Heard a disappointing story this afternoon in an audio comment from Rob Cottingham on Episode 183 of the For Immediate Release podcast.

It was a story about a blog that almost was — and a blog that should have been — for the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. A publishing plan had been put in place. IT questions had been settled. A social-media strategy for using the blog as boost for the Canadian arts scene had been established.

And then, two days before the blog was due to launch, the big bad boys from marketing got cold feet and squashed the project. Why?

Because “[the museum] want[ed] to ensure that there is a solid strategic angle for our entire audience development strategy.”

So what does that mean, exactly?

Here is how Kate Trgovac might translate that sentence:

  • “I don’t understand this medium.”
  • “This could fail and my ass could be on the line.”
  • “This could be hugely successful and it wasn’t my idea.”
  • “You’re not using my agency.”
  • “You’re not a marketer, what can you possibly know about our customers.”
  • “What if our customers post something I don’t like?”
  • “I’m scared to try anything new.”

Sounds like an organization — or an individual — that when push finally came to shove, just couldn’t embrace the full set of responsibilities that comes with blogging.

What a waste a of a brilliant idea.

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