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Tea wakes up CIPR’s, Andrew Ross and then Twitter gets him going

My day

5.50am: I’m awoken by the world’s worst alarm, and struggle to leave my warm bed. I let my girlfriend use the shower first, until the noise of the hairdryer encourages me to go and make a cup of tea before getting in the shower myself.

6.50am: I get a lift to the station, with Heart (not my choice), blaring out of the radio. With another brew in hand, the first paper of the day is always the Metro, which takes no more than 10 minutes to scan on the platform.

7:10am: One of the great things about living in North Hertfordshire, but only having a 25-minute non-stop commute, is that you get the same seat on the train every day. Sitting down means I can look at my to-do list and start ticking off the first easy-wins or check Twitter. Any activity is normally accompanied by some late-80s’ hip-hop.

8.00am: I’m invariably the first person into the office, and I’m usually on my own for the first half an hour. This gives me time to open up Outlook and sit and go through our 30-odd HootSuite columns. We have different Twitter lists for internal and external stakeholders, including trade and national journalists. My favourite list is the content being pushed out by the Top 100 consultancies. If there’s anything insightful, I’ll schedule some tweets and mentions through the morning.

9.00am: By this time the office is starting to fill up and I’m ready to start reading and responding to emails. I check my to-do list and review what I need to do.

9.30am: This time marks the first coffee of the morning and time to quickly go through this week’s plans with my colleagues. We talk about an education outreach initiative we’re currently focusing on to teach more young people about PR, and how to get in to the profession. Later in the week one of team will be in Liverpool, so we go through the materials prepared for the day.

10.30am: The morning is pre-occupied by chasing up blogs and editing video for The PR Show. With a line-up of over 40 expert speakers they’re a great source for content. Having had some studio time with the event’s broadcast partner we have video to share across different channels. We’re also working on a four-page preview feature of the Show in a trade magazine, so I chase up those contributors and start editing copy.

1.00pm: Lunch time is varied and most days involve a microwave and the toaster. The economy drive is in full throttle as I peruse tinned highlights including Chicken Noodle Soup, Spaghetti Bolognese or Sardines, opting for the latter. While eating back at my desk I usually chat with (distract) colleagues. As an Arsenal fan, working directly with two Spurs fans can be fun. Apparently this year is their year.

1.30pm: As I finish eating lunch I scan through Twitter again before checking the standard PR trade websites. I’ll again share any relevant content across Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn before checking our own blogging platform the CIPR Conversation. It’s my turn to put on the editor’s hat as I sift through some of the aggregated blog posts and schedule the highlights to appear on our corporate website homepage.

3.00pm: Time to review questions for our annual benchmarking survey. At over 40 questions on issues including budgets, salaries and various other trends, State of the Profession is not a quick Survey Monkey job. I exchange emails with colleagues at ComRes who confirm the final version before it is scheduled to be sent out at the end of the week.

4.00pm: Today is a meeting of the CIPR Social Media Panel. As my colleague who normally takes minutes of the meeting has a dentist appointment, it’s my turn to scribble down the meetings minutes – which is never fun. We go over the success of Share This Too, Social Summer and our plans for the Panel in 2014.

5.30pm: We wrap up the meeting and I make the quick dash back to Kings Cross to get the train back home. The commute home always involves drafting tomorrow’s to-do list, but this time Big Daddy Kane has been traded in for the new Arctic Monkeys album. Writing the to-do list before I get home lets me unwind and stops me thinking about work.

7.00pm: As it’s my turn to make dinner I rustle up spaghetti bolognese, and then enjoy some TV and Dolmio’s finest with my girlfriend. We’re box-set junkies, and are currently finishing the last few episodes of Season four of The Wire. As I watch Baltimore descend into chaos I skim through Twitter, emails and Facebook once more, before calling it a day around 10.45pm.

Andrew Ross, senior policy and public relations officer at CIPR

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