A found poem, of sorts, in my feed reader this morning, courtesy of upcoming.org/toronto
“Corporate Social Responsibility and the ICT Sector — Do you know how CSR can impact your business value? Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR), the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (EPSC) and Imagine Canada are hosting an introductory event on CSR issues and the ICT sector. Some of the issues to be covered include: ? Introduction to CSR and the CSR issues facing the ICT sector (CBSR) ? Addressing the Digital Divide ? The significance of Accessibility issues to the ICT Sector ? Doing Business with Charities & Non-profits ? CSR and Employees- how CSR is impacting employee attraction and retention ? Environmental Stewardship ?”
So, you excited for this one? When you you woke up this morning were you just thinking in the very words “hey, damnit how can we really get-up in there with those (CBSR) CSR issues facing our ICT sector today?”
While it’s true us geeks are sometimes guilty of talking in our own echochambers and in our own cryptic jargonfile but nonetheless, it’s this kind of policy speak when used in the wrong context that just kills me. I had the same complaint with the title of the ICT toronto strategy unveiled last month. I think it’s important that industry, stakeholders and policy-makers engage each other as much as possible yet this self-obsessive and exclusatory argot of acronyms is not helping. This is not good marketing. I’m just asking to please consider your audience.
What business owner do you know that speaks this way?
Social responsibility is an important topic to every citizen, and yet marketed thus, who’s going to show up but those few usual suspects of policy and association wonks who can actually parse the invitation?
At the risk of going to far, can I just add one last acronym: WTF?
okay, whew, sorry I am done ranting for the day…
I wondered when this was coming. For years now Scoble has been putting a human face on microsoft, and singlehandedly has done a monumental job of building and rehabilitating Microsoft’s brand image amongst the internet community. But this story too is a cautionary tale for corporate blogging. What happens when the personal brand of the corporate blogger and the attention they receive begins to outshine their role within the company. Who’s brand is your corporate blogger building?