Investment bankers kill “Fluffy” - the puppy!
Our asset management co. has invested in a Life sciences firm that has identified an age defying cream that is being tested on animals. The press is hounding on our AMC and this crisis has to be addressed by us - the board. It was our turn today to be a part of the “kill rate” for the journalists.
We gathered together at 0830 hours this morning to pick up the case assigned to our team. A thick bunch of red coloured papers came out of the sealed envelope that set the backdrop to our Press conference practice today. Our session was due to start at 0930 hours. We had exactly one hour to discuss and prepare ourselves, including assign our roles, attempt a dry run and consider possible bombshells that may get dropped on us. It was our turn to be on the firing line.
As we walked into the TV studio and took our seats, we saw the camera’s starting to whirr and the observing team seated with ear-to-ear grins on their faces. It was their turn to have the last laugh at our cost. We could see “nasty” Nigel, “deadly” Des and “stinging” Steve ready to take their slings at us.
Christian Ward (New Zealand) as the Chairman of the board started with a brief address to the press and then we started taking questions from the press. It was as if the journalists were sitting there bottled up and were let loose on us. Their bombardment started with “where is fluffy?”, “You have killed fluffy!”, “Do you have any pets?” ………… and we were caught off guard. I had not expected such a hostile start but life is not kind. We kept referring to our pre decided position as an investment bank, but the journalists kept coming back
on us. One question wasn’t completed when another question shot off from their bows. Suddenly I saw myself on the TV screen behind the journalists …. and I felt my mouth go dry. A question had been put to me. I regained my voice and found myself listening to my answer. They shifted focus to Olivier (France) and he lost his voice. The barrage of questions then again changed gears to move onto Becky (Britain), Dennis (Hong Kong), Chris (Scotland) and back to Christian.
We did not notice that over 18 minutes had gone by. And then it came to a close. None of us could think whether it was truly over or not. The observing team was laughing away while I could not even bring a smile to my lips. Many a times during the conference I had heard my heart beating so loudly, I thought the noise would get recorded in the video.
It was for real but just a practice session. Something tells me that the actual one scheduled for March will be more than this. But I am happy because I am learning.
We gathered together at 0830 hours this morning to pick up the case assigned to our team. A thick bunch of red coloured papers came out of the sealed envelope that set the backdrop to our Press conference practice today. Our session was due to start at 0930 hours. We had exactly one hour to discuss and prepare ourselves, including assign our roles, attempt a dry run and consider possible bombshells that may get dropped on us. It was our turn to be on the firing line.
As we walked into the TV studio and took our seats, we saw the camera’s starting to whirr and the observing team seated with ear-to-ear grins on their faces. It was their turn to have the last laugh at our cost. We could see “nasty” Nigel, “deadly” Des and “stinging” Steve ready to take their slings at us.
Christian Ward (New Zealand) as the Chairman of the board started with a brief address to the press and then we started taking questions from the press. It was as if the journalists were sitting there bottled up and were let loose on us. Their bombardment started with “where is fluffy?”, “You have killed fluffy!”, “Do you have any pets?” ………… and we were caught off guard. I had not expected such a hostile start but life is not kind. We kept referring to our pre decided position as an investment bank, but the journalists kept coming back
on us. One question wasn’t completed when another question shot off from their bows. Suddenly I saw myself on the TV screen behind the journalists …. and I felt my mouth go dry. A question had been put to me. I regained my voice and found myself listening to my answer. They shifted focus to Olivier (France) and he lost his voice. The barrage of questions then again changed gears to move onto Becky (Britain), Dennis (Hong Kong), Chris (Scotland) and back to Christian.We did not notice that over 18 minutes had gone by. And then it came to a close. None of us could think whether it was truly over or not. The observing team was laughing away while I could not even bring a smile to my lips. Many a times during the conference I had heard my heart beating so loudly, I thought the noise would get recorded in the video.
It was for real but just a practice session. Something tells me that the actual one scheduled for March will be more than this. But I am happy because I am learning.
posted by Sandeep Gupta at
8:22 pm
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