So this morning I see a Twitter from @joemarchese linking to Peter Shankman's latest blog about a VP from Ketchum catching hell from client FedEx after sending a Twitter post. When I started reading (letter pasted in below), I thought, man -- he must have sent some Tweet saying that his clients were idiots and didn't pick the right concept. But it turns out, he basically just said something negative about Memphis. Ok, *really* negative. But he didn't even mention Memphis by name.
I mean, it's not a great thing to have clients read. But sheesh, the response letter FedEx sent was little overkill. I used to work with FedEx clients, and they were nice people. The first time I met them, I asked them how the weather was in Nashville. They didn't take me out back and beat me up. They paused for a few seconds too long, I realized my error, and we all had a good laugh about it.
I'm *really* surprised they even gave this another tought. If I were the client, I might have given him some crap for dissing my city. But c'mon, this letter could have gotten the guy fired.
Mr. Andrews,
If I interpret your post correctly, these are your comments about Memphis a few hours after arriving in the global headquarters city of one of your key and lucrative clients, and the home of arguably one of the most important entrepreneurs in the history of business, FedEx founder Fred Smith.
Many of my peers and I feel this is inappropriate. We do not know the total millions of dollars FedEx Corporation pays Ketchum annually for the valuable and important work your company does for us around the globe. We are confident however, it is enough to expect a greater level of respect and awareness from someone in your position as a vice president at a major global player in your industry. A hazard of social networking is people will read what you write.
Not knowing exactly what prompted your comments, I will admit the area around our airport is a bit of an eyesore, not without crime, prostitution, commercial decay, and a few potholes. But there is a major political, community, religious, and business effort underway, that includes FedEx, to transform that area. We’re hopeful that over time, our city will have a better “face” to present to visitors.
James, everyone participating in today’s event, including those in the auditorium with you this morning, just received their first paycheck of 2009 containing a 5% pay cut… which we wholeheartedly support because it continued the tradition established by Mr. Smith of doing whatever it takes to protect jobs.
Considering that we just entered the second year of a U.S. recession, and we are experiencing significant business loss due to the global economic downturn, many of my peers and I question the expense of paying Ketchum to produce the video open for today’s event; work that could have been achieved by internal, award-winning professionals with decades of experience in television production.
Additionally Mr. Andrews, with all due respect, to continue the context of your post; true confession: many of my peers and I don’t see much relevance between your presentation this morning and the work we do in Employee Communications.
My final thoughts are this: FedEx, cut the guy some slack. And Mr. Andrews, hook up with Pacheco and let him give you the barbecue tour of Memphis, which is sure to turn your opinion around. And maybe, just maybe, if you're feeling forgiving, you'll Twitter about that side of the city.
Yes, is a good lesson for all of us. We need to assume anything we write on Twitter, or any other social networking medium could be read by clients, employees, friends, significant others, and lawyers. But it is a form of self-expression. If we need to censor to least common denominator so as not to offend a flea, it ceases to be any fun.
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