This is the first I’ve heard of this, but I’ve seen it happen before. It tells me several things:

1. As you noted, some people have WAY too much time on their hands – since time is my “inventory,” and business is slow, I sympathize … but that’s no excuse to make an ass of yourself.

2. Nobody takes a fall like a self-described expert.

3. Sometimes, whether you’re religious or not, it makes sense to follow biblical admonitions – in this case, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone …” Who among us has never sent an email we wish we could recall.

4. For some, there is no opportunity for self-promotion that goes un-seized … carpe diem to a fair-thee-well (I thought about mocking this by citing some of my own credentials, but I’m frankly afraid that satire would be lost on too many peoples).

5. For all of us, Social Media is a two-edged sword – those who live by that sword are doomed to die by that sword (ask Perez Hilton).

I guess that’s it, Mike. Nothing profound, but lots of useful lessons to be learned here.

Ned

“Our strength is media relations. We build relationships with the media, share your story with them, and create results-oriented campaigns.”

Everyone can have a bad day, and everyone can make a mistake. But it’s difficult to build relationships when you send out a mass pitch. That’s why, when I moved from news to media relations, I knew the importance of tailoring each pitch to a specific reporter or editor and their publication. That means every email had a specific name and–if the body was the same–it had at least one sentence at the beginning explaining why the pitch was good for that “specific” outlet. Sure, it takes longer, but that comes with the territory.

It’s unfortunate that future prospective clients will be able to learn of this incident by Googling Beth’s name. Irony, indeed!!