November has added a few more balls to the juggling/unicycle combo of the Mitchell Moneypenny PR world. We have been extremely busy working with a great new client, which means all the projects we are doing are starting from scratch rather than the maintenance flow of existing clients. This has been good for me as it has forced me to step up my game even more than in month one. Sometimes, it would seem, being thrown in the deep end is the best course of action as it prevents you from sitting in the shallows worrying about what you can’t do.

Towards the end of the month I went on my first Mitchell Moneypenny road trip! Nic and I were driven up to Leeds in the glorious sunshine, by a very accomplished ex-army chauffeur, to make a social media presentation to an adviser firm. It was the first time since joining the company that I had to make a presentation, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit nervous on the journey up! It was also the first big project I had started working on in my first week, so I was anxious about how well it would be received. I actually surprised myself by how confident I became as the presentation got under way. It felt like it was going extremely well, with everybody interacting with some really great questions. We are now looking at developing a working relationship with the firm, so I think it’s fair to say it was a success.

It has also been great this month to finally put some names to faces with a few client meetings. No matter how many emails or phone calls go back and forth, there is no substitute for face to face contact to get to know people properly and find out about their personalities. I find that once you have spent time with clients, although the formality of business is still at the forefront of contact, communication becomes a little softer around the edges. I am looking forward to testing this theory at a client Christmas drinks do in London we have also been busily arranging for December. This will also give me the opportunity to get to know many of the journalists that we deal with regularly a bit better.

And so December is upon us already. The plan to have all of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped early has fallen by the way side and so far the decorations are still up in the attic. But with December being a quiet month in the financial industry I am sure I will somehow pull it all together as usual. I am looking forward to spending a cosy Christmas with my family, laughing lots, eating far too much and sampling some fine wine. I think it will be a much needed break as it looks like 2013 is going to be an extremely busy and exciting year at Mitchell Moneypenny.