The company had a new phone system installed in the Washington office a week ago, and for days I wondered if it worked. My phone didn’t ring, there were no messages in voice mail, I never had two lines going at once. I was sure it was defective. Then I figured it out. I was the only person left in the city.
That’s right. The nation’s capital was empty. It’s a good thing the cold war is over, because the door was open. And where was everyone? San Diego.
While I could stand out in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue in broad daylight and swing a dead elephant without harming a soul, everyone I needed to contact was schmoozing it up on the Republican National Convention floor.
Case in point-Several senators active on the Commerce Committee reportedly sent a letter a few weeks back to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, pummeling him with questions related to his performance during a June oversight hearing.
Sources said some of the questions were pretty good, that many of them dealt with a little spleen-venting. But could I get in touch with any of the legislators involved? No-o-o-o; they were in San Diego. I called committee staffers for a copy of the letter. A temp answered. Sorry, call back next week. Everyone’s i*…*San Diego.
I’ve got another story brewing for a future issue that focuses on marketing tactics aimed at a particular up-and-coming demographic. I called up some of the most prominent direct-mail gurus and market researchers in the industry. Ring…ring…ring. Leave a message-we’re in-you guessed it-San Diego. Marketers? Researchers? Is there something about this convention that isn’t showing up on TV?
Ted Koppel packed up his “Nightline” crew early and left Convention Central, claiming there was no news. There has to be news. All my newsmakers are there. I’m beginning to re-think this whole Chicago thing.
I can’t go through another week this month (Ah*…*August in Washington) with all of my sources and their handlers living it up somewhere else.
O.K. O.K. So I did get one business call last week. At home. From NextWave VP Jim Madsen, who was ringing, of course, from San Diego, just to show off the clarity of his company’s three-cell experimental Code Division Multiple Access PCS system now operational in NextWave’s home city. Yes, the call was surprisingly crisp and clear. Jim told me the handset looked and felt good.
Even so, there was something funny about the call; it cut out every time we brought up affirmative action, immigration or a woman’s right to choose! Go figure.
