Interview, media & lecture basics — a check list for making everything work smoothly
Annie gets a lot of requests for interviews, media appearances on TV or radio and (keynote) speeches. These requests come from big media organisations, small independent outfits, free-lancers, students and activists. Whenever possible Annie will try to fulfil all of these because she values all of these contacts. Time is limited however and this page explains some basics for making things go smoothly and having a clear mutual understanding of expectations.
Below is a to-do list for any prospective interviewer, media professional or conference organiser.
Be prepared
- If you want to book Annie for a talk, have a look at the speaking CV to get a feel for interests and expertise. Spend some time reading/viewing material on this site to get an overview of recent activities.
- Because of her frequent travel, email is the preferred method for communications. Encrypted email is preferred over sending insecure plain text.
- Please use media@anniemachon.ch so these emails don’t get lost in the daily deluge of other mails. If you want to ensure privacy of email communications there is a PGP-key for this mail address:
http://anniemachon.ch/keys/media@anniemachon.ch.asc. Tips on basic information security.
PGP Fingerprint: DCEC BD27 DFE0 19E2 9513 B75D E7DD ADDA E8FB 5216
- Use phone calls only when there is a time-sensitive issue (such as live TV/radio reaction to current events).
Be specific
- When contacting please specify the nature of the request; if it requires travel, how time-sensitive is it and what the precise deadline is (if any).
- If it will be an interview by phone or internet chat then specify an exact time (bearing in mind she shifts between time zones on a regular basis) for it to take place and stick to that time.
- Specify upfront whether a TV/Radio interview by phone or internet will be live or a pre-record.
- Should these specifications change due to unforeseen circumstances then please communicate these changes immediately.
Travel and hotels
- Because of all the security theatre at airports, travel by fast train is strongly preferred if this is possible (Western & Central Europe including the south of the UK)
- Any hotels need to provide good internet connectivity, and a wired connection inside the room is strongly preferred over WiFi for security reasons.
- Oh, and white pianos in dressing rooms take up floorspace and blue smarties are fattening so no need to bother!
Costs and fees
- If you are a corporate entity, big/professional media organisation or well-funded conference you will be expected to pay for all travel and hotel costs (if applicable) plus a reasonable fee for Annie’s time (to be discussed and agreed upon upfront).
- If you are a not able to pay for Annie’s time for whatever reason (being a small independent media organisation, a volunteer-based conference or just a student working on a paper) please be specific about that as well. Annie makes time to help out fellow activists, independent journalists and students whenever possible.
Looking forward to working with you!