Although MIPIM only officially kicks off  on the 8th March, press commentary of the annual property bonanza in Cannes started some weeks ago.

We have already been told who will be attending, which local authorities are being supported by the private sector, that the UK is the country of honour (for the first time ever!) and importantly for those making corporate announcements – how the media will report it.

The fierce competition that exists between the UK’s commercial property media becomes intense under the heat of the cote d’azur sunshine.  And although some outsiders  may regard MIPIM as one big junket for the property industry, no group works harder than the press corps.

The working day opens with the much dreaded breakfast briefing and continues until evening with numerous events along the Croisette interspersed by visits to the press office to file copy.  While for those ‘off diary’ stories, no hack can afford to miss out on the gossipy goings on at the Hotel Martinez in the wee hours of the morning.

In addition to writing for their magazines (or papers) the media now have to provide content for their online versions and also in more recent years add video news reporting to their workload. There  is no such thing  as a mere print journalist in the modern era!

It is not unusual for a journalist to clock up over 60 hours covering MIPIM and to survive on only 12 hours sleep.

So spare a thought a thought for those weary looking journalists staring into their coffee at Nice Airport on the way home – their weekend will be spent recovering for the Monday morning news conference.