Some of you may be wondering why I’ve been a bit slow to respond to your comments this week.
It’s because our United States editor from London is visiting me in California, and I’m taking him from one meeting to the next — all day long, three days in a row.
My mission on these occasional editorial visits is to orchestrate an exciting local experience, so that my editor and I get in front of the most interesting people from different walks of life and talk freely and spontaneously about what’s on their minds. Our interview partners include the high and mighty and the obscure but insightful.
I’ve done this for editors when I was stationed in Hong Kong, in Silicon Valley, and now in L.A. It’s exhausting (the scheduling and logistics mostly) but fun. I’ve already filled a notebook.
Starting tomorrow night, I’ll again be quicker to reply to you all.
Hannibal and Me: life lessons from history 
My god. I don’t see how you read (or respond) to anyone’s writing with such a guest.
Looking forward to reading about your venues and interviews.
I certainly hope your dragged his tush to see Tommy Trojan over at USC…
🙂
And also to the Westwood Cemetery to see Marilyn Monroe’s crypt (with that guy’s crypt above) still for sale…
Be safe on those L.A. freeways, please.
Sounds like a lot of fun actually. 🙂
What I am curious is, basing on your Hong Kong and Silicon Valley experiences, how helpful are these visits in helping you do better job in reporting afterwards? Do you get a lot of new topics you want to write afterwards, and other benefits?
The main benefit of these visits is for the London-based editor to get a feel for a coverage area (s)he oversees, and to become as excited as the correspondent about the stories that correspondent pitches to the editor.
My job as host is to know the terrain so well that I can choose the most interesting or important subjects and people.
But, yes, the meetings are also very useful for me. For instance, i now have a very full notebook of quotes and color and anecdote that I can use in many different stories for the coming months.
Yes, Andreas, just cast us aside as you would a poorly written manuscript. We won’t mind. 🙂
Ok, maybe we will… just a little.
On the other hand, it sounds like interesting and captivating discussions are being engaged in so it is completely forgivable.
The profile of your US editor indicates that his language is English.
It’s good to know this, given that English is the language of the Economist. Had the profile indicated that his language is Lithuanian, this might be of concern for Economist readers.
Another example of poor web design. Clearly that database field ought to highlight foreign language proficiency, and to disappear altogether in the absence of it rather than to out another Anglophone monoglot.
Unacceptable.
I hope you mean California at Disneyland. He came all the way from England for chrissake. They have a three-day package that would save a bundle. I can tell Mr. Lockwood could use some Mouse time and a couple laps on Mulholland Drive (that’s a roller coaster). And, they speak English at Disney.
RM’s waiting for you at the pub, Mr. C.
Cheri’s there at the pub sipping on a hot coffee.
Ah, the (absolutely mandatory) designated driver.
There’s a sign here: “Atheists welcome”