Menage a journo

It looks as though my comments about the PR big three - embarking on intimate relations with a journalist, a client and a colleague - have taken the PR world by storm (well, two people, at the very least, have mentioned it to me over the last week).

This flurry of activity should, being an on-the-ball industry blogger, inspire me to open a debate into the ethics of these relations. I might ask: is it acceptable to ask a journalist to cover your story having embarked on out of hours activities with him/her? (the story being your client -- not the sex). If so, how soon after the event is it acceptable to pitch the client? (I once came across a PR, who after going home with a journalist, pulled a notebook and pen from her bag with the intention of booking some time for an interview with her client. It worked).

Instead, here are the fruits of my labour and the outcome of the pub-based discussions I've had - PR TOP TRUMPS. For each completed general manoeuvre, you earn yourself 10 points. The rest is scored based on gossip-worthiness.

The first person to reach 100 points wins a new client.

PR TOP TRUMPS

General manoeuvres

1. Relationships with a journalist - 10 points, and 5 points for each piece of coverage achieved thereafter
2. Relationships with an analyst - 10 initial points, and an extra point for each industry report you receive free of charge

3. Relationships with a colleague - 10 initial points, and an extra point earned for the colleague being your boss
4. Relationships with an industry association - impossible to achieve. They're locked away in conference rooms (often in Hannover or Amsterdam) and never come out to play

Specialist manoeuvres - to be attempted only by experts

1. Relations with a competitor - 50 points, and 10 points thereafter for every new business lead stolen
2. Blogger relations - 100 extra points for the blogger being the anonymous kind (TWL, watch out)