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Alex lives for the present ([info]pastperfection) wrote in [info]neeps,
@ 2018-03-02 20:12:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:! ic/ooc, # montrose, ada olivier, alasdair maddock, alex winters, dani miracle, elektra yaxley, jason king, kenna mcleod, lennox campbell, mg mcgonagall, michael corner, roger davies

IC/OOC - Who's Ready to Meet Montrose's New PR Guy?




internalmemo
Montrose Magpies Team PR Office
2 March 2000

TO: Montrose Staff and Players

FROM: Montrose Magpies Team Office

SUBJECT: Getting to Know You!
Hello, Magpies!

No doubt, you have seen a new face around the offices, so I thought I'd send out a memo to briefly introduce myself. My name is Alex Winters, and I'll be taking over the Public Relations position from Aureliana effective immediately. She's agreed to stay on for a brief time as we transition her work to me, and I'm very excited to get started here! I'm sure all of you have appreciated the hard work she put in during the interim.

A little about me: I was born in Scotland, but moved to America when I was really little, and grew up in Seattle, WA. I went to Ilvermorny- Go, Horned Serpents!- and then interned for a marketing firm in Manhattan before being hired on full time. This was my primary background- international corporate accounts- for nearly ten years, when I felt it was time for a change.

But I'm not here to bore you with the details! I'd really like to get to know everyone here, but I know that everyone is busy with three upcoming matches this month, so I'm asking if you could please find the time to either schedule a time or just stop by my office for a brief 5-10 minute chat so I can get to know the team a little better.

If you find you don't have time, or small talk just really isn't your thing, I've attached a brief form that includes some talking points you can also use if you wish. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you, and can't wait to see the Unbeatable Magpies in action again!
MADE BY TESSISAMESS···································





(Please feel free to use this post as an IC/OOC, or we can treat it like a journal if your staff member/team player prefers the written medium.)

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-07 03:48 pm UTC (link)
I'll do Roger next. Davies is our youngest chaser by...well a decade actually. I nabbed him from the Bats reserve line and absolutely no regret on that one. Very promising, he's been coming into his own this season and really flourishing in the starting position and giving our starting lineup some youth and energy that we need. PR-wise...look he's young, a good lad, and this is his first starting job. So far he's flown under the radar in the press and he doesn't have any significant slipups I've heard about, so not a big PR threat. But he's young, maybe he embraces the quidditcher lifestyle and will need more of your input, but either way not a huge wild card.

Last starting chaser is Alasdair Maddock. Bit of a...complicated history with the Magpies that ties into his...let's say creative tendencies when it comes to muggle sports and mixing it with quidditch. There was an incident where he kicked the snitch and that lost Montrose the catch, and the game. I believe he went down to reserve and the muggle sports issue became worse until the last coach gave him the boot. I brought him back on because first of all, he's a good lad and excellent player. Creative vision, and I don't mean in the muggle sports way, and the best we have when it comes to chaser interference. He was on my list of old Magpies to look at bringing back for those reasons and I think he's certainly matured and improved since those troubles with the old coach. That said...we do have a snitch clause in his contract, I had to insist on that because there are some things a seeker coach can't abide by. Recently let him loose with allowing his...whatever he calls them, these fancy muggle shots. They're impressive, I'll admit, and take a lot of skill. But they're reckless and needlessly extravagant in ways that don't benefit the team. But anyway, gave him free reign with the charity match and allowed a few on the cannons and come to think of it he did do one of those kick goals with Puddlemere though we hadn't discussed that. So something to keep an eye on is all, I know the press might like those moves but I don't want to encourage him back into those habits so if you could downplay them where possible I'd appreciate it.

PR-wise...well he's married to my cousin, Elsie, the Portree coach. Or well...they were divorced but apparently just forgot to actually divorce and didn't realize that until this season. Yes, I know, I don't understand how you can forget that you're technically still married but that's both of them for you. Moved back in together, got a huge dog. The whole thing. But at the end of the day he's a valuable player, excellent energy for the team, and steps up when you give him the opportunity to. As far as I've seen, he handles the press well and again another one who works well with kids.

You know what? They're pretty much all great with kids. Put it down for the lot of them so I don't keep saying it.

That's...4 of the starters? Anything you want more on from these four? Or types of things you want to know so I on't keep talking your ears off?"

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-08 03:47 pm UTC (link)
He was going to definitely need to start a new notebook soon, and to organize the one he was currently using better because his notes were starting to get unruly. There were quite a few kernels of interest there, strings Alex was honestly pretty excited to explore at some point.

Right now, however, he had snagged on Maddock's complicated sounding home life. "Sorry, but is that level of personal interconnectivity normal for Quidditch teams here? Outside of trades and such, we don't see it that much at all back home. And don't worry about my ears. I come from the dangerous school of too much is better anyway. Please, continue. This is great stuff."

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-10 03:17 pm UTC (link)
"Yes and no. For the Scottish quidditch teams it's not all that unusual and even the Irish have their own brand of it. The English have more teams so not so much and the Welsh are complicated by the fact that the Harpies are very selective about their roster. But I imagine as a whole the League has a lot more interconnectivity than yours, we are smaller both in population and areas we cover after all," Merc shrugged.

"Well you dug your grave here. Let's see, where are we up to? Beaters!

Georgi Draganov is our Bulgarian who signed on around...bloc 6 I believe. Our starter, George Peppard, took a bad hit to the head and he's on medical leave for the season. I...cannot say for sure whether he'll be back for next season, it's a tough and delicate area. But to cover the gap we signed Georgi on for the season. Wonderful polite lad, great with littles, seems to have really done well in integrating into Scotland and the team. We got him from the Vratsa Vultures but I'll be honest and say I'm not clear on why he was eager for an out of country trade midseason. Shona checked to make sure it wasn't a professional issue, and we've had no issues or inkling of a problem on that front so whatever got the lad here, his business. I couldn't tell you much about his background as I'm not bulgarian nor familiar with, I suppose you could say the gossip given how much about other players is just that. He stayed over with my family when he first came to the country and I will certainly vouch for him being a wonderful kind lad, hard worker, excellent reliable beater.

Our more permanent starting beater is Elektra Yaxley and-hmm actually. I think I'll have to pause here to ask you a question now. How...familiar are you with the Montrose ownership family? And their...connections and reputation?" Here he stopped to study Alex's response and reaction, you never knew how familiar people were with their new bosses before they took on a job.

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-10 04:52 pm UTC (link)
Alex paused in his notes- Bulgarian connections??- at Merc's question, and considered what he'd read on his own and the barest overview he'd gotten from Mel the other day. He found himself drawing his finger along his lip, not exactly stalling for time, but trying to figure out how he wanted to phrase things. "I've heard about some of the... unpleasantness that came to light during and after the war," he admitted. "Is the Death Eater connection still a concern to the public, or to the League?" The briefest of hesitations. "To you? I can understand if it's been quite the hole you've probably had to try to dig yourself out of this season- even with the year off."

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-11 01:22 am UTC (link)
Merc raised an eyebrow and for a moment looked almost incredulous at the question. To him it was only a question that could've come from someone outside and not fully aware of it all. He shouldn't have been surprised it was an American who'd asked it.

Shaking his head a little, Merc reached into his jacket for his wand to summon a quill and bit of parchment to scribble a note about coffee and tea to Mick on. "I feel a bit sorry for people coming to work in the UK from outside, who have to jump into the complicated atmosphere that is this country postwar. The war may be over but there is baggage and trauma that comes with it and isn't yet anywhere near gone." He tapped the note with his wand, making it fold into a paper airplane and fly off to find the intern and looked back up at Alex.

"You'll find that while it is not said out loud much of the time, the war and what people's parts were in it colours many interactions, actions, and decisions even now. Do the public care? Well I think looking at this wave of pink that's been sweeping the nation you'll find the answer. It may be a social movement that focuses on Muggleborn treatment and status but that movement is heavily steeped in war trauma. I only mention it because letting someone dive into public relations without making sure they're aware of the way the war still influences things here is setting you up for failure."

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-11 01:57 am UTC (link)
Alex grimaced a little, not bothering to hide his annoyance at himself. "Ah, ignorance. The one true bane of my profession. Sure, it helps with plausible deniability, but that can only get you so far. I'm very sorry if I'm asking or saying anything particularly unfeeling or even rude. I tried to read up on current events, but reading only gets you so far, y'know?"

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-12 02:24 pm UTC (link)
Merc waved it off, signalling it was fine and he had put it down to foreigners not having the full context.

"Hence you see why I ask about the owners. Things like that cast a different light on a lot of gestures. Especially in this climate. But I can't speak for what direction Una Yaxley may be trying to go in." He said carefully, notably using the owner's married name before she'd changed it less than 2 years before. "I figured before we got onto Lex that it'd be relevant to bring it up briefly and see how much you already knew." Clearly someone had mentioned the words Death Eater to him, and he very much doubted it was his predecessor.

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-13 01:48 am UTC (link)
"Just a broad overview of the events: the Ministry takeover, the BIL war year, public records of the court proceedings in the aftermath. I..." Alex paused for a moment, and then forged ahead. "I can't help but notice that you called her Yaxley instead of Macmillan. I'm sorry for assuming anything, but it sounds like the team ownership alone is a point of contention. I guess it's hard to come out from under the shadow of a name that's now synonymous with Voldem-" he cut himself off with a slight wince as he remembered just how unwelcome the dark wizard's chosen name- "with him. Is it the taint of the name alone that's at issue, or is it because there's some lingering doubt as to whether the archaic and ultimately harmful belief system has been as abandoned as people might want you to, well, believe?"

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-13 08:21 am UTC (link)
Merc let out a soft humourless snort at the list of events, that was a lot yet somehow barely covered it. But he let Alex continue without interruption.

But once he was done, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door and Merc got up to take their tray of tea and coffee options and let Mick scurry on his way. As he levitated the tray back to their table, Merc considered how to answer this. "I tend to remember people by their name as it was when I first met them," he said carefully as he took his seat again. "And until a little over a year ago, she was Una Yaxley." He figured Alex could decide if that timing was significant for himself. "Now whether people will keep archaic pointless belief systems, it's not mine to say. But how ever it goes, you can see how a name and history like that contrasts some of the things players and this team have been trying to achieve and show."

"Shona and I have done whatever we can to support Jason going ahead with this, and I will admit right now that if the owners don't like it we are and have been prepared to handle that. But at the end of the day I believe even if they might not like which way the winds of change are blowing, and who's to say on that, they are keenly aware of the optics of all this. So who knows, either they let us continue as is or perhaps they try to come out publicly and claim credit and support for everything up until now." Merc shrugged. "Either way it happens, it'll fall under your domain to some extent is all."

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-14 12:34 am UTC (link)
A wry smile lifted the edge of his mouth as he prepared his own cup of coffee- black, with not even half a teaspoon of sugar- after having listened to Merc's thoughts on the matter. "No pressure, right?"

Alex took a moment to sip at the black ambrosia, and already felt some of the mental Devil's snare start to untangle at just that first bitter taste. "So all this plays into Lex's complicated history, I'm assuming?"

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-15 03:49 pm UTC (link)
"It's an important background element to a lot of things with her this year, yes," Merc nodded and sipped his coffee.

"I guess this is where we swing back to player by player. Let's see...

Elektra Yaxley, starting and lead beater here. Montrose lifer, and as I'm sure you're aware, daughter to the current owner of this team. Luckily for everyone, she's a great beater and I never have to worry about a player on the roster who's there because of family. She's more than earned her spot, many many times over.

Personality-wise she's...impulsive. Bit of a temper, isn't always the biggest fan of being told what to do but will if it's important. Very devoted to quidditch, very loyal to her team, and sets high standards for herself. Frankly too high because I feel like she wallows and regrets too much but I haven't had much luck in changing any of that.

Unfortunately the impulsive side that lives that very quidditcher life of flying plus...enjoying life let's say...lends itself to perhaps more scandal than most of the players. To start, it seems she's had flings with half the team in the past. Because I keep accidentally discovering this history on the team journal wards." Merc sighs and shakes his head while giving Alex a look to show what he thought of intrateam messing around. "That seems to largely be in the past because our most significant personal scandal this year was after the Fall Classic when she and our Captain, Micah Savage, who also happens to be her first cousin, ran off and...eloped.

Now the PR mess of the beater and the captain running off an eloping, while also being first cousins and one of them being the daughter of the owner...and the 'tradition' around here that sees a lot of pureblood families marrying cousins to keep the bloodline 'pure'...in a postwar society. Well...our PR man quit shortly after that. I can't say I judge him harshly, it's an awkward position to be in without adding in that the ownership would be very invested in handling this quickly. Now, for the record, this isn't one of the 'keep the bloodline' marriages, just that in this climate and given the family background it had the unfortunate side effect of being read that way by some people. As a result of that and the need for a fill-in PR, we got her sister Aureliana filling in until you came along.

What else, well she took a bad hit to the head before winter break. Unfortunately that's what also took her beater partner at the start of this season out, George that is. As a result of that and being grounded, about a day or two after leaving Mungo's she decided to go to a 'bad decisions' party, their name for it not mine. Which as you can imagine involved drinking after a head injury. Not great puts it lightly. Although the severity of the situation got drilled in enough that through the break and even the first bloc or so after she was very settled down and really did everything to get cleared for the air again.

There's also the Pink Movement, which has put her in an awkward position given the family background we just discussed. And she's been more on the side of 'quidditch should be quidditch' and apolitical to avoid all that, which is not an easy nor popular position to have right now." Merc briefly remembered the conversation he'd had with her about the war and the Uplift movement but wasn't going to touch on that with Alex. "All in all despite some self sacrificing tendencies on the pitch and being too beater-focused, she's a truly excellent beater I wouldn't trade. But if you're looking for a player that may give you a few headaches, I'd say it's worth figuring Lex out early."

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-16 01:31 am UTC (link)
The only thing that betrayed any piece of what was going through Alex's head- and there was a lot- was the tiniest quirk of his brow. Well, that, and the fact that he'd stopped writing about mid-way through Merc's run-down. "Thank you for that," he said after a brief pause. "I'll keep that in mind. Those were all of your starters, right? How are your reserves? At this point, I feel like you've already pulled out the biggest gun, and the rest are just flash-bangs- potential threat-wise."

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-23 12:25 pm UTC (link)
Merc chuckled. "There's Micah Savage too, our captain. But his big scandal was covered under Lex and I only have glowing things to say about him and his playing. He's a reasonable sort though so I think he'll be easy to work with."

"Reserves...well first I should mention that I like rotating a few of the positions a lot so while on another team the reserves may not see much light in the PR world, you'll likely have a lot more media time with this lot.

Hmm let's start with Angus.

Angus Campbell is our reserve chaser, really reserve on the books that is. He was previously a starter before the war but was never the type to let things go unanswered and was thrown in Azkaban during the war for standing up against the muggleborn raids. Brave lad, good heart, but Azkaban does a number on anyone who goes through there. He was top of the list of old magpies to bring back to the team, and eager to come back but in our initial tryouts and offseason practices had...blank spells I suppose would be an easy way to describe them. Florrie's been working with him on those and he's on what's really one of his highest scoring seasons. Really he's been great, and makes it easier to rotate him in often. We've had a few incidents of those blank moments on the pitch but the team has really come together to help him when that's happened.

Other than that...little impulsive sort, really a lad's quidditcher and enjoys a bit of that life, but the louder and more social of the Campbell twins and very friendly. PR-wise, well as they say about us quidditchers 'bird and booze' sometimes. But a good lad that could probably charm any reporter you throw him at.

Who's next...Kal Sharma. Our young reserve beater. Swiped her from the Catapults bench, they had some real promising young players there and this is a team that needs younger players we can build up into starters in the next years. Honestly I expected good things from her but she's surprised even me and really flourished under Lex's guidance. Been trying to use her in more matches, so another one that the public is going to be seeing more and more of. She's young though and another one that doesn't have much history I'm aware of, so at least there no baggage there.

Really a quiet, level-headed, and quite reasonable lass. Hard worker though and takes direction well so if you give her something to work or improve on, I suspect she'll do it well even if she doesn't strike me as someone who will particularly take to the spotlight."

Merc paused again to give Alex a chance to ask anything more but mostly so he could have more of his cup.

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-23 02:00 pm UTC (link)
It was a lot to unpack, so Alex could have been forgiven for his overlooking the team's captain. Of course, that didn't fly with him, and he cursed at himself colorfully under his breath. He got over it quickly when Merc went on, pulled completely into another set of tangled thoughts at the mention of the infamous magical prison. His lips pressed into a hard line, completely unable to maintain his neutral expression. He had Opinions, but this wasn't exactly the time or place to unload them unasked.

Already, he admired Merc's approach to the team's reserves, and was happy to hear that they were regularly played. Given that he wasn't a coach or whatever, he didn't feel the need to say anything on the matter. He wasn't a stranger to the Quidditcher lifestyle either, having consulted with more than one team Stateside during his firm years. "Live fast," was the only thing he remarked, but left the rest of the idiom out, since it may have clashed with the earlier comments about Azkaban.

He nodded a bit during the run on Kal, smiling a little at the mention of baggage. He'd read the younger player's questionnaire, but still made it a point to try to connect to her in the coming days. Rather than leave it to chance, he consulted his notes, and then said, "That just leaves Ada and Kenna, correct?"

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]avoidretrograde
2018-03-28 12:35 pm UTC (link)
"Exactly.

Ada Olivier, french import from the Quiberon Quafflepunchers. Came here as a sort of...career reserve. Which, given the rule differences on the continent, is a much more respectable and viable job there. Not particularly ambitious, at least not when she started here, but amazingly reliable when you need her and just the right amount of fire under there to be of use in a match. PR-wise, she got engaged over the winter break to, I believe they were teammates in Quiberon, Alasdair Buchanan the current Portree lead chaser. There's been a few articles about them and Aureliana and Miracle may have been coordinating about them, I couldn't say for sure. But they're not scandalous, if they weren't on rival teams I'm sure it'd be like any other quidditcher romance." Merc shrugged at that last bit, showing he wasn't concerned about it. "But she's sensible and her lad seems the same way so I'm sure they'll be easy to work with."

"Ah finally to the last one! Kenna McLeod is our fresh new reserve seeker. And I do mean fresh, just out of Hogwarts and can still count her pro matches on one hand fresh. Legacy player though, the McLeods have a long history with Montrose and were some of the earliest players. So while she doesn't have a long history with the team herself, I'm sure you can use that to fluff something up.

I should mention here that when it comes to the freshly graduated ones, within the last maybe 2 years, Mick included, that there were...issues at Hogwarts. The Death Eaters took most of the control of it and many taught classes and from what I've heard about it..." Merc pursed his lips and shook his head. "Let's say it's another example of how it's not just those who saw the inside of Azkaban that were hit hard. She seems to be quite chipper but I only mention it in case the topics come up in interviews, I don't know how sore a spot it is."

He sighed and sipped his tea to give them both a moment. "I'll try to end this on something more positive.

PR-wise she is, as she has told Shona and I, dating the reserve chaser from Portree. Yes, I know, so many of these crossover romances but what can you do? Lad is part of the family that owns Portree is really the only thing I know about him. But she's young, talented, confident, and the sort of outgoing that the press likes without being rash or making her a real worry. So I think you'll find her easy apart from those two considerations."

Merc put his cup down and let a deep breath out, an amused self-depricating smile on his face now.

"Now that I've talked your ears off, any questions to add?"

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Re: March 3 - Coach's office, afternoon during training
[info]pastperfection
2018-03-29 05:30 pm UTC (link)
At this point, Alex's coffee had long gone cold, so he tapped his wand to the cup to reheat it. He watched the steam rise for a moment, and attempted to track back to the beginning of their conversation. A wry smile tugged at his lips. "I'll be honest, I'm a little reluctant to bring it up- and I'll completely understand if this winds up being a topic for another day- but there was the... small matter of the rest of the season. I've probably already taken up way more of your time than either one of us planned, so I really don't mind if you'd rather I come back for it, or if you just want to send me something."

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