Journalists are as vigorous as ferrets and as feisty as badgers, on a good day anyway. That"s probably the reason we chose this profession rather than wearing chalk-stripe suits and hanging out at Exchange Square. This also explains why the best reporters are often those who roam beyond the office-out meeting sources and getting the story.

This is why the CWHK editorial team agrees to vendor trips. It"s ground-level research in other cities in the world and a great chance to meet with executives of the company, not to mention meeting our fellow journos from Asia-Pacific and around the world, exchanging ideas on stories.

But a recent trip to Beijing with a major vendor was a less-than-optimal experience for one of our CWHK reporters. Said reporter looked forward to the Q&A section with the Big Boss. Unfortunately, after spending hours on the plane, another hour being bussed to a resort-type hotel (reportedly located in a nearby province), it was yet another hour on a bus to the event venue. The CEO in his suit hopped onstage and hyped his company"s latest offerings-announced months ago. Then...he headed right off without so much as a "thankyewBUHbye." No Q, and definitely no A.

What followed was another two hours of presentation on product details, without a single coffee break or chance to stretch our legs. For the energetic reporters, this was like keeping a bunch of badgers in a cage. Then it was back to the bus for more travel between the venue and the hotel.

Being put up at a resort hotel sounds relaxing, but a resort hotel without facilities is a different story. To be precise, lights were turned off at the resort premises, except the building we stayed in.

But the lights weren"t only off at night. When the reporter got up at 7:30 AM to prepare for another thrilling day, the lights were still off. Not only lights, but television, ventilation, all electric power...even the water was off. Needless to say, WiMax 3G supertech gizmos weren"t functioning either.

Glad that the sun was there to brighten up the cold day at...a province near Beijing. Sometimes it"s useful to remember that the word "travel" is descended from the same root as the word "travail" (defined as "work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil").

Techspew bubbles over

The techspew award of the month goes to:

"[VENDOR NAME DELETED]"s technology uses advanced InGaP (indium gallium arsenide) HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) MMIC (microwave monolithic integrated circuit) technology to provide state-of-the-art reliability, temperature stability, cool operation and ruggedness."

However, strong contention was provided by:

"[VENDOR NAME DELETED]"s 1.3 megapixel camera phone features a 16 million-color LCD and a remote control functionality that provides universal control of home appliances including the air conditioner, PC, game console, TV, DVD and navigation in automobiles, as well as TV, VCR and home karaoke. It also acquired the S-Mark certification from the Korean government for its anti-bacterial silver nano-particle coating."

An antibacterial-coated mobile phone tweaking an air-conditioner and piloting an automobile as it dials up karaoke numbers? We"re speechless.

Wasting time

One of the things we love about Hong Kong is that IT movers and shakers are constantly rotating into town. Whether on their way to a mainland metropolis or speaking at an event here, they"re often available for a quick chat or informal interview.

But sometimes, the presence of an IT guru (of whatever stripe) sends PR agencies into a whirling Tasmanian-Devil dance. They"re tasked with stacking said guru"s schedule full of interviews with local journos, and they"re not shy about it. Of course, it"s their job, and often, meeting these people is great value for us. We gain perspective and sometimes even entire interviews.

But we too have our agendas-specified subjects to research/write/edit, that sort of thing-and our resources are limited. Thus we like to ensure that the time spent meeting these people delivers value for us.

We also know from experience that schedules shift, time-changes are the rule rather than the exception. So when said guru dips his or her toe into our Fragrant Harbor, we stay close to our mobiles and the MTR. The meeting"s at 2:30...no, 3:30! No, lunch is running late! The Jet-Lag Monster is running rampant! Can we make it early evening instead?

Sometimes it"s best just to give up. But on a recent CTO trip, where scheds were changing faster than mobile ringtones on a Mongkok moppet"s Motorola, one of our editors decided to slot in a post-work informal drink-meeting. Bad move.

Said editor was running a bit late, but no matter. Said CTO was not there. CTO"s minder was apologetic, as fingers flew across mobile-comm devices-CTO was not answering either mobile phone or Blackberry (dubbed "Crackberry" by telco-wags). Said interviewee was MIA.

After half an hour, or more, CTO manifested by phone. Was due to arrive. "In ten minutes."

Half an hour later, editor left.