The thin grey line
May 7 2004
Earlier today, I was contacted by an industry figure about some comments I made a few weeks ago regarding their published work. The e-mail interchange served as a fair reminder that I have a diverse readership, and that when I express opinions here, they can still be interpreted as "Ed on behalf of IBM" kinds of comments. So I've edited an old entry, offered that firm an apology, and will in the future be a heck of a lot more aware when offering personal opinions about a person or organization. It's self-censorship, I suppose, but it's the most professional approach.
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Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 5/10/2004 12:37:34 PM
I write every word that appears there, and there's no review/approval cycle. I have an editor, she's great, and she helps if something might need help, but that's it.
Still don't know if the great lotus.com/weblog experiment is really worth it.
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Ben Poole http://www.benpoole.com | 5/10/2004 2:20:05 PM
> Still don't know if the great lotus.com/weblog
> experiment is really worth it.
Tricky one. But FWIW, IBM developerWorks and java.net have both adopted weblogs -- that tells most people that there's something in it.
Perhaps a more interactive (i.e. comments & / or TrackBack) model would be beneficial for lotus.com, not to mention more 'bloggers (not that you don't do a good job Ed, *simper* ;o)?
I had often wondered how you were able to "strike" the balance without IBM wincing. As you have a very visible position, they grey liine really disappears altogether as you have your "Official IBM Blessed" Blog and this blog as well.
When I worked for LPS, we were basically told not to mention our IBM affiliation(s) in the Notes.Net forums as people might see this as an "official IBM answer/position".
One of the early lessons I learned when working in Federal Procurement is that "Perception is reality". Years ago when I conducted an internal audit of a major Systems support contract that the EPA had with a MAJOR vendor, the appearances of impropriety were so strong that immediate action had to be taken before Congress stepped into the mess.