Time wasters need not apply

I've just finished writing a feature about a nascent and much hyped technology. I won’t bore you with the details. There is so much tech vendor hype surrounding the subject that should I type the word into this blog it would be inundated with firms who have some "great insights" and would "love to contribute" (they wouldn’t much like to advertise against it though, but that’s a different story… one more suited to a blog called bad-salesmen).

I’m digressing.

Anyway, I received countless emails and calls offering up clients for the piece. PR Land had seen the forward feature list you see. All fine and above board PR work. The rules of engagement clearly followed.

I decided that I’d do my own research and find my own impartial interviewees though. That said, I also decided to throw the PRs a line. There were simply too many VPs of Marketing to interview, so I thought I’d draw up a list of a dozen or so questions and send the same questions to all the firms. Since they're all peddling the same tech I figured I’d probably get some similar responses, but if anyone really stood out from the crowd and said something genuinely interesting I’d use the quotes. Genius.

I sent the list to one PR, who said:


> Hi Finisher
>
> Just to check, what is your deadline for this?
>
> Thanks,
> Bellinda Peregrine-Rogers
>

I said:

My deadline is Weds 13, but I'll start writing on Monday.

She said:

Great, thanks for letting me know

True to my word I started writing it on Monday, and I’d finished it by Tuesday. On Wednesday (deadline day) I got this:

Hi Finisher,

Apologies that we have not got anything over to you yet. If we can send you something tomorrow will it be of any use to you?

Thanks,
B PR

Do I tell her that since today is Wednesday, the deadline day, tomorrow will be of no use to me whatsoever, do I ignore it or do I say “great, please make sure you spend time putting together well considered responses” safe in the knowledge that she’ll have wasted her time as well of mine?

Tough call.