"No one asked," Hunter slid forward to put her elbows on her knees, fixing Rico with her most serious reporter look. It would be so much better with a hat snugged down low over one eye. Note to self: Buy fedora.

"Boss Man, I know I'm not news, but I'd really like to write about Bontecou. He's not a bad guy, and I think he'd talk to me again if we handle this right. Plus... he confirmed..." Ugh. If she told the whole room her scoop might be stolen. "He confirmed he's infected with lycanthropy. From his own mouth. That's big."

She could appreciate the whole 'work together peacefully' concept. This time, her wink was for Rico (NOT Ian. No.). "I get you. After all, we have a relationship with them, one way or another. It's our moral responsibility to tell the truth and to keep the Ministry representing the best interests of the people. They can't object to that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obi-Wan K'Lari

Waiting for a chance to speak, she thought about "The Events at Hogwarts". She was not intimately acquainted with the school, but she had heard about it. Some of the richer girls had transfered out to there. Or here, now that she was in Britain. "From...the sight of one like me-that is to say, muggleborn-perhaps an introductory article on Quidditch would be...necessary? No, good, rather. And as a photo-grapher, if we can be permitted entrance to the...practice...training...of the teams, we can get some lovely shots. To the pitch site even."

Arjuna glanced at the two Asian-looking men(one looked more Asain than the other) and glanced back at the Editor. One of those men-more likely to be the man with the commanding tone and better English-was her boss. She couldn't say she liked him so far, but had she ever worked under anyone better?

"Not just information about the sport, but information about the countries that are coming here, perhaps. A cultural look. A look at the people and the teams they are sending. Isn't it something of a coup that we were able to get the World Cup two times in a row? Perhaps a sidebar about what steps we've taken as a nation to secure that right. Or a history of Quidditch in Britain?"

She was talking too much again, wasn't she? Hunter slid her head further into her hands so that all was visible above her hands were her eyes.

Lyric was late. You would think that showing up on time and listening and whatever would be the first things on your mind if you were a new employee. It sure wasn't on hers though. Halfway though...that editor dudes speech she had shown up. Luckily enough for her no one was really paying attention to the door and she slipped in without being noticed.

Leaning back on the chair, she listened to all the suggestions around her. Some of them were...okay they were all stupid. At least in her opinion. Who really cared about Werewolves at Hogwarts? Let them attack the kids now THAT would be interesting. "For the Cup we should write something about...maybe which teams are the most dangerous and which teams just suck?" Her voice came out quite and dull, she was pretty sure that no one had heard her but...who cared? She was just thinking out loud anyways.



Lyric sat up in the chair as her brown eyes fell on a guy who had just shot down someone's idea. She didn't know either of them but she couldn't help butting in. "And how do you suppose The Prophet is suppose to sell if it looks like a boring bunch of papers? Designs are needed. They catch people's attention. They make them want to buy."

Tristan started to chew on the rubber out of nervosity but stopped when he noticed Rico staring at him. Slowly, he put the pen down.
He took a deep breath as the boss started to write down the idea. Well that's out of the way now...
Tristan slowly turned his head tiredly to watch Hoshino, sounding like a firework about to explode.

As Tristan was about to speak, there was someone else who cut in. Surprised, he turned to a woman who looked slightly fierce. Tristan chuckled softly and smiled, nodding a thanks to her. Where did she come from?

He couldn't quite believe the words coming out of the photojournalists mouth though. Insulting the Daily Prophet's readers. If only they could hear him. Eyebrows raised, he glanced at the others, wondering if anyone else thought the same.
"Well, Hoshi." he said leaning against the table, "I'm sure there are alot of people who care. Maybe they think the Daily Prophet looks ugly, might be why no one buys it, it's not attractive." Tristan paused, watching Ian. "Just because you don't care, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't either." he finished with a short fake laugh, suddenly becoming serious again.

Salary?
"Ooooh that's right the salary comes from the ads. Well then, let's just hope you're always there to save the day!" Tristan's smile didn't reach his eyes. "But, if this newspaper depends on them, ofcourse we shouldn't change the system."

Miffed about the situation, Tristan started to doodle, on a small area, on the old table again.

Nathan smiled. Rico: bearer of good news... and good coffee – he was an absolute saint. He chuckled lightly. “I take my coffee black, so no problem there.” And with about five sugars to take the edge off...

The smile turned into a grin at the mention of new chairs. Woop! No more springs sticking into your bum cheeks every time you sat down! They should build a bon-fire come November the 5th with those old chairs.

He looked over at his layout colleague as he spoke up, satisfied that he wasn't the only one who thought the coffee was bad. He felt a little less stupid and sat back to listen to Tristan's ideas...

And what an idea it was!

"Would certainly make layout designing a little more interesting for us.” He agreed. He looked over at Ian the party pooper and then added. “The content wont change but maybe experimenting with the design would attract another audience. Some of the more fickle Quibbler readers perhaps. The ones who appreciate the ...er.. mental creative things in this life.”


“A werewolf!?” Nathan echoed, his eyes widening involuntarily before his brow furrowed into a look of concern. He had nothing against the poor unfortunate souls infected with lycanthropy... quite the reverse in fact – magical creatures were a bit of an obsession of Nathan's, but he had valid reasons to worry about the head being a wolfy type...

“Has this been reported to the authorities at the Ministry of Magic?” He queried. “My kids go to Hogwarts; my sister goes there. The safety of the children at that school should come before any story... no matter how many papers you think it'll sell.” Great. Now it sounded like he was up there on his high horse. Hah. Angelina would like that one – ...er... not.

Daphne waited for a break in the chatter before speaking. She was woefully uninformed on what was going on in the wizarding world. But she decided to swallow her pride and ask a question.

She almost raised her hand again, but quickly remembered to keep it planted firmly on the table. "So..." she interjected in the softest voice possible. "The Quidditch world cup's going to be in Britain, or are they just trying to get it here?" The moment she asked the question, she realised it might have been better to pose such a query to someone in the Ministry. If she hadn't been wearing blush, it would be been obvious that her cheeks turned slightly pink, as often happened when the fair skinned girl became embarrassed.

Moira rested her arms on her lap and watched the conversations go by... and go by. Ya know being new had its downs, but she rather preferred being the quiet one here. Safe in her own little bubble... hehehehee. Quiet quiet and she suddenly stared off into space... into complete filthiness. Even space here was filthy.

Ew.

But she was subdued back to reality when she saw a man *cough*TRISTAN*cough* writing/doodling... on the table. On the table. HOW DARE HE. Was that a skull?

An omen.

No, she wasn't going to smack the man to death.

But she did get out a garlic clove from her purse and started holding it for dear life, while still looking back at her co-workers. "I like the Snitch idea," well she did... sorta, "and might I suggest we add more cleaning product ads? It would help with ... our... safety." She nodded. Because ew, that Quidditch match or whatever it was would attract people. People meant crowds. Crowds were filthy.

Ew ew ew ew. She kept holding onto the clove, her hands shaking and suddenly felt the need to clean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luna Laufghudd

"Also," he blurted out before he changed his mind, "Is there a possibility to reduce the amount of advertisement on the pages? It's sort of messing with the...artistic design of the layout."
Tristan grimaced a smile, thinking about pointing the wand at himself and hoping to magick away the pain in his head. If he only knew how to.

Oh. That's an odd and new suggestion. Sienna was just waiting to see how Ian reacted to this, because he's worked soooooo hard in getting the shops to sign the contract. She knew it was a tough job, since she did it...once? Yes! Once! And she left Scribbulus with a quill, by the way. Very fun, indeed.

The artistic design...well...it was sort of an interesting idea, but how was she supposed to support such a thing if there was no 'new design' to show. Hmmmm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Before responding to anything else, Rico quickly leaned over his notes again to jot down something to remember. Xiao = Play Bad.

He straightened back up and listened to Xiao and Sienna go back and forth, nodding at the Managing Editor when she was done speaking. "I agree with Ms. Knoll here. It's like that old phrase I'm sure you've all heard..." well, maybe they handn't all heard it since half the staff was international. "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer? Perhaps a wise policy to have when dealing with the Ministry of Magic."

Not that he anticipated butting heads with Reagan Taylor that much. Hopefully.

Wise words indeed. So, she was supposed to keep either the french lady or the cleaning one CLOSER to her? Yes, that phrase had exceptions. Everything has exceptions.

Sienna nodded, but still waited to see if Xiao was going to mention something. Xiao and Ian should work together...perhaps something amusing might come out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ama

Tristan wanted to cut down on advertising to...supply the break room with better coffee? Hoshino chuckled, as a hand rose to rub his chin. "You cut back on advertising you cut back on your salary," he said looking at Serio but his words were clearly meant for Tristan. "Plus, that's just almost impossible. There's advertising contracts with just about every store in Diagon Alley. If we cut back on advertising we'd have to appease them first. Make room for their ads which would leave none for the smaller businesses and independent companies."

Not that he cared all that much about independent companies. The point was--there was no way anyone was touching his pay. "In short. I wouldn't go forward with it."

"Ok, Ian...first, house-wives aren't the only ones that read the paper" because that comment did hurt, "While it's true that artistic design isn't our first priority...it's not an idea to be so easily dismissed, since the Daily Prophet is the most read newspaper among wizards...ALL kinds, not just house-wives and Ministry workers, okay?" if she ever had to listen to him saying such a thing in the Streets, well, Ian might get in trouble. He could be the Advertisement Editor, but that was no way of promoting the paper.

So, Ad space. That's tricky. She didn't look at Ian when she mentioned this, she simply wrote down the same thing she said, "Perhaps it's up to you, the Layout section, to come with a way of keeping the same Ad space...or increasing it...without being a bit of a trouble for you" she eyed Tristan this time, "But decreasing it...It's out of the question at the moment" because the money was needed to make up for ALL the changes (necessary changes) that Enrico was making to the Prophet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"Not just information about the sport, but information about the countries that are coming here, perhaps. A cultural look. A look at the people and the teams they are sending. Isn't it something of a coup that we were able to get the World Cup two times in a row? Perhaps a sidebar about what steps we've taken as a nation to secure that right. Or a history of Quidditch in Britain?"

She was talking too much again, wasn't she? Hunter slid her head further into her hands so that all was visible above her hands were her eyes.

And her. Sienna liked her. Just like Xiao. They were...sort of normal, if such a word even exists in the Daily Prophet. "The cultural look. That's something the 'Lifestyle' Section could work on" she smiled and nodded. It was possible that the reason why she liked the idea was because Quidditch was not too involved in it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luna Laufghudd

"Well, Hoshi." he said leaning against the table, "I'm sure there are alot of people who care. Maybe they think the Daily Prophet looks ugly, might be why no one buys it, it's not attractive." Tristan paused, watching Ian. "Just because you don't care, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't either." he finished with a short fake laugh, suddenly becoming serious again.

Salary?
"Ooooh that's right the salary comes from the ads. Well then, let's just hope you're always there to save the day!" Tristan's smile didn't reach his eyes. "But, if this newspaper depends on them, ofcourse we shouldn't change the system."

Miffed about the situation, Tristan started to doodle, on a small area, on the old table again.

Uh-Oh. Hoshi? Ian was NOT going to enjoy that. Enrico seemed to enjoy 'Boss Man', but...Ian...Hoshi...

"I think, Tristan..." she started, looking at him, "...if you have any ideas, on paper, then please let Hoshi--no see them" oops, she was almost 'almost' going to fall for it. "Well, not just Ian...the new arrangement will have to go through us" she nodded, gesturing towards Enrico, Ian and herself.

That was only if Tristan had any new ideas involving the layout design or whatever...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dingDong

But she did get out a garlic clove from her purse and started holding it for dear life, while still looking back at her co-workers. "I like the Snitch idea," well she did... sorta, "and might I suggest we add more cleaning product ads? It would help with ... our... safety." She nodded. Because ew, that Quidditch match or whatever it was would attract people. People meant crowds. Crowds were filthy.

Ew ew ew ew. She kept holding onto the clove, her hands shaking and suddenly felt the need to clean.

Sienna chuckled. Why was she not surprised about her suggestion? "If we get a cleaning company to advertise themselves in our paper, then...yes" she said, firmly, "If not...it's really not up to us" there. Ian was always getting new contracts but they weren't going to 'make up' products or campaign for something they weren't getting paid for. There's no such thing as free advertisement.

"However, if anyone is interested...an article on cleaning, or something related to it, could be done" she placed her quill down. All she needed to add were deadlines.

Deadlines. She'll talk about it when the meeting is almost over.

Yes. Deadlines.

And the meeting had officially started?

From what he could hear, Cole had caught bits and pieces of the conversation that had started in between a few more new Prophet employees scrambling into the conference room and the announcement that the Quidditch World Cup was going to be hosted in Britain this year. This little fact had caught his attention as he was one of the new sports journalists for the newspaper. Plus he did have some sort of a connection when it came to, at the very least, one professional Quidditch player, even if the man was a bit full of himself. Either way an article with such a person would be interesting, especially after that article about the Hogwarts versus All-Stars match in the latest issue of the Evening Prophet....

“Perhaps a few of us from the sports section of the paper could contact a few of the professional players for an interview?” Cole said looking at his new boss to the other faces of the staff, trying his best to avoid making any eye-contact with the Bubble-Head Charm Lady. “I do have a connection to a rather popular professional player, and I’m sure that he would not mind being interviewed. Or, if we wanted some more input from other players for an article or two, we could ask the head of the Games and Sports department to pull a few strings for us.”

Having thrown out a suggestion, he folded his hands on the table and noticed that a man was doodling on the ancient table as if it were a normal activity to do during a meeting. Peering out of the corner of his eye, he tried his best not to let a grin appear as he looked momentarily at the Bubble-Head Charm Lady’s face. She didn’t look exactly pleased to be seeing someone doodling on the table. But what was she clutching in her hands?

Don’t sneeze, Parker. … You don’t need to sne- “ACHOO!”

Hunter gave him a flat look, generally affronted at his attitude. He didn't even KNOW her and he was giving her a lecture on capitalism and not being selfish.

How... presumptuous. And rude.

"The Ministry was in charge of the Headmaster's recovery, as well as thoroughly interrogating him several times. I"m sure if he was willing to share with us, he told them as well," Hunter told the man in clipped tones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lockhartian

And her. Sienna liked her. Just like Xiao. They were...sort of normal, if such a word even exists in the Daily Prophet. "The cultural look. That's something the 'Lifestyle' Section could work on" she smiled and nodded. It was possible that the reason why she liked the idea was because Quidditch was not too involved in it.

"Right," Hunter had obviously lost all enthusiasm for this meeting. Crazy people. Rude ones. THIS was what she had been so eager for? Abuse and madness? "I'd be happy to help with that feature as well."

Or something.

Ah well. Hoshino shot down that idea of Tristan's rather quickly... but if it had to be done it had to be done.

"I agree... and I don't," Rico spoke up. "There's room for more creativity in designing the pages, sure. Perhaps you could create a sample page to show me what you mean, Tristan? But as for cutting down on advertisements... well we just can't afford that, literally, like Ian said. Sorry mate."

Sri Lanka lady was next, and yes, Rico actually did have a good grasp on geography. He knew exactly where that was.

"An introductory article to Quidditch sounds genius - and it sounds like there's plenty of room for creative photos or designs there," Rico nodded at the new employee. "Perhaps we could liven up the page with an infographic showing how Quidditch works, how the pitch is split up, etc. I like it."

He also really really liked this Hunter girl. Hiring her, it seemed, had been his best decision yet. Especially if she kept calling him Boss Man, heheh. "So you think spotlighting the headmaster, maybe doing an honest one-on-one piece about him would be beneficial?"

He returned her wink with a sly one of her own. "Or you can go the cultural route, sure. I'm not opposed to you writing two articles, Miss Bones."

Rico was a little opposed to someone being soooooo late at this point though. He regarded the newest arrival, Lyric, carefully but nodded at her idea. "Do you personally know which are most dangerous? Which just 'suck'?" He chuckled. "Now that would be a different piece: a listing of the worst of the worst, the teams that aren't even in the running for the Quidditch World Cup. Do it."

So that took care of most of the writers. Tristan, then, wasn't very pleased to be shot down by Hoshino (obviously) and Nathan clearly never read his own paper, or else he would have already heard about the werewolf thing. Ha. Rico brushed off the man's bit of confusion and turned to the head of the sports section.

"Uhm, I think the cup is definitely set to be held here. Pretty sure about that one." He scratched his ear with his quill and then added, "But you might want to speak to a spokeswizard or something to get confirmation on that before we publish anything."

Boss Man folded his arms then and rested them on the back of his chair, which yes, he was still standing behind. He let Sienna speak her piece and was pleased she stood up for the paper against Ian. Just another reason to admire the woman; she was tenacious. And had great hair.

But back to the writers, most of which had already spoken up with an idea or two by now. "Yeah... hey, you've got connections to a pro player??" Rico straightened back up and stared at the sneezing sports writer. "Bless you. But really, connections to who? Could he come into the office one day per chance? Just.... I'm just, you know, curious..."

Not a fanboy, he was just curious. That was all.

Quote:

Lyric sat up in the chair as her brown eyes fell on a guy who had just shot down someone's idea. She didn't know either of them but she couldn't help butting in. "And how do you suppose The Prophet is suppose to sell if it looks like a boring bunch of papers? Designs are needed. They catch people's attention. They make them want to buy."

"You're right. Design is important, are you saying the Prophet currently looks boring? Even if it did, it probably wouldn't matter much. As it is, we have no other solid competition," offered Ian in clarification waving a hand. "Unless you count The Quibbler. Which is hardly considered a paper at all. No competition means you can slap the news on a pie of loo paper, charm it to talk to you while you sit on the toilet and people would still buy it."

Quote:

Tristan slowly turned his head tiredly to watch Hoshino, sounding like a firework about to explode.

As Tristan was about to speak, there was someone else who cut in. Surprised, he turned to a woman who looked slightly fierce. Tristan chuckled softly and smiled, nodding a thanks to her. Where did she come from?

He couldn't quite believe the words coming out of the photojournalists mouth though. Insulting the Daily Prophet's readers. If only they could hear him. Eyebrows raised, he glanced at the others, wondering if anyone else thought the same.

"Well, Hoshi." he said leaning against the table, "I'm sure there are alot of people who care. Maybe they think the Daily Prophet looks ugly, might be why no one buys it, it's not attractive." Tristan paused, watching Ian. "Just because you don't care, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't either." he finished with a short fake laugh, suddenly becoming serious again.

Salary?
"Ooooh that's right the salary comes from the ads. Well then, let's just hope you're always there to save the day!" Tristan's smile didn't reach his eyes. "But, if this newspaper depends on them, of course we shouldn't change the system."

Miffed about the situation, Tristan started to doodle, on a small area, on the old table again.

"Again, selling isn't an issue. There is no other competition. Those who have the smarts enough to keep themselves informed have no other choice but to buy the Prophet. It's the price the copies are being sold for," he murmured. "Then there's the printing expenses, and salary, and renovations," he added glancing at Enrico.

Had he seen new chairs? "Personally, you could cut down on advertisements and I wouldn't blink an eye. Merlin knows I don't need the money but the Prophet wouldn't survive without them. If the Prophet starts going down, what do you think would happen to you?"

Quote:

He looked over at his layout colleague as he spoke up, satisfied that he wasn't the only one who thought the coffee was bad. He felt a little less stupid and sat back to listen to Tristan's ideas...

And what an idea it was!

"Would certainly make layout designing a little more interesting for us.” He agreed. He looked over at Ian the party pooper and then added. “The content wont change but maybe experimenting with the design would attract another audience. Some of the more fickle Quibbler readers perhaps. The ones who appreciate the ...er.. mental creative things in this life.”

"If only to get them to stare at the design, it's worth a try I suppose." Hoshino really doubted they'd be doing any actual reading of news.

Quote:

But she did get out a garlic clove from her purse and started holding it for dear life, while still looking back at her co-workers. "I like the Snitch idea," well she did... sorta, "and might I suggest we add more cleaning product ads? It would help with ... our... safety." She nodded. Because ew, that Quidditch match or whatever it was would attract people. People meant crowds. Crowds were filthy.

"As long as they pay," said Ian raising a brow at the woman's direction. Honestly. She was making the room reek of garlic.

Quote:

"Ok, Ian...first, house-wives aren't the only ones that read the paper" because that comment did hurt, "While it's true that artistic design isn't our first priority...it's not an idea to be so easily dismissed, since the Daily Prophet is the most read newspaper among wizards...ALL kinds, not just house-wives and Ministry workers, okay?" if she ever had to listen to him saying such a thing in the Streets, well, Ian might get in trouble. He could be the Advertisement Editor, but that was no way of promoting the paper.

So, Ad space. That's tricky. She didn't look at Ian when she mentioned this, she simply wrote down the same thing she said, "Perhaps it's up to you, the Layout section, to come with a way of keeping the same Ad space...or increasing it...without being a bit of a trouble for you" she eyed Tristan this time, "But decreasing it...It's out of the question at the moment" because the money was needed to make up for ALL the changes (necessary changes) that Enrico was making to the Prophet.

Wait for it. Wait for it.

No. Not quite. Ian Hoshino was sorely tempted to roll his eyes at Sienna. Touchy. Sensitive. It wasn't like she qualified as a housewife anyways. Hardly.

"If it's more room for news that you want you can always increase the number pages but that increases the printing expenses which--solves nothing."

There. He had tried to accommodate to their whims but it was just basically impossible. The Prophet had worked fine since it was established. Hoshino didn't see the point in making it in 'fun' little shapes like snitches and quaffles and--what was next? The shape of a quidditch player's head?

Daphne sat upright, hastily scribbling down notes. This Quidditch World Cup would be one heck of a story to do her first time out as an Editor. She knew it would be really tough, but she also was relieved to see she had some very competent members on her team.

It appeared she wasn't the only new member on the Prophet. The man she was seated next to spoke of being a sports writer. She carefully listened to his ideas and was pleased to hear he had a contact. After he finished speaking, she turned to him. "So you're a sports writer? I'm your editor, Daphne," the girl smiled, brushing her red curls out of her face. She extended her hand, but the writer let out a very loud sneeze.

"Bless you," she whispered, digging through her pocket book. She found a crisp, clean white handkerchief for the gentleman. "Keep it," she said, handing it over.

Daphne took a break from notetaking to crack her knuckles and flex her hands. She hadn't done much writing since graduating, and it appeared her hands weren't quite up to for the task yet. Looking around, she didn't see others doing what she was, so she figured it was alright to relax for a bit.

She was slightly intimidated by the thought of sending official communications to the Ministry, even if it was just to a spokeswizard. She didn't even know who was the proper person to contact. To avoid problems, she decided to be brave enough to admit her lack of knowledge. "So whom might I contact in the Games and Sports department to get confirmation about the event?" she inquired in her most formal tone imaginable. If she was to be an important editor, she needed to act and sound like one too. Given her very professional and stylish attire, she found this less challenging than she anticipated.

Jane had remained silent. She listened carefully to all the suggestions and the banter, holding her tongue a few times, even bitiing it in order to stop herself from responding when questions and comments that had nothing to do with her were asked.

So werewolves... quidditch cup... surely that wasn't going to be the only focus of the paper? She twisted her hair around her pencil thoughtfull and then let go all of a sudden, the pencil remaining in her hair.

"Mr. Ser... Rico, perhaps we could have a few advertisements disguised as articles, or just... articles that are subtle reinforcments of the advertisements being run? What I mean is, Diagon Alley, now that the kids are all back at school, could be featured as a series, Diagon Alley as a whole; where to go and what to see for grown witches and wizards rather than excited children. Maybe a shop by shop feature, interviewing the shopkeepers and possibly in the process we might get information that will help the newsies with their stories too? Shop keepers see and here far more than most people think, we might find a few exclusives that can be used across the sections. Maybe we can even convince the shops to pay for their own articles, sell them as if they are... specialist advertising aimed at convincing the subconcious to shop at whichever store is being featured."

Jane looked around the table apologetically and added, "...and it would bring in more revenue."

Ivy listened to Jane, surprised. That was a really good idea. She sure hoped the editors would agree. She wondered what shops a Lifestyle journalist would interview/review.

Oops!

Well, that was really embarrassing. No, the fact that his new boss was curious in his connection with a famous professional Quidditch player wasn’t what was embarrassing. He just had to sneeze because of the Bubble-Head Charm Lady and her garlic clove just when his section boss was introducing herself to him. That was just … lovely. NOT! Cole smiled at the redheaded woman with a slight look of embarrassment on his face as he reached out for the handkerchief.

“Thank you,” he quickly said to Daphne, pulling the handkerchief up to his nose. After wiping it, just in case, he pocketed the white handkerchief. “I’m Parker, Cole Parker. Please to meet you, and, err, thank you again for the handkerchief.” He politely nodded his head to her and turned his head slightly so that he was looking back at Rico with his ice blue eyes.

“I have a connection with the one and only Colin MacKenzie,” he finally replied to the head honcho, the whole sneezing thing forgotten for the most part. “He was formerly a player in the British and Irish Quidditch League as Keeper for the Montrose Magpies, but word is that he now plays for England in the Quidditch World Cup. ... As for your question about whether or not he would be able to come here for an interview, I am not really sure if he’d be able to. However, I will see what I can do and let you know.”

Oooer Missus! Nathan blinked wide eyed as Hunter went on the defensive completely misunderstanding where he was coming from. After all, he wasn't accusing HER of anything. Surely she could understand the concerns of a parent. Especially those of a particularly protective parent with an indulged and sheltered daughter at the school...

And, ek.. glares. Scary woman. Humph. He sat quietly and listened to his colleagues voice their ideas for the Prophet.

She gritted her teeth and forced a smile as Ian spoke up. Just be quiet. The man loved to hear the sound of his own voice. Don't encourage him to keep talking, just ignore him as the words that spewed from his mouth. She couldn't believe how much she disliked that man. It was uncanny for her. She didn't dislike anyone.

Well this Hunter woman was certainly an eager beaver. Egypt spoke up after Hunter. "I think that we should take a deeper look into just how we got the Quidditch Cup for a second year. That is highly unusual. And I fear there are some people that aren't keen on that idea. So I think that should be a news feature. I mean if this is a carry over from Minister Cooper's administration something could have been done under the table seeing as how he owns a quidditch team, and if this is from Minister Taylor's administration she might have had to give up something pretty big to get this, and we should know what that is." Egypt smelled a rat with this whole thing. She knew for fact that Ireland had all but tried to give away their leprechauns for the Cup. "I would be willing to work that angle." she offered.

She was the News editor she could take whatever story she wanted right?

She stayed out of the little design spat some of hte layout poeple were having it looked like it was going to get pretty nasty and she didn't have the stomach for it right now.

She reached out and gripped Nathan's hand. He was getting himself so worked up. She didn't want him to storm out of the office and straight to Hogwarts to pull Paris out of school. She would raise holy hell over it. She was Quidditch Capitan again and she wasn't letting anyone stand in the way of getting that cup. Egypt couldn't deal with a upset Paris and a nervous Nathan. That would just be too much to handle. "Its alright Nathan," she whispered trying to calm her husband.

She raised an eyebrow at the new reporter as she looked at Nathan. She didn't like that one bit. "Well Hunter I am sure my husband's reaction is not the only one we will see from this terrible tragedy." Egypt stated firmly. "I think that a feature on a few parents of Hogwarts children might do well to help some parents be at ease about sending their children back to Hogwarts. Maybe we can add in a recipe for the Wolfsbane potion, give its history and how to proper administer it. I mean not only do we have a werewolf professor that has attacked the Headmaster, now the Headmaster is infected. Regardless of the Ministry questioning him parents are going to be uneasy about this and Nathan's reaction shouldn't be brushed under the rug. He isn't the only parent thats going to freak out. We should anticipate this fallout and stay ahead of it." She said. She was scared for her children just as much as Nathan. She didn't care if no one else agreed with her. But they needed to keep this in the news. It was scary and exciting all at the same time.

No one looked at her husband like that when she was around. She looked back at Nathan and thats when she noticed his hair. What on earth had he done with it? She knew he didn't like for her to mess about in his hair, though he let the little trollop of a mirror say anything she wanted to about his hair. Ever so slowly and gently she reached out her hand and ran it through his hair. And to her horror whatever it was that he put in his hair acted like glue and her hand was stuck in his hair! She let out a nervous cough and yanked on her hand. She felt some hair come loose as she freed her hand. Well at least his hair wasn't sticking up anymore.

She returned her attention back to Rico. She really hated having to do that to Hunter, but someone jumping on Nathan really brought out her claws. Nathan didn't mean any harm by getting upset. He had children at Hogwarts and any other parent would have understood his reaction. Hunter didn't have to make him feel stupid for that. "Oh yes Rico, err um Boss Man," she smiled seeing as how every time Hunter called them that his chest puffed out a little more. "I think a cultural look at the other teams home countries would be wonderful for Lifestyle to take a look at it. They can cover everything from food, to travel to points of interest, getting a few common words in their language would also be fun since they will be here in Britain for a few weeks." She offered. She would have loved to have done something like that when she was in Lifestyle. But she rather thought it was prudent to keep each section reporting on its own sections "news", She didn't want anyone to feel like their beat was being taken over by another reporter in another section. And Hunter seemed to be about to step on a lot of toes, and she was the new girl.

Egypt tried to remain silent while Ian was up on his pretty little horse but she couldn't stand to listen to him talk any longer. She didn't know what she hated more Ian or the fact that she hated him. "Perhaps if we stop thinking of ourselves as the only game in town we could increase our readership. There are a lot of wizards moving to the UK who would rather get their hometown paper delivered than get the Daily Prophet. This superiority complex might be turning some readers off. There is always room for improvement." She felt really bad for getting into it with Ian, but she really disliked that man.

She cleared her throat. She just hated that he brought out that side of her."With that being said maybe we can do like the muggles do at big sporting events. They have a jumbotron that displays dozens of advertisements all on one screen. Its sort of a slid show. So maybe in the same space we can have more than one advertisement. That way we can sell more space without increasing the size of the paper or the ad space. That way we can do a few of the articles in different shapes. Like if we do a feature on someone we can have some of their quotes outline their face or something. I've seen some muggle magazines do that." She rather thought that was a splendid idea.

Leave it to Ian to be lazy as well as arrogant. Gah, she hated thinking ill of someone else. She needed to do something this just wasn't healthy. There was good in everyone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeapFrog

She was slightly intimidated by the thought of sending official communications to the Ministry, even if it was just to a spokeswizard. She didn't even know who was the proper person to contact. To avoid problems, she decided to be brave enough to admit her lack of knowledge. "So whom might I contact in the Games and Sports department to get confirmation about the event?" she inquired in her most formal tone imaginable. If she was to be an important editor, she needed to act and sound like one too. Given her very professional and stylish attire, she found this less challenging than she anticipated.

"The Head of the Department... I believe his name is Vindictus? Rex Vindictus?" Rico glanced down at his paper o' notes and glanced back up to nod at Daphne. "Yeah that's him. Former player. He should be an interesting source."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celandine

"Mr. Ser... Rico, perhaps we could have a few advertisements disguised as articles, or just... articles that are subtle reinforcments of the advertisements being run? What I mean is, Diagon Alley, now that the kids are all back at school, could be featured as a series, Diagon Alley as a whole; where to go and what to see for grown witches and wizards rather than excited children. Maybe a shop by shop feature, interviewing the shopkeepers and possibly in the process we might get information that will help the newsies with their stories too? Shop keepers see and here far more than most people think, we might find a few exclusives that can be used across the sections. Maybe we can even convince the shops to pay for their own articles, sell them as if they are... specialist advertising aimed at convincing the subconcious to shop at whichever store is being featured."

Jane looked around the table apologetically and added, "...and it would bring in more revenue."

"Uh..." advertisements disguised as articles? Rico was not exactly a fan of that idea but... a series of featurettes on the shops in town, now that was smart.

He rubbed his chin as Jane talked. "...hmm. Go for it. Don't worry about making them pay for the articles just now... I'm not sure how persuasive you are, but the features sound great. Where are you going to start? The Leaky? Gringott's?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by accio.brain

“I have a connection with the one and only Colin MacKenzie,” he finally replied to the head honcho, the whole sneezing thing forgotten for the most part. “He was formerly a player in the British and Irish Quidditch League as Keeper for the Montrose Magpies, but word is that he now plays for England in the Quidditch World Cup. ... As for your question about whether or not he would be able to come here for an interview, I am not really sure if he’d be able to. However, I will see what I can do and let you know.”

WHOA WHOA WHOA hold up Rico's jaw had just dropped now. "THE Colin MacKenzie??!" he repeated, trying (and failing) to not let his excitement show.

"You have to get him in, dude, I mean... uh... if he could make time in his schedule... that would be great press. Publicity. For an article. That would make a great article. Yeah." And Rico already had shiny eyes at the thought of getting the Quidditch star's autograph. Huzzah.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomasina Riddle

"I think that we should take a deeper look into just how we got the Quidditch Cup for a second year. That is highly unusual. And I fear there are some people that aren't keen on that idea. So I think that should be a news feature. I mean if this is a carry over from Minister Cooper's administration something could have been done under the table seeing as how he owns a quidditch team, and if this is from Minister Taylor's administration she might have had to give up something pretty big to get this, and we should know what that is." Egypt smelled a rat with this whole thing. She knew for fact that Ireland had all but tried to give away their leprechauns for the Cup. "I would be willing to work that angle." she offered.

She was the News editor she could take whatever story she wanted right?

....

She returned her attention back to Rico. She really hated having to do that to Hunter, but someone jumping on Nathan really brought out her claws. Nathan didn't mean any harm by getting upset. He had children at Hogwarts and any other parent would have understood his reaction. Hunter didn't have to make him feel stupid for that. "Oh yes Rico, err um Boss Man," she smiled seeing as how every time Hunter called them that his chest puffed out a little more. "I think a cultural look at the other teams home countries would be wonderful for Lifestyle to take a look at it. They can cover everything from food, to travel to points of interest, getting a few common words in their language would also be fun since they will be here in Britain for a few weeks." She offered. She would have loved to have done something like that when she was in Lifestyle. But she rather thought it was prudent to keep each section reporting on its own sections "news", She didn't want anyone to feel like their beat was being taken over by another reporter in another section. And Hunter seemed to be about to step on a lot of toes, and she was the new girl.

....

She cleared her throat. She just hated that he brought out that side of her."With that being said maybe we can do like the muggles do at big sporting events. They have a jumbotron that displays dozens of advertisements all on one screen. Its sort of a slid show. So maybe in the same space we can have more than one advertisement. That way we can sell more space without increasing the size of the paper or the ad space. That way we can do a few of the articles in different shapes. Like if we do a feature on someone we can have some of their quotes outline their face or something. I've seen some muggle magazines do that." She rather thought that was a splendid idea.

All excited by the prospect of meeting THE ColinMacKenzie, it took Rico quite a bit to refocus on Egypt.

"A deeper look into how we got the Quidditch Cup, how much it cost, locations being scouted for the pitch... sure, there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into these things." Rico nodded to show his approval of the article idea.

The idea about moving, animated ads though... "I don't think that's going to work, Miss Greenwood, though it is a nice effort to save money, that's just... a little difficult. Each advertiser pays to have their ad visible at all times in their own spot on the page. I just don't think they'll go for it." He glanced back at Ian the Advertising Manager, since it was really his area, and then looked back to his notes.

Well they'd about gone through everything now. That was good.

Nathan felt his wife squeeze his hand under the table and he turned to look at her, giving her a nod and smile of reassurance. She didn't have to worry: he wasn't going to throw one of his drama queen fits and pull his daughter out of school... yet. He was pretty certain the stubborn little girl wouldn't take kindly to the idea. He thought 'freak out' was a bit strong for his reaction and he blinked a bit but remained silent not wanting to unintentionally 'offend' anyone else by opening his gob.

So he sat there, listening to the banter going on around him trying to look interested, but his concentration was starting to waver. The comfy chair he had got here early and claimed was perhaps not the wisest choice for someone who possibly had a mild form of Narcolepsy.

Suddenly he felt movement in his hair and he raised his hand about to bat at it when he realised it was in fact Egypt's hand. What the hell was she doing? He was about to turn to her and ask her to kindly 'please stop that, love', when he felt sharp pain and heard... snappage! OH MERLIN! He yelped like a strangled dog (more over the snapping sound than the pain) and he turned his head to look at her through his now watering eyes to see if she had lost her marbles. The Daily Prophet offices seemed to have such an adverse on it's staff.

He looked at her hand and was relieved to see just a few strands of hair there. It sounded (and felt) like a massive clump! He gave her a look as if to say, 'We'll discuss what just went on here later.' and turned away again, now wide awake and alert for what remained of the meeting. His eyes flitted to Bubblehead Woman – Nathan moulted like a cat anyway without his wife yanking his hair out. He had a feeling the OCD woman would not be impressed.

He looked back at Rico and they were still on about the adverts it appeared. “I like.. um.. Miss Jane's idea.” He smiled and nodded at the girl, speaking up at last on the subject thinking he better give his two knuts worth as a layout editor. . “A few articles on the shops is a great idea... but I, personally, don't have a problem with the adverts. The headlines are enough to grab the immediate attention of the reader and make them want to read. I don't think the ads distract or retract from a good story whatsoever.” And each edition came with the prospect of free ice-cream. That couldn't be bad.

His ears pricked at the mention of 'The One and Only Colin MacKenzie'. The Magpies were THE team. Nathan's team - he followed them faithfully. MacKenzie was a true legend in his homeland. A Scottish hero. But wait? Didn't that Cole fella say he'd gone to play for England!? Urgh. Nathan's face fell. Pfft... Traitor. How could any self respecting Scot go and play for the English!? It was sinking to a new kind of low...

Ugh...
You know when you get those headaches that start from the bottom of your skull and then shows itself at the back of your eyes? Yeah, that's one of those headaches Tristan was having. Actually it was borderline migrane. And the impatience he was suffering due to Hoshi was not helping. And he might have offended Sienna aswell during the process. Great...

Tristan sighed and tried to follow what everyone else was saying, but the fact was that the only thing he wanted to do was to go home and sleep. Or maybe take a trip down to Diagon Alley. Looking down at his sweater, he noticed a small ink smudge. A small snort escaped him. Thats a good reason to buy more clothes... he smiled. Yes, shopping.

He listened, and some of the articles sounded pretty interesting. Tristan was looking forward to reading them as he fixed the layout.

"I'd be happy to do a review of the Leaky Couldron, or maybe Eeylops??" Ivy offered up. The deadline was approaching and she needed to know what she was going to do.

"There is no way you are stealing my article ideas." Jane interjected firmly, her back straightening as she sat up in her chair and turned to look down the table long enough to make it clear she wouldn't stand for swooping, despite all her other obvious shortcomings.



"What I mean, Mr. Seri... Rico, is that any features I," Jane turned her head and glanced at Ivy, "write would best be supported by advertisements for the same stores, it would be a featurette, but serve the same purpose as an extra advertisement, that is getting more customers for those businesses and appealing to a wider demographic of readers for us. Win-win. If it works well, I am certain I can be persuasive about payment for future efforts." Jane explained, her voice coming out surer and more confident as she warmed to her theme.

"Yes, I'll start with the Leaky, it makes sense considering that is the gateway to the Alley itself."

Jane offered a quick smile for Nathan, thankful for the brief words of support for her idea.

Her idea.

Hers.

Ana had to hide a smile as she noticed how fiercely Jane was guarding her idea. Good for her, she thought. It showed some true journalistic blood at least - you have an idea, you fight for it and don't give it up, becuas it just might be what sets your career underway.

"Rico, I was thinking of doing a similar piece as I did last time with the werewolf, a sort of typical day in the life of a Quidditch player. perhaps I could do a sort of comparitive article, on the life during the playing season or before such a big event as this, and while the games aren't on that much. What do you think?"

She paused for a moment, looking around the table before continuing.

"Also, for Lifestyle I thought it might be interesting to interview one of the organisors and see how their lives look at the moment, while they try to juggle everyday responsilibilities with the stress of getting the World Cup up and running successfully."

Somewhere along the way from the last time he talked, Hoshino had lost all interest in the meeting. Perhaps it was due to the fact that whatever they had to bring to the plate he was most definitely not interested in. Ian didn't take to new ideas or changes very well. A fact that he didn't do a very good job of hiding.

Loo Roll Jane's possessive ferocity didn't go unperceived, however. From where his chin was resting on his hand, Ian inspected the young woman with marked interest out of the corner of his eyes.

Funny little girl.

Turning his face just for her, he winked. Atta Girl.

Hunter and her? Ian appreciated them...in the way one appreciated his muggle television set.

Blah. Quidditch bored her to death. Perhaps that's why her mind escaped away from the meeting while the Sports Section peeps made way of the discussion that seemed to be very enjoyable to Enrico. Great.

Sienna eyed the time on her watch and started to get a bit uneasy in her chair. This was taking forever! That's what happens when people start discussing sports, especially Quidditch.

Those were never-ending conversations.

However, something...or someone brought her mind to the table...

Oh. How fun. These two should share a desk, preferably one that Sienna could totally see ALL the time for the mere purpose of amusement. Because it simply would be brilliant to watch them work in the same spot.

Desks? Did Enrico even mention which store he'd ordered those?

Sienna smiled and nodded at the woman. "I think that's a great idea...the featurette thing" yes, because they only focused on the ads, not the shop itself. Nicely done, Jane.

Ian would love the input on the money, though.

She rested her eyes on Enrico, and back to the watch...perhaps he'll notice eventually that this was getting a bit out of time, and her bottled water was in her office.