Breaking bread with PR pros: A kumbaya moment

Wined and dined, with a side order of ‘Come to Colorado’ cassoulet. (Shhhh! I kinda liked it)

“PR is the enemy.”

This credo is drilled into every young journalist’s brain, starting on the first day of J-101.

Reporters develop an “us vs. them” mentality when it comes to PR professionals. (Flacks. There, I said it.) We don’t want to be sweet-talked into writing fluff. We hate getting badgered with phone calls. And there’s nothing worse than having your inbox flooded each morning with pitches you don’t want to read.

But a few weeks ago, I received a well-written invitation from the Vail Mountain Communications team to attend dinner at Charlie Trotter’s restaurant and learn more about the ski industry and Colorado.

Before I deleted the invitation, I had a few pressing questions:

“Do reporters really go to these things? Why was I invited? And what’s for dinner?”

Eating a free full-course dinner at Charlie Trotter’s was tough to pass up. How many times in your life can you say you chowed down on Muscovy duck breast with kumquats? I get excited when Lean Cuisine introduces a new enchilada.

So, I sent in my RSVP, marked it on my calendar and wondered what I had gotten myself into.