About a month ago we got a call from the CBC asking us to come to Toronto to appear on the Steven and Chris show – and like every other media outlet, newspaper and radio station, we bend over backwards to get the message out about specialty coffee. After all, it is our thing. The more we talk about the World of Coffee, the better it is for the people that actually work in the fields, on the farms, the coops and the processing factories – to bring you that cup of Joe that you love so dearly.
It is about the 12 million family members that grow coffee. Not us. Them.
That said, you had better make it worth while to travel several thousand miles to appear on a TV show for three minutes… which is why I deferred the task to the lovely Sara Lee Spector of Every Day Gourmet Coffee – because the CBC does not have a penny for guests who travel from places like Victoria B.C.
Anyway. Sara was somewhat apprehensive about this task because it would mean taking 4 to 6 hours out of her busy day – Along with her hard working staff, Sara is the production back-bone of Every Day Gourmet Coffee.
But that is OK. The CBC and the producers of the Steven and Chris show (like virtually every TV show I have ever dealt with…) promise the moon in exchange for some of our precious time. In Chris and Stevens case, their producer and videographer, Barbara, guaranteed a mention of Every Day Gourmet Coffee and the CoffeeCrew website for our trouble. Hey, I even blogged the event further back in my archive giving Chris and Steven a good dollop of free publicity.
Me being the perpetual cynic, I figured… “Sure, whatever…” TV shows on the CBC with their paper thin budgets will make any number of promises to get the volunteers they need – and we cannot fault them for that – especially when we expect this kind of cheesy treatment.
Anyway – it still burns me up a bit. I contacted the producer today and she said… “Well, this season we are not keying in credits during the show…”
Uhm. Hello. I watched the episode. You were keying in the name and credentials of the guests. What was so difficult about giving credit where it was due?
Oh wait. I know. At the end of the Steven and Chris show, they were giving away Tim Horton’s coffee to everyone on the show.
Tim Horton’s. After a wonderful lecture from Sara on what coffee is all about… We get an ad for Tim Horton’s.
Something smells here, and it isn’t good coffee.
Steven and Chris. You guys can do better than this.
Colin Newell lives and dreams in Victoria B.C. Canada on the West Coast of Canada. He believes in good food, good coffee and great friends. And this is the first in the Fall series of blogs on Food, Drink and Fun for the Fall.