Toasting with a glass half full

So - a spot of positivity to take us in to the long weekend (hallelujiah...!)

Couple of things making me smile today - one that involves drinking, and one that doesn't. Let's start with the latter...

MEPRA - the Middle East PR Association - has recently been resurrected from zombie status by the indomitable Rebecca, who has been doing a sterling job rousing all of us in the industry out of a collective grumpy stupor. I'm a member for the first time in about 6yrs (I was a member when I first arrived, and quickly decided to save my cash), and am actually getting involved...

Yesterday saw the first Twitter workshop held by Spot On PR at the Hilton, and by all accounts it went down a storm. There were certainly interesting tweets about the event, with Dubai 92 DJ Catboy interacting with the participants thru Twitter in real time.

The next one is due to be held at the DME, on the trading floor (my gaff) on the 26th July, and seems to be coming together rather nicely. Rebecca sent the invite today at 10am and it was fully booked by 3pm. Not too shabby, especially as it's summer time and in theory everyone has fled the sandpit.

I'm looking forward to it, should be a good event. Will be good to see the SpotOn crowd in the flesh, rather than the Twitterverse, for a change!

In other news, a friend and meeja-type also recently decided that us birds in PR and the media don't get together nearly enough, and floated the idea of a networking event. She sent the invite to her network, and a good few of us were briefed to pass it on to our respected networks, and so far, she's had an excellent response.

It'll be good to have a chance to socialize with some of the people that you tend to just run in to at industry events, when one or the other usually has a particular agenda/manic client/deadline. It'll also be rather nice to meet some of the people who are currently just names in the ether. I'm looking forward to it.