Filed under: PR 101, Security | Tags: bloggers, ethics, martin mckeay, pitching, public relations, rsa, security conference, Social Media
With RSA Conference approaching, security vendors and their PR agencies are in the midst of a pitching frenzy to set up meetings with media and industry analysts — and bloggers. Yep, this year even independent bloggers are eligible for media credentials. Considering that security buyers — heck, IT buyers in general — are increasingly turning to nontraditional blogs to influence their decisions, this is a smart move on the RSA’s part. Not so smart, however, is the bit of confusion this is creating amid some PR folks who aren’t aware that a lot of these independents also hold day jobs at security vendors. This confusion, in turn, is forcing these bloggers to ask themselves some ethical questions (although, anything that compels those who wield the power of information to act with more care can’t be that bad).
Since I’m no longer in the business of pitching media I didn’t think much about this divide until yesterday when I talked to my buddy Martin McKeay. Apparently Martin was receiving a slew of pitches on behalf of vendors attending RSA (which is no wonder — he and Rich Mogull host the über popular Network Security Podcast). All was well and good until he noticed a pitch from a competitor of his company. Now what? He promptly disclosed to the PR person his “alter ego” and the response was essentially, “We still want to meet with you.” Ok, so, now what?
It’s a befuddling fine line and one that is not unique to the security industry. With all of the social media blogs I read, nary a day passes during which I do not stumble across the “blogger vs. journalist” debate. This situation diverges a bit from that tired old argument, though. To me this is more of a question of — why aren’t the PR people doing their research?
Just for kicks I opened the RSA media list. There are 14 people listed as “blogger.” Scanning the list, about half of them note their company names. While the others only list blog names, wouldn’t simple deduction suggest that perhaps doing a simple Google search would reveal any potential alter egos? The answer is yes — I just did it. LinkedIn profiles abound. More than that, as good PR citizens, aren’t we supposed to research our targets before we pitch them anyway?
Now before you, dear reader, say “but if these bloggers had only listed their companies this wouldn’t have happened! Boo independent bloggers!” let me stop you. Another buddy (requesting anonymity surely due to my blog’s broad readership) who did list his company name also received several meeting pitches. I won’t go into a rant about “how to appropriately pitch meetings at trade shows” but I will simply say that journalists, analysts and bloggers are wise to the impersonal Microsoft Excel-import-and-mail-merge. I will even begrudgingly admit to getting jokingly flamed by Mike Rothman just last week by accidentally doing such to him — so trust me on this one.
I realize that some responsibility does lie with the bloggers. Disclosures should be made at some point and if briefings happen and if they choose to cover the news, it should be balanced. There’s also the nagging question of, “how much do they share with their employers?” And, might that potentially and unwittingly invite censorship into the mix?
I must call out that I am in no way implying that independent bloggers who are affiliated with security vendors cannot be impartial in their reporting. Many of them are. Martin is. But if I was a PR person who was pitching briefings discussing the intricate ins and outs of my company’s vision, product offering or sales strategy, I’d want to make darn sure I wasn’t walking into the lion’s den of a competitor.
See you all at RSA.
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[...] But it’s a very fine line I have to walk sometimes; I’ve been getting a lot of invitations to talk to companies who will be at RSA, which isn’t surprising given that I have a press pass for the third year in a row. The majority of these companies have products that aren’t related to my day job or are only tangentially related. If their products or services interest me, which is the minority, I’ll talk to them. There’s another group who make products and have services that are PCI-related; many of these are direct competitors of Trustwave, either because they also do PCI assessments or because they offer tools that are similar to what Trustwave offers. After one such offer, I consulted with my friend Mediaphyter to get a second opinion on the tact I should take with competitors. And being the good blogger she is, she immediately turned it into a blog post. [...]
Pingback by Network Security Blog » I may work for a competitor Mar 7 08 @ 7:19 amI’ve been pondering this one myself. I don’t advertise my employer on my blog. I did mention it once when changing jobs, but where I work is not central to my opinions or my blog. So as the inbox fills up with RSA invites from competitors I have been considering the options. I don’t think I’ll hang my press pass over an Astaro shirt to advertise my day job, but I will be upfront with anyone who wants to have a deeper conversation than a simple sales pitch.
I don’t really mind the barrage of email, but the ones who appear to have a clue will certainly be more likely to get my attention while at RSA.
Comment by Jack Daniel Mar 7 08 @ 7:26 amI talk about my company on my blog all the time. The reason is simple - I believe in what we do, if I didn’t I wouldn’t work for them. But as a former Gartner analyst and blogger I would receive a lot of requests. They have died down a bit since most of the folks that would want to talk with me know who I am and who I work for, but this is an interesting aspect of PR not doing their homework. Not surprising in the least ;-)
Comment by amritw Mar 7 08 @ 8:16 amI am getting the same due to the same reason: RSA press pass, but so far the requests were kinda boring.
Do you guys feel that the PR flood is filtered or they just send everything to everybody?
Comment by Anton Chuvakin Mar 7 08 @ 9:25 amI think they are sending them to everyone. And this is where the lines are blurred between traditional press and bloggers. If a corporate blog only talks about their stuff, and not general issues they see, news, etc, I think they shouldn’t qualify as press.
Most likely, the press people will be working for someone, and that someone can have their own agenda. Thats the nature of press, and don’t get me started on TV news.
For security bloggers, I think its best to keep posts to your own opinion, and try to stay as neutral as possible. Thoughts?
Comment by Garrett Gee Mar 7 08 @ 10:58 amAlso, where did you find this list of 14 bloggers?
Comment by Garrett Gee Mar 7 08 @ 10:59 amBloggers don’t have to be impartial – that is the problem. Some journalists are bloggers, but not all bloggers are journalists. Blogs authored by journalists rank high on the credibility meter for a reason – those are the ones that executives and decision-makers are reading.
Comment by Joe Mar 10 08 @ 11:27 am[...] But it’s a very fine line I have to walk sometimes; I’ve been getting a lot of invitations to talk to companies who will be at RSA, which isn’t surprising given that I have a press pass for the third year in a row. The majority of these companies have products that aren’t related to my day job or are only tangentially related. If their products or services interest me, which is the minority, I’ll talk to them. There’s another group who make products and have services that are PCI-related; many of these are direct competitors of Trustwave, either because they also do PCI assessments or because they offer tools that are similar to what Trustwave offers. After one such offer, I consulted with my friend Mediaphyter to get a second opinion on the tact I should take with competitors. And being the good blogger she is, she immediately turned it into a blog post. [...]
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