about five minutes before show time. In the dimness, I could see that Amanda was close to blowing her own breaker. But the Science Centre AV guy, bless him, had us up and running again in about forty-five seconds, with a mad dash to the electrical panel down the hall. No problem.
At 10:30, our scheduled start, I counted nineteen reporters, eight bloggers, and six vidcams set up on the risers at the rear. For a Toronto news conference, this was as close to full attendance as you could get. If the announcement went well, the news would travel clear across the country in the coming hours. If Armand Gelinas threw up on his microphone and it all turned ugly, the news would travel clear across the country in the coming hours. The mixed blessing of a well-attended newser.
At the appointed time, Amanda took the steps very carefully, one at a time, as if she were about 104 years old and needed a double hip replacement. Some minutes later, she made it to the fourth and final step and approached the microphone. She was alone on stage. Deep breath.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, I’m Amanda Burke from Turner King and I’m pleased to welcome you to this very special announcement. My role is simply to introduce our guests and get off the stage.” She smiled a little self-consciously as she said it, but it went over well.
“Here’s how it’s going to unfold this morning. You all have the media kits. There’ll be three spokespersons available during and following the news conference. We’ll also have raw video b-roll of the NASA news conference happening right now in Washington to round out what will be a continental story. So let’s get started.I’d like to welcome Ms. Kelly Bradstreet, chief information officer and head of NASA ’ S Office of Communications, Mr. Armand Gelinas, CEO of the Canadian Space Agency, and of course, Dr. Martine Juneau, Canadian astronaut and NASA mission specialist. Each will make a brief statement, and then Kelly will open the floor for questions. Thank you.”
Our three spokespersons were already seated at the skirted table ready to go by the time Amanda had finally made it back down the steps. I toyed with suggesting that we use an inflatable slide to get her back down the next time she chaired a news conference, but decided just to keep that one to myself.
“Thank you, Amanda. Good morning everyone and thank you for coming. I’m Kelly Bradstreet from NASA . At this very moment, the head of NASA is making this same announcement in Washington. Ladies and gentlemen, for more than fifty years, space has been the exclusive domain of a very special breed of human beings. Only astronauts, test pilots, rocket scientists, chemists, physicists, astronomers, physicians, and other extraordinary and highly trained individuals at the absolute top of their respective fields have had the singular opportunity to venture beyond our atmosphere and view the Earth from the depths of space. Yes, we’ve seen one or two billionaires buy their way onto a mission, but in general, those who have felt the miracle of weightlessness have belonged to a very exclusive club.”
Kelly paused and made eye contact with the key reporters we’d pointed out, before getting to the heart of the matter.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to change the face of the space program forever. We are about to open space up to average Americans and Canadians, whoever they are, whatever they do, wherever they live. Welcome to the era of the Citizen Astronaut.”
Kelly then proceeded to brief the reporters on the details of the Citizen Astronaut contest, including the eligibility rules and NASA ’ S final say on who would fly. And she was good. She knew what she was doing, and she knew how to command a room. I’d seen her remarks in advance and thought they were fine. But they were so much better when she delivered them than when I’d read them on the page. At the designated point in the program, Kelly invited Armand Gelinas
At 10:30, our scheduled start, I counted nineteen reporters, eight bloggers, and six vidcams set up on the risers at the rear. For a Toronto news conference, this was as close to full attendance as you could get. If the announcement went well, the news would travel clear across the country in the coming hours. If Armand Gelinas threw up on his microphone and it all turned ugly, the news would travel clear across the country in the coming hours. The mixed blessing of a well-attended newser.
At the appointed time, Amanda took the steps very carefully, one at a time, as if she were about 104 years old and needed a double hip replacement. Some minutes later, she made it to the fourth and final step and approached the microphone. She was alone on stage. Deep breath.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, I’m Amanda Burke from Turner King and I’m pleased to welcome you to this very special announcement. My role is simply to introduce our guests and get off the stage.” She smiled a little self-consciously as she said it, but it went over well.
“Here’s how it’s going to unfold this morning. You all have the media kits. There’ll be three spokespersons available during and following the news conference. We’ll also have raw video b-roll of the NASA news conference happening right now in Washington to round out what will be a continental story. So let’s get started.I’d like to welcome Ms. Kelly Bradstreet, chief information officer and head of NASA ’ S Office of Communications, Mr. Armand Gelinas, CEO of the Canadian Space Agency, and of course, Dr. Martine Juneau, Canadian astronaut and NASA mission specialist. Each will make a brief statement, and then Kelly will open the floor for questions. Thank you.”
Our three spokespersons were already seated at the skirted table ready to go by the time Amanda had finally made it back down the steps. I toyed with suggesting that we use an inflatable slide to get her back down the next time she chaired a news conference, but decided just to keep that one to myself.
“Thank you, Amanda. Good morning everyone and thank you for coming. I’m Kelly Bradstreet from NASA . At this very moment, the head of NASA is making this same announcement in Washington. Ladies and gentlemen, for more than fifty years, space has been the exclusive domain of a very special breed of human beings. Only astronauts, test pilots, rocket scientists, chemists, physicists, astronomers, physicians, and other extraordinary and highly trained individuals at the absolute top of their respective fields have had the singular opportunity to venture beyond our atmosphere and view the Earth from the depths of space. Yes, we’ve seen one or two billionaires buy their way onto a mission, but in general, those who have felt the miracle of weightlessness have belonged to a very exclusive club.”
Kelly paused and made eye contact with the key reporters we’d pointed out, before getting to the heart of the matter.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to change the face of the space program forever. We are about to open space up to average Americans and Canadians, whoever they are, whatever they do, wherever they live. Welcome to the era of the Citizen Astronaut.”
Kelly then proceeded to brief the reporters on the details of the Citizen Astronaut contest, including the eligibility rules and NASA ’ S final say on who would fly. And she was good. She knew what she was doing, and she knew how to command a room. I’d seen her remarks in advance and thought they were fine. But they were so much better when she delivered them than when I’d read them on the page. At the designated point in the program, Kelly invited Armand Gelinas
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