200 new MPs pose a challenge for those covering Parliament Hill

It's the final day of orientation on Parliament Hill and more than 200 new Members of Parliament are taking their seats in the House of Commons.

Mind you,the seats they are in aren't their own yetthe official seating plan has yet to be published.

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Veterans Affairs Minister KentHehris sitting in the middle of the House in his wheelchair.Once his seat is assigned, a special custom desk will be installed.

Some faces are by now familiar to political junkies.

MaryamMonsef, the new minister of democratic reform, arrives on crutchesshe just had a bad fallwith Fisheries Minister HunterTootoocarrying a backpack.

Many MPs just blend in to their surroundings until we can learn their names and faces. In 2011, some of the younger newly elected NDP MPs were mistaken for university students which, until the election, was exactly what they were.

The Parliamentary Protective Officers, who assumed control of security on Parliament Hill inJune,are charged with knowing the faces of each and every one of the 338 MPs.They have been studying photos for weeks.

One of my jobs, as a television producer in the CBC's Parliamentary bureau,is to know every MP, their name and as much as I can about them.It's important to build relationships so that when news breaks a rapport is already there.

Asking a MP questions with a televisioncamera over your shoulder while a bright light shines in their face can be intimidating at the best of times.

Everyone has a way to remember names and faces.My trick is to stand by the door to the Commons chamber and greet the MPs by name as they enter.

You get a few wrong at first but it helps to iron out the differences, say, between Conservative MPs Brad Trost and Chris Warkentin, who look a lot aliketo me at leastin photos.

Mistakes can still be made. I once followed a Liberal MP, calling out loudly "Mr. Coderre!" until the MP turned and set me straight. "I amnotMr. Coderre."

Sorry sir.