9 November 2006

Why RiotACT won't be covering the PM's XI

| johnboy
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I regret to inform you that despite making serious preparations, such as arrangements to take time off work, RiotACT won’t be bringing you our take on the PM’s XI tomorrow having been refused accreditation in strange circumstances. Frankly I found Cricket ACT’s approach to be extremely rude and un-professional.

I’ll outline the saga below, but If you’d like to express your disappointment to Cricket ACT and let them know how much you would have liked to read RiotACT’s coverage of the event I recommend emailing Eddie Fitzgibbon to outline the error of his ways: EddieFitzgibbon@cricketact.com

We could have just bought tickets and headed along, got drunk and written about our recollections afterwards. But we wanted to be above board so stupidly tried to follow correct channels.

It started on 13 October with an email to the contact addresses on their website:

From: johnboy73@gmail.com
Subject: PM’s XI
Date: 13 October 2006 1:26:36 PM
To: sryan@cricketact.com, efitzgibbon@cricketact.com

Dear Cricket ACT

I’m writing to you as the editor of the website RiotACT ( http://the-riotact.com/ ), we’re a local news and events website based in Canberra with thousands of readers a week.

(our last stats snapshot is at: http://the-riotact.com/?p=3306)

Would it be possible to get media accreditation for the PM’s XI game?

Regards,

John Griffiths.

On the 16 October I recieved a reply:

From: EddieFitzgibbon@cricketact.com
Subject: Media Accreditation Form PM’s XI 2006/07
Date: 16 October 2006 5:34:54 PM

Dear All

Please find attached the media accreditation form that is to be filled out and faxed back to ACT Cricket on 62957135.

The form will also be available on the ACT Cricket website at www.cricketact.com

Kind regards

Eddie Fitzgibbon
Media and PR
Cricket ACT

We scratched our heads, and agreed on a coverage team after employers were consulted about taking time off. On 1 November, two days before the deadline closed (with no mention of a first come, first served requirement) we faxed off our application forms. Realising that we’re a little bit out of the ordinary I sent a reply to Mr. Fitzgibbon’s email shortly afterwards to check everything was OK with our application:

From: johnboy73@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Media Accreditation Form PM’s XI 2006/07
Date: 1 November 2006 12:31:13 PM
To: EddieFitzgibbon@cricketact.com

Thanks Eddie,

I’ve faxed over The RiotACT’s applications this morning.

Can you advise if there are any difficulties?

Regards

John “Johnboy” Griffiths
RiotACT Editor.

And I got a reply:

From: EddieFitzgibbon@cricketact.com
Subject: RE: Media Accreditation Form PM’s XI 2006/07
Date: 1 November 2006 12:29:51 PM
To: johnboy73@gmail.com

John

Received the applications and you will hear from us soon.

Cheers

Eddie Fitzgibbon
Media and PR
Cricket ACT

And then silence.

From: johnboy73@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Media Accreditation Form PM’s XI 2006/07
Date: 8 November 2006 10:15:11 AM
To: EddieFitzgibbon@cricketact.com

Hi Eddie,

Can you advise on the status of our application?

Cheers,

John

More silence.

So, with the day hard approaching, I made a phone call this morning and while Eddie was too busy to speak to me I got put onto Andrew. Andrew advised that our application had come in very late (It was in before the deadline and it wasn’t a problem for Eddie on 1 November). He advised that we had not, after all, received accreditation.

I asked at what point Cricket ACT had intended to inform us that they had rejected our application (the application form simply noted that our passes could be picked up at the door, a lovely way to spend a morning if I hadn’t thought to call and check). Andrew said that *he’d* been told that organisations that hadn’t received a reply had not been given accreditation.

It seems that we’re supposed to be able to read Andrew’s mind from a distance to get that information.

I respect that Cricket ACT might not want RiotACT’s coverage. I understand that room is tight.

(I should note that all we wanted was access to the ground to take notes and photographs and make a report, a powerpoint would have been nice but not essential, we would happily have forgone the media rooms)

But a little more honesty and courtesy could have saved us wasting a lot of time.

That email address to share your thoughts on the matter with them?

EddieFitzgibbon@cricketact.com

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Absent Diane8:42 am 10 Nov 06

watch it at the pub get blotto’d and write the article tanked. I have done gig reviews like that.. good times, good times!

Why cant you pay like everybody else for tickets?

Go to the Manuka pool and tunnel under the fence, and write a scathing critique of everything… the dreadful pies, having to PAY for the tomato sauce to put on them (unaustralian), the horrible WARM beer (ripoff), crummy souvenirs, blind and ignorant umpires, boring play, boganish VIPs, etc etc etc.

Vic Bitterman9:56 pm 09 Nov 06

Of course you are right andy. But the public face of any organisation, or whoever it is that interacts with a potential ‘customer’ is how people perceive their competence or otherwise.

You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Vic Bitterman, I’m sure not ALL of them are incompetant.

Absent Diane1:54 pm 09 Nov 06

or let crazychester know… because obviously act cricket reports to the labor party. and we know she loves doing video confrontationals.

It’s just not cricket!

JB, maybe you should contact ACA or TT about this? That’d make Cricket ACT take notice. 🙂

Growling Ferret1:40 pm 09 Nov 06

“We could have just bought tickets and headed along, got drunk and written about our recollections afterwards”

I would be happy to provide that version of the match report if required.

Email sent JB. What’s annoying is if you’ve ever read the English media reports of this match it invariably includes a few disparaging and snide comments about Canberra. Like they really know what this town is like while they’re here for 1 day every 4 years and yet every Pommie Media outfit will undoubtedly be given accreditation.

Vic Bitterman1:30 pm 09 Nov 06

What a bunch of incompetent fools ACT cricket are. I hope they read this.

Absent Diane1:04 pm 09 Nov 06

the match is live on foxtel – you could roy and HG stylie – and perhaps just take snap shots of yourselves watching the match.

I think i will be having quite a few sick days this year.

well make sure you send them an email then.

That sucks big time – a RA report on the match would be be a ‘must read’. Hope you guys go anyway and write what you can – your readership needs you 🙂

elitists – ignoring grass roots media can come back and bite you.

I’m actuallly ‘ever so slightly’ concerned about the weather for the match tomorrow – hope it’s much the same as today and no thumping big storm like last year!

They couldn’t afford an email?

Hell we’d have been happy to pay for tickets with a permission to report.

Meh, so a lot of people don’t like us. No reason to waste our time.

We respect their right to say no.

RA seem to be gettin the cold shoulder quite a lot recently…

ever so slightly?

jump the fence and be done with it.

I sense a disorganised and an ever so slightly incompetent approach from the cricketing fraternity in this town…have experienced this in other ways with these guys.

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