Twitter

It is true I have trouble grasping exactly what Twitter is and how peeps can read your messages even if they don't know you.  You might then say I'm too stupid to use Twitter.  Maybe so, but at least I'm not stupid enough to lose my job because I was trying to be hilarrrrious to my twitter friends and failing miserably:  

Cisco

A job applicant twittered the following to her group:

“Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work”.

This tweet caught the attention of Tim Levad, a channel partner advocate for Cisco. To which he responded:  “Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web”.

Whoopsie.  However, I feel like its nothing compared to this:

Ketchum

This is about a guy named James Andrews who is a VP for communications agency Ketchum who decided to twitter about his impression of Memphis upon his arrival to make a presentation to the Fed Ex worldwide communications group (a group of more than 150 peeps).  The twitter post read 

True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say “I would die if I had to live here!” 

So, a Fed Ex employee received the twitter (is that a tweet?) and replied to James Andrews and cc'd the FedEx Coporate Vice President, Vice President, directors and all management of FedEx’s communication department plus the chain of command at Ketchum.  

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.

YIKES!!