A day in the life of a PR Account Executive is a varied and eventful one.

One of the best examples of this, for me, has been the Calor Village of the Year competition, which has had me travel all over the place in the past year! From an extremely wild boat trip over to the Isle of Eigg to ‘mini-beast mansions’ in Forth, we eventually found the winner with arguably the most stunning set church possible – Arrochar, Argyllshire.

On Friday, 25 September 2009, myself, Lynsey Shepherd and my colleague, Kat MacPherson jumped into the AVC truck and, amid the sounds of Runrig’s ‘Loch Lomond,’ made the drive down to the village of Arrochar – navigation is not my strongest point, but we got there safe and sound! J

Our challenge for the weekend was to organise an official prize-giving presentation for the village, which included welcoming a host of VIPs including Mr Richard Lochhead MSP – the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs. But before all the prizes and celebrations, there was important work to do. What was our first task? To help build a pink marquee of course!

Following a host of jokes about pole dancing, it was off to the Tarbet hotel to fix the Village of the Year banner round the beer garden railings for all to see. A few laughs, some terrible (but secure) knots and an entertained beer garden later, Kat and I headed back to our hotel, just in time for a free firework display over Loch Lomond – courtesy of some newly-weds. Thank you – they were stunning!

Saturday morning saw us up bright and early – there was a lot to do before the presentation at 11am! Whilst I set out the plaque and cheque on stage in Arrochar Parish Church and ran through the morning’s agenda, Kat helped set out the marquees with a feast of food for the village. We then welcomed the VIPs including, Mr Lochhead, Provost William Petrie, the two Scottish Calor Village of the Year judges and Mr Alistair Todd, the area network manager for competition sponsors, Calor Gas Ltd.  

It was 11am and right on cue, the Inverary and District pipe band could be seen (and heard!) trooping up the hill, towards the church to entertain the guests. No time for us to observe this sight though – Kat and I were busy welcoming a host of media, all eager to capture the sights and sounds of the morning.

After a lot of clapping and photography, the presentation was hailed a great success; Arrochar had their cheque for £9500, we had all the photography we needed and the press had been and gone. Our VIPs were having a great time – enjoying all the refreshments on offer, as was our community representative, Duncan. He was so pleased he invited us to the village BBQ, fiddler’s rally and firework display later that evening.

It was soon 10pm and having enjoyed the burgers, a bit of rain and a fantastic fiddler’s rally we headed outside to watch the firework display over Loch Long. You’d be excused for thinking it was November with the abundance of fireworks that weekend – but we thought it was great!

A brilliant time was had by all and after hugging our new friends goodbye (they felt like life-long friends!) Kat and I made the drive home the next morning – all ready to regale the rest of the office with our tales of pink marquees and a wonderful weekend.