State of economy measured by press releases

Today: a chocolate sheet cake celebrating the 50 years of the Colorado Garden & Home Show.

Yesterday: a beautiful heart box filled with Godiva heart chocolates from a local hospital promoting a weekend event.

Tonight: tummy ache

I am not a sweets person. I am not a chocolate woman. I am chips and salsa. But I couldn't stay away from the heart chocolates that melted in my mouth. I couldn't say no to one, plus a small, pieces of cake.

What normally would have taken hours, if not the entire day, to be devoured by the newsroom staff, disappeared in a flash.

Press releases sent along with goodies like cookie flower baskets, candy, burritos from Chipotle, frozen slushies from 7-11, and so much more have been the norm since I started. These press releases sit in front of my face on our over sized desk to accommodate all of the electronics. The desk is also a step higher than the rest of the newsroom to be the flagship, to oversee the newsroom, so it is naturally the place to put all the goodies.

I have worked hard to not over indulge, or even to say no, to such treats because I sit for the most part of my job monitoring scanners, phones, Internet and email. All these goodies and all this sitting over the years have not been kind to my derriere. (Then there's always the question of when did this arrive? How long has it been sitting out? How many hands have touched this? More reasons to say no.)

As I came down from the chocolate high this afternoon and realized how fast the cake had gone, I realized that it's been a while since such a release came to the desk. It's been even longer since there were treats two days in a row. No wonder we all ran towards the sweets. I'm surprised there wasn't a mob scene with injuries.

Wow. I realize now the goodies definitely did not pile in over the holidays as they have in years past. Oh the baskets of fine treats like salami, cheese assortments, fruits, wines, chutney and so much more were nonexistent this past Christmas. The non-perishable goodies, like water bottles and key chains, weren't anywhere to be seen either.

Trust me, releases that come in this way are not overlooked or forgotten like others that come in with the rest of the hundreds of emails that we receive each day. I try my hardest to file each emailed story idea and press release, but lets face it, some are going to be overlooked. This station focuses on smart hard news and enterprise stories. Full coverage of a feature event is rare, but if the event info comes with goodies, you do have a better chance of getting coverage, simply because your release is remembered.

*SIGH* I guess this is just another economic hit to the newsroom. Having the goodies and sharing it all always brought the news departments together. In those moments it's easier to ignore or forget about the other economic impacts that have come with budget cuts: layoffs, no more truck engineers, more to do with less resources.

The upside is no treats = no temptation = no further expansion of my derriere!