Tom Cannon Tunnel Joe Pinnington Morgan
Spoke to some of my favourite people yesterday, which I enjoyed on the back of a very hectic morning.
Heard early on about suicide jump from tower of Anglican Cathedral. Generally an unnamed suicide would not get near the front page of the Echo, but felt the dramatic if sad and distressing nature of the incident took it into the news arena.
As morning wore on we took calls to say the victim was Rob Broudie, an extremely well-known Liverpool solicitor. Hugely sad. A few people in the office knew him pretty well and were visibly upset. I've had a few dealings with him over the years - we've crossed swords. However bad the row it always ended courteously and professionally.
Had lunch with Professor Tom Cannon who runs think tank company Ideaopolis. Lovely to talk to him as always. Great mind, always a source of fantastic story ideas. Fascinating take on the city's qango culture. Gritted my teeth and stuck to tomato/basil pasta and mineral water. Two piece of bread that I should have passed on.
Phil Redmond in great form when we met for our Capital of Christmas meeting. Idea is to turn Liverpool into a major Christmas destination. Have some great plans that will be annnounced in the Echo any day.
Nice to see David Wade Smith, too. He and Phil bounce off each other really well and are a great blend of creativity and pracicality. Paula arranged mince pies and Christmas hats to get everyone in the right mood for the wekend. Phil's hat was straight on but DWS, conscious of his staure as chairman of the Mersey Partnership and Mersey Tourism?? was more circumspect. Kept looking round for photographers.
Dashed to meeting on website design. Working really hard with our London-based design specialists to get just the right look and content presentation for Liverpoolecho.co.uk. We're well on the way and I'm getting quite excited about the prototypes.
Left office 5.30 and still in bloody tunnel at 6.30. Nightmare as four-car shunt closes lanes. Hour late for meeting on Wirral but at least it was with the effervescent Joe Pinnington who wanted to talk about research he's doing on Liverpool's Cotton Industry for a possible book. He has a rich fund of stories already and his enthusiasm will make it a success. Could be a great serialisation in the Echo if its entertaining enough.
Home at 8.15. Morgan still up thankfully. Frugal ham salad and take Morgan to bed. Three stories including Billy Goats Gruff which goes on for ages which is why she chooses it.
Three glasses of wine (small glasses) and collapse into bed. Five minutes of Sopranos DVD and asleep before 10.
