, I waited to see if anyone else was already out of their seats and hot-footing it down to the party, but no. It appears that events like this are commonplace in publishing and not at all unexpected. I did manage to drag along my friend Lucy and we proceeded to get light-headed in amongst the schmoozing. We didn't trust ourselves to speak to Lauren so we hung around the food table instead and happily scoffed on spring rolls, sausages and posh smoked salmon canapes. I have every faith that Lucy could have found something intellectual to say but I certainly couldn't think above "I liked your book!" Hopefully my banter will improve. Lauren did seem very sweet and kept thanking everyone for all the help and support she had received when publishing her book with us. When she looked in my general direction, I nodded in a kind of "That's OK Lauren" way, having played not one single part in her fame or the success of her book.Having marked this down as a one-off event, I was more than a bit excited to receive an email this afternoon with a similarly boozy 'Drinks' as its title. I didn't even need to know what it was for, all I knew was that it was 4pm and we were being offered free champagne! The event was to wish a member of staff well in her new job....a job in the same company in the same office and at the same desk, just a different role! Any old excuse it seems. I then proceeded to spend the next 1 and a half hours drinking champagne and trying to soak it up with Kettle chips. And then it was time to go home!
It's no wonder I love my job. I could so get used to this!
1 comment:
At Visteon, we get a free cup of tea and mince pie every Xmas..
Glad to hear things are going well and you're keeping up with Rhod on the school night drinking!
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