New Rules Blogger Etiquette . . . What's OK to Publish?

I agree 100%, Tom. Yes, I'm all about transparency, expressing one's self, and democratizing media and marketing. But that's VERY different than having the common courtesy to ask someone if it's okay to publish a live video stream.

I see many people in our industry driven too much by a desire to be noticed; by an attention "from without" rather than "from within" as the Buddhists would say. Frankly, that's not a healthy state of mind from which to interact with the world. I hope I'm not pontificating or sound pedantic. But that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

"The new rules are don't publish private conversations--these are not public conversations--and ask first."

Nice post Tom, but I think those are old rules. There's no reason for us all to lose our basic respect for privacy just because we can blog something 24/7.

Cheers,
John Carson
Senior Digital Media Specialist
GCI Canada

John: Yes, the old rules do apply but you'd be surprised how many people have to be reminded. I can't tell you how many times I have had to remind people that our conversations are private - ask first.
It stems from the fact that if you don't have much to say and you need content to publish you'll say what someone else said. And sometimes that's not appropriate behaviour. If it's not a public forum such as a panel ask first - it's simple and respectful.

ok, i do understand your sentiments Tom yet this is a blogger gig right? Perhaps the organizers can state something from the beginning that folks might be blogging this event.

Sam: What is a "Blogger gig?'' And yes, folk are always blogging but if you blog out of school then you wont get much to blog about the next time. I don't get what's different now than before, however, it seems that this does need to be spelled out.
I'm at an evening reception this is not a public event, I'm not speaking at a public event, I'm chatting with friends and someone barges up with a Flip in his hand, doesn't say hi. It's rude, plain and simple and I have a right to request not to be on a blog. If he'd asked first I might have said OK. I didn't feel comfortable with it and that's key to the interview process.

Come on Tom, give me a break.

One of your biggest scoops was from an overheard conversation at a conference. Are you saying that breaking the story and having your blog in the NYT wasn't worth it?

Yes, there are private conversations (and the overheard one WAS a private conversation) - but you can't have the cake and eat it too.

It sounds like you were caught off guard, and got pissed. Happens to us all, though.

Jeremy, I didn't get caught off guard at all. And as for my "scoop" you have no idea what you are talking about but I've noticed that's never been a discouragement for you :-)

I would agree that he should have asked first, even if he knows you or has interviewed you in the past.

Journalism still requires permission imho.

However, I must also say that your post could be considered just as rude.

The classic book "How To WIn Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie clearly says not engage in such a public flogging.

You should have left his name out of the post and either spoken to him in private that night or sent him an email.

David: Yes you are right. It was rude of me to do that. I don't like doing that but sometimes it is necessary to make a broader point: with everyone a blogger what is and isn't publishable. If the situation is a public panel or a press conference then the permissions are already agreed. If it isn't then the right way is to ask first and to always respect the wishes of the other person. I will go back and erase the name because the name is immaterial to the point I wanted to make. But the behavior is still an issue and I hope it changes in the future. Maybe its because of inexperience in interviewing people that some people feel they have the right to publish anything anytime from anybody anywhere. I can't tell you how many great stories, and great video, I've had to throw away because I was asked not to publish it. Yes, I could have burned my contacts but then I would likely lose access to them for future stories and future industry insider tips.

And, here I wasn't sure if you knew what post I was talking about ... and still not sure.

This is a bigger topic for discussion than "etiquette" - but goes into the whole transparency BS.

But, well, that's another topic for another day.

Jeremy, I know what post you are talking about it's the Scoble post. Andy Plesser tipped me off and he got it by hearing Scoble tell others while at a conference.

This incident is nothing like that, there was nothing said by me that would make news except for the fact that I didn't want to be filmed at that particular time. There was no news at all - that's what's silly about this incident. But I think we all got to learn a lesson even if each lesson was different. How's life in SoCal?