the(new)mediaslut

Atos Origin. That is the name of the company who would undoubtedly has won 2007’s junket cancellation excuse of the year award if there was one and this post is a story about why they should so be honoured.

Cancellations happen all the time. Sometime the unavailability of the speaker is genuine, other times they want “Mr Editor” but needed a good reason to get rid of “Mr Reporter”, not that there is anything wrong with that. Only giving a nice, civil reason is preferable to an elitist slur calling the journalist, “people like you”.

A while back, around a month ago, a PR agency in Singapore contacted Smartbrain inviting him to view the Atos Origin operations centre for the Beijing Olympics. Little did any of us expect that it would soon descend into an acrimonious exchange of messages.

On 30 October, Atos Origin asked Smartbrain where to return his passport in a strangely terse email that made no mention of the travel arrangements. Later that day the country manager (who I have been advised not to mess with as his business partner turned father in law is a well known arms dealer) sends an apology to say (nicely) that the trip has been cancelled. Smartbrain asked why, but got no response.

On 31 October, Smartbrain asks again in an admittedly colloquial and short email, “Knock knock, anyone there? Any reason the trip was cancelled?”

Apparently that touched a raw nerve and this was the reply from Atos Origin in full, except with names removed.

Khun [Smartbrain],

I think your attitude towards us is quite a surprise to me. Let me remind you that its an opportunity for the newpaper you work for to attend this, and the cost is being paid by Atos Origin. I certainly do not need to answer to you, and justify why I have personally cancel your trip. I would have no problem in giving you the reason, why I have cancel this trip, but now I can tell you that I do not like your attitude, and do not want to associate something I feel very special for us, with people like you.

[Country Manager].

To which Smartbrain replied immediately after his hands stopped shaking:

Wow.Talk about hitting a raw nerve. Sorry… I usually have my emails quite colloquial and I would like to remind you that it has been more than 24 hours since I got the cancellation and not have had any explanation as to why it was cancelled. Anyway, thanks for letting me know that you personally cancelled my trip because of not wanting to associate the event with “people like me”.

I am still trying to understand what “people like me” actually means, but…

Because of your trip, I had to pass up two other trips overseas for [vendor] and [vendor] so I do consider my time invested a major investment, not just for myself, but for my readers.I think that out of courtesy I at least deserve an explanation, but as you so eloquently put it, you do not need to give me one. Fair enough.

Perhaps the other journalists you work with work only on money and free meals. I plan my work mainly around interesting stories.

Was the cancellation because you managed to get me rejected for a visa? Or was it for some other reason. That is what I wanted to know.

While I appreciate that you are paying, I would also like to point out that I did warn you from day one of the problems that the Chinese embassy have with issuing J2 visas. I did warn [PR Agency Person] from the outset that the rules state you need a “letter from a competent Chinese authority” to back up the visa application. In the case of [a Chinese IT company], they got me a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledging their event. I did suggest a number of alternatives, such as the Olympic committee even.

In particular, I was appalled at your staff’s attitude to the visa application. [Dumb blonde secretary] said she would apply for a tourist visa, hence my first email warning you of the difficulties you may have. She said that it is easier to get a tourist visa and even went so far as to say that the letter I got from the [publication] (which included the invitation letter from [PR Agency Person]) was not needed as it was not a business trip. When I requested the day flight, the immediate reaction I got was that there was no such flight.

TG614 is the flight I took last time to Beijing and it was a day flight.

If anything, I think I should be the one feeling irked at you for the outright lies (that there is no day flight) and attitude you have in maybe getting me blacklisted from the Chinese embassy in applying for a tourist visa where a journalist visa is required.

..

I’m still wondering what made you hate me so much. My colloquialism? Perhaps. The fact that I wanted you to obey the rules for the visa? Or the request for the day trip. Never mind.

My only regret is that I really, really supported your relative in his fight against the previous regime and it saddens me that such a great man has a relative like yourself.

:)
[Smartbrain]

On a side note, it is interesting that the Country Manager cc’d the Vice-President of Atos Origin on the “people like you” email. That makes one wonder if it was a slip of the mouse, pressing reply-all without thinking, or if the higher echelons of Atos Origin actually agree with that reprehensible point of view. At the very least, they have not apologised for it.

Also, to make the timing clear, the event was cancelled before the “knock-knock” email so his dislike of my attitude must have preceded that email, not stemmed from it.

For the record, Smartbrain has never dealt with Atos Origin before; never written about them; never even seen a press release from them on his desk to ignore; never met with the country manager before either in this job, or in his previous job.

Would Smartbrain accept another Atos Origin invitation to an event or press conference? Probably not for an overseas event in which they painfully remind us that they are paying for it and that we poor “people like you” journalists are beggars who cannot ask any questions of their hosts. But for a press conference, definitely and my first question would be, “What did you mean when you emailed me on 31st October referring to ‘people like you’?”