SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Stay informed! Sign up to get expert advice and insight delivered direct to your inbox
[Your Disaster Here]
No headline, anniversary, or disaster is off limits as PR gambits reach new nadir
April 19, 2006
3 Min Read
Maybe you're living in a cave, or your electricity and DSL connection are out. But for those of us in the media-laden wired world, it's been impossible to tune out today's 100th anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake.
And apparently, we can't just observe, reflect, and carry on. Not with emails like this, which began arriving last week:
So, the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake begs the question, "How prepared are we for a disaster?" Mike Ivanov of Mimosa Systems is a storage expert with experience working with the world's largest backup, recovery and disaster recovery products. He can talk to you about how companies are planning and new and innovative ways companies are approaching disaster recovery.
It's not a new tack, unfortunately. Terrorist incidents, natural disasters, and courtroom headlines provide constant fodder for this sort of opportunism. Nine-eleven, Katrina, WorldCom fer gawdsakes, man, don't let this happen to you!
I doubt this is specific to the storage industry. Still, I also doubt the Food Network gets innundated with pitches when a new famine sweeps Africa or Asia.And lest you think I'm painting with too broad a brush, let me add that journalists are also prone to this kind of crassness. I'm recalling an editor I worked for several years ago who wanted us to call the American Embassy in Beijing to find out what role cellular technology played in the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Interesting ideas in extremely bad taste... Who hasn't had plenty of 'em?
As Mark Twain once observed (or was it Courtney Love?), taste is a deeply personal thing. But here are some other recent samples, that while less egregious, still spiked the needle on our Cringe Meter:
I'm sure you've heard the story emerging from the LA Times about US Military data theft in Afghanistan. If you plan on covering the story, Centennial Software would be happy to chat with you about the incident, offering insight into the problem and how it can be solved.
Today was an expensive day for Merrill Lynch. In addition to a $5 million NASD fine, the SEC fined the firm $2.5 million for taking too long to hand over requested e-mails. Although no one really knows what caused the delay...
Another year, another tax season. As millions wade through bank statements, receipts and tax forms, many will struggle to keep this vital information organized and secure. How do you keep all your important information in one place so that you have it...
Just for the record, such pitches are non-starters for us at Byte and Switch. Our readers understand the importance of saving for retirement, safe sex, and using their seat belts. They get the fact that disaster planning and backup contingencies are critical to have. Is there more to be done? Yes. More education needed inside and out of the data center? Absolutely.
But let's stop turning every burp of a headline into a marketing event. That kind of tectonic shift in thinking could really shake up the data center.
— Terry Sweeney, Editor in Chief, Byte and Switch
Read more about:
2006You May Also Like
More Insights
