In a previous entry, I point to Mike Manuel's Media Guerilla blog where
he describes how transparent journalism can reveal some awkward
moments. Although my example
doesn't involve that moment that many journalists have experienced -- the one
where they ask a question and the PR person pipes in like an attorney
exclaiming "objection!" -- it involves an equaly awkward moment that gets caught on tape. One
where the interviewees have no idea what the answer is an obvious
question is. I mean, like REALLY obvious.
Who's to blame for such an embarrassing moment? Of course, the
interviewees should be well-versed in their subject matter before
meeting with the press. But the PR folks are the safety
net. Their job is to anticipate questions -- especially the
obvious ones -- and make sure that their clients are good and ready
before taking that interview. Understandably, you can't be
prepared for every question. But let's say the client is an
organization looking to get press and the main message is that the
organization is focused on five critical issues. Shouldn't the
client be prepared to discuss each of them in detail?
In this "case study" of how transparency can reveal some awkward
moments, I'm meeting with Oracle's Tony DiCenzo and Sun's Peter
ffoulkes to get introduced to the Enterprise Grid Alliance -- an
organization that they were representing at a recent grid event in
Boston. I didn't ask for this meeting. I was pitched on it
and accepted, given that my primary beat is enterprise computing.
During the meeting, which I recorded, ffoulkes and DiCenzo
explained to me that the EGA is focused on five primary objectives and
even has working groups assigned to each one. The five working
groups (and initiatives) are even listed on the organization's Web site. As explained to me, they are:
- Terminology (Reference Model)
- Accounting
- Grid Security
- Component Provisioning
- Data Provisioning
After being told of the objectives, one by one, I asked for an
explanation of each. After all, if I'm going to explain what the
EGA does to ZDNet's audience of enterprise technologists, they deserve
to have each of its major initiatives explained. Only,
there was one problem. When I asked what "data provisioning" was,
neither interviewee had the answer. Neither did either of the two
PR counselors who were accompanying them. For me, it was as strange
moment. It seemed like an obvious question. Perhaps for them, it
wasn't. I was told they'd get back to me.
Unfortunately, given how frequently I write, I have to get the
stories out while they're fresh in my mind. There's really no time to
get back to me. And so, the story goes out with text like this:
Unfortunately, when it came time to discuss what data provisioning was, neither ffoulkes nor DiCenzo could answer.
Want to be a fly on the wall for the awkward moment? You can download the MP3.
9:55:10 PM 
RadioEdit
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