You know I must have my knickers in quite a twist to post twice in one day, right? Yesterday I was doing my morning international dressage catch up on Eurodressage – something I do most days of the year. Imagine my surprise when I read for the first time about two Canadian Dressage Symposiums (symposia if you are a latin lover) to be held in Ontario and BC in November 2012. This is not the only time I have read DC news for the first time on Eurodressage, but it just might be the most aggravating instance so far. When I saw the announcement I immediately checked my spam mail folder because that’s where all the DC releases used to go, thanks to the bulk mail provider they use. Nothing. I then went on DC’s site to see if this was perhaps something that had been posted there but was ‘out for translation’ before it could be sent out as a press release. ‘Out for translation’ is, incidentally, Equine Canada’s favourite excuse for the sometimes unbelievable tardiness of their press releases. There was nothing on the DC site, and that is still the case. I just checked a few minutes ago. I haven’t yet figured out who will have the answer to this (I miss you Fearless Leader!) latest example of DC’s remarkable communication methods, but I know this much: DC has managed to send out a piece of news that is of interest both to its members and the Canadian equestrian media, but it has sent it out only to the international media. What’s the phrase that would express the opposite of ‘totally awesome’? That’s exactly what this is.
I felt a bit sorry about my criticism of the DC calendar press release a couple of weeks ago because it turns out there had been a release marketing the calendars back in November – that was back in the spam days of autumn when I missed quite a few releases which were languishing in my junk folder. Kerri McGregor told me that in fact the calendar sold well this year and the half-price offer will almost certainly clear out the remaining stock. I take back my little jibes about selling calendars that can save on paper by skipping January and February – though I do think it was a bit silly to title the February release “2012 Calendars now available!” since it sounded as thought it was the first moment they were on sale. But at least they didn’t sell the calendars through exclusive promotion on Eurodressage, which is what they seem to have decided is the best way to promote the CANADIAN symposium.
