the elections such as education and employment etc. The windows were blacked out by huge shutters that loomed almost imposingly into the room and to the left of the entrance was a large table covered with tasty looking little appetisers. The seating was arranged in three sections using an assortment of stadium seating that was not attached to the floor and a collection of mismatched plastic chairs. At the front of the room was the makeshift stage, a small rectangular box on which was placed a chair and an equally small table, with a microphone a bottle of water and some plastic cups. To the right were three aligned chairs in which the press rep!
             She whirled into the room at 6:24pm, with not an air of contempt, as soon as she sat and made herself comfortable she apologised for having been late which seemed to have a soothing effect on the already seated journalists: Mr James Blitz from the Financial Times, David Willy from the BBC and Richard from the LA Times. The conference got underway with a much more casual approach than the previous rally that I had attended; encouraged by the less imposing more comfortable situation that the auditorium allowed for. A lack of men and women in suits, replaced by the abundance of scruffy looking students form the University, and a much larger majority of women than one might have expected helped to ease the situation into more of a 'chat show' direction.
             Mediated by a Political Science Professor from the university the introductions were made and Miss Melandri spoke for about ten minutes uninterrupted. As she spoke about the Major differences between the Ulivo and the Polo, it became clear that although her English was very good and her accent was almost perfect, she had difficulty (one can only assume from lack of practicing) in finding the right phrase that she wanted to say and would constantly refer to a colleague, this served a purpose intentional or not and broke the ice.
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