Friday, Augustus 21, 2015 | 82 days until the conference | 155 registrations 

The next morning, Victor went into the office early. He was convinced he would be the first one there, but Casper was already behind his desk, his face flushed with hard work, fervently typing away on his keyboard.

           ‘Stressed?’ he asked.

           ‘Aren’t you?’ Casper replied. ‘Do you have any idea how much we still need to get done for Rodentia?’

           Victor sighed. ‘I know. As soon as Martine comes in, I would like to have a short meeting.’

           ‘A meeting? I really don’t have time.’

           Victor gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder and went into his office. Behind him, he heard Casper call out: ‘and Martine certainly doesn’t.’

           Casper was his only full time employee. He had been working here longer than Victor and dynamically tackled communications. Casper also organized the annual National Spring Conferences. These had become a matter of routine, and with roughly one hundred participants on average, he could easily manage alone. However, Rodentia was a completely different ballgame. As of a month ago, they had therefore hired backup, in the form of Martine. She managed logistics in order for Casper to be able to fully concentrate on marketing and communications, contacting the speakers, recruiting sponsors, and the press. For weeks now, Casper had been trying to arrange an interview with Instinct, the most respected trade magazine for pet professionals. So far it had been in vain. The journalist kept insisting a conference was not newsworthy, which made no sense to Victor whatsoever: after all, the program was incredibly interesting, wasn’t it? 

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Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos

Narrated by Kevin Stillwell