Awards night turned out to be a big deal
Excellent Deal of the Year bash.
Lots of brave professionals refusing to let recession get them down.
Birmingham always seems to show its best side when battling adversity.
Tim Watts, chairman of the judging panel, quipped that his theme tune had now changed from You’re So Vain to Help Me Make It Through the Night.
But it was a barnstorming speech – “the Midlands leads; we don’t follow”.
And Alun Thorne, head of business at the Birmingham Post, quipped: “I have heard some people are even spending their own money in Metro bar.”
Still, recession or no recession, the wine and champagne saw a big improvement in quality on previous years.
So bravo to the Hyatt Hotel where the event was held.
And a big turnout.
Charlotte Crossley, of Core Marketing, was back from honeymoon in Rome; lawyer Alex Bishop was getting excited about her impending wedding to Guy Wallace.
Edward Carter tells Bright he is winding down his career at PR firm Freshwater and is planning to launch himself as a management consultant.
“A bit like John James without the …”
Yes, thanks Edward, we won’t go there.
Zanna Patchett, née Woods-Scawen, is back from maternity leave and in good form.
And Michael Ward, of Gateley Wareing, is still speaking to me despite a previous Bright article pulling his leg about celebrating his 60th birthday in Portugal.
About 80 of the troops are heading out.
I joke with bus pass holders Derek Inman and Diane Benussi – the latter is threatening to uncover my mole at the ballet after John Bright ticked her off for leaving early.
But no sign of David Bucknall – the troops claim he is sulking because he is always being referred to as aged 71 when he is in fact 70.
PR veteran Paul Shrimpton comes out with the worst joke of the year so far.
“What is the most common owl?”
Answer: “A tea towel.”
Well, I did warn you.
And then it sort of went downhill from there as the alcohol began to have an effect.
Whoever apologised for looking bleary-eyed – because they had somehow managed to put two pairs of contact lenses on top of each other – your apology was accepted.
But my notebook has let me down and I have no recollection of who I was speaking to!
And amazingly I managed to pour myself out, stagger on to a bus home and not actually lose anything – umbrellas, hats and scarves are scattered around the country.
Well done the Birmingham Post and Birmingham Forward.
