What's up with the Chocolate Blues spam?

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Permalink Reply by Shelly Rice on March 19, 2009 at 8:50pm

Thank you Shannon. Brandon really feels terrible. He was so proud of himself for making so many new 'friends' so fast. He's really shy and kind of quiet in real life. He was pretty proud of himself for making so many connections so fast and he just 'went for it'.

He's 20 and if this is his biggest mistake at 20, he's way ahead of me!

I appreciate your comment about taking the high road and again I take responsibility for this because I am the one who told him about SI and suggest that he connect with people by introducing himself.

I look forward to meeting you at Chocolate Blues and my sincere condolences on the loss of your dad.
Shelly

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Permalink Reply by Michael R. on March 29, 2009 at 10:28am

And this is my problem with all of this: the fact that Brandon has been made to feel bad at all. As far as I'm concerned, Brandon did nothing wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Zuber on March 22, 2009 at 10:08am

Shannon,

Thank you so very much for the comment, these are very wise words. For those of us who have been in the business of e-marketing for quite some time we have to remember all of the faux-pas we've made along the way. The simple mistakes seem to inflame us, but we have all made the same or similar mistakes in the past. Before we burn these people at the internet stake, how about making this an educational opporunity?

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Permalink Reply by Pat Coyle on March 19, 2009 at 9:01pm

You know what's kinda funny in all of this? I never heard of the event until all this ruckous started...and while I'm not planning to attend, I'm guessing some new folks will attend after reading this thread. If done on purpous, this would have been the ultimate word-of-mouth rouse :-)

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Permalink Reply by Shelly Rice on March 19, 2009 at 10:01pm

Pat.........and everyone. Thank you for your note and for your understanding.

Last week I was telling one of my sponsors that for the first time in 20 years of producing networking events I was actually a little nervous about this event but not for the fact I was worried we wouldn't have enough people, but I was worried that we might have too many and run out of chocolate. As of last week we have handed out around 2,000 complimentary passes. My events usually only have 800-1,200 people and I figured we could get as many as 1,500 but I had no idea Indianapolis was filled with so many people who loved to network. Honestly, we didn't need Brandon's 'help' but I guess things do happen for a reason. And so everyone knows for 20 years I have charged for admission to my events. It's only been over the last 6 months that I started handing out free passes because I just wanted to do my part to help in this tough economy. Thanks again. Shelly

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Permalink Reply by Kyle Lacy on March 20, 2009 at 5:43am

Even bad publicity is great publicity in my opinion. Props to Shelly and Mike for being on top of the situation and props to Ben for bringing up an issue. Also...Props to Brandon for being so proactive in the marketing of something he believes in.

I don't know about you but... it is just an issue of education on how to use the medium.

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Permalink Reply by Shelly Rice on March 20, 2009 at 7:17am

Thank you Kyle. An event of this magnitude doesn't just happen from a few emails or from some misguided postings. There are many Indianapolis people, organizations and businesses involved in making Chocolate Blues happen. A lot of people have put their time into this and it's important that I not only stand up for myself and my business but for them, also. All of my vendors have been telling their business friends about this and have been passing out tickets for months. My sponsors have, at their own cost, printed tickets and have taken time their time to drive around to local businesses and pass out complimentary passes. Chocolate Blues has been welcomed with open arms by so many and people are truly excited about attending and connecting. It's going to be a good day and after next week, all doubts will be erased. I appreciate your kind words and hope to see you next Thursday.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Seidle on March 20, 2009 at 9:27am

Kyle - Thanks. As always, reason prevails... It just takes a minute. Also, one thing I think is interesting is the similarity of this little blow up to what used to happen on Usenet back in the Jurassic Period when computers were slow and dial up was fast. It's a real challenge for people new to a community to know what the norms are there.

Somewhere in all of this is a great blog post.

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Permalink Reply by Taylor Martin on March 20, 2009 at 12:39am

Probably a scam.

THM

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Permalink Reply by Mike Seidle on March 20, 2009 at 9:28am

Arr - What scuttlebutt makes you think this be the case, matey?

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Permalink Reply by Shelly Rice on March 20, 2009 at 9:33am

It's impossible for me to be upset with a guy in a pirate costume, even if I didn't care for your comment, I love the costume! KUDOS!

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Permalink Reply by Nicki Laycoax on March 20, 2009 at 9:43am

You should check out his magic shows! I'm sure he'd be happy to send you info!!

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