Florida Gov. Rick Scott meeting with the media on board Carnival Imagination at the Port of Miami Nov. 4..
Florida Gov. Rick Scott meeting with the media on board Carnival Imagination at the Port of Miami Nov. 4.

Working in public relations is fun and usually exciting, especially with clients like Carnival Cruise Lines, who practically owns the word “fun.” You just never know who you’re going to meet and what you’ll be doing. From escorting journalists around a 70,367-ton ship to pointing out prime locations for “media gaggles,” interviews and photo ops, you really just never know.

On Friday, Nov. 4, after learning that I would be “Driving Mr. Banks” (my boss) once again, I said a quick prayer that I would get him back to the office in one piece, made sure we had all the proper documents and photo identification needed for the event and headed north to the Port of Miami.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott was in town to take part in a “workday” at the port with Carnival Cruise Lines. The “workday” tradition was started by former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. During his “workday” Gov. Scott performed several jobs for Carnival Cruise Lines that included deejaying and spinning the hottest records as guests boarded the ship to begin their three-day fun cruise aboard Carnival Imagination.

Thankfully, those involved in coordinating the “workday” event met prior to the big day and walked through all the important details. There was plenty of security and well thought-out solutions to anything and everything that could possibly go wrong.

I had a great day meeting journalists I grew up watching on television and seeing the governor of my state in action. More importantly, the event went off without a hitch. Media turnout was great and the governor’s fun-filled “workday” at the port and on the ship garnered lots of positive media coverage for our client, which is always a good thing in public relations.

Personally, I really enjoyed seeing all the bubbly Carnival guests posing for photos and chatting with the governor before embarking on their cruise. However, I would have to say my favorite part of the day was watching Gov. Scott spin classic hits from the ’60s and ’70s (long before my time, but I knew every word) and joining Carnival passengers for the popular party dance, the cha-cha slide. Classic stuff.

Check out the video here.

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