An interesting question

A channel chap and a money man have words. Dagenham's finest sticks his oar in

I was lucky enough to lig my way into the most recent CRN Business Club quarterly meeting and was intrigued to see a fellow reseller boss do his best to fit in with his journalistic hosts.

The guest speaker was a noted economist (oh, by the way - we're all in a whole world of pain) who proffered his opinion that the Bank of England should raise the base rate by a symbolic quarter per cent. This would show international investors the UK is serious about reining in inflation rises, said the money man. But one channel MD didn't buy into this idea, claiming such a move would smash him and his brethren in the pocket.

The VAR chief gruffly asked the economist if he was sure the move was such a good idea, and was given a detailed response as to why it was so. Still not satisfied by the speaker's logic, Mr Reseller asked once again if the finance bod honestly believed a rise made sense. This time an even fuller and franker response was given.

But the channel chatterbox still wasn't happy. So he asked again. And again. And again. The IT interrogator was only stopped when a CRN representative stood up and wondered aloud whether the whole room might prefer to get on with eating dinner.

I may have been the pioneer when it comes to channel personalities forging careers in the media, but I wonder if this chap will soon outdo me. Newsnight could do worse than give him a look-in when Paxman retires.