An organizer of an upcoming fundraiser sent me a news release that included her phone number. After skimming the release, I emailed the source to set up a phone interview about the event.
I thought I was being extra careful when I emailed the source by asking if the number listed in the news release was the best one to reach her at and even wrote out the number in my email. Let's just say the number was "555-5555" - or so I thought.
The source responded that yes, indeed, that was the best number to reach her at.
So imagine my confusion when I called her number at the appointed time but was intercepted by a man's voice telling me I had the wrong number.
I tried calling the number a couple of other times, but got the same erroneous result. So I emailed the source again, who responded with a message that clarified my mistake: When I originally emailed her, I didn't include the area code when I wrote out the number she'd listed in the news release and asked if that was the best number to reach her at.
I'd assumed her number was the 614 area code of my city, Columbus, Ohio. But her number was just one digit off and actually has the 612 area code of Minneapolis, from where she'd recently relocated. My eyes had glazed over that important detail when I'd read the news release she sent me.
After a couple of emails back and forth and failed attempts at playing phone tag, the source and I did finally connect and I was able to get the story written and turned in to my editor.
Moral of the story? Yes, little details do make a big difference.
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