Ellen Perlman was a GOVERNING staff writer and technology columnist.
E-mail: mailbox@governing.comTwitter: @governing
PR FUBAR
How's this for a gripping item? It's from a media advisory sent to reporters with the hope they would jump all over the story:
At the "only Government Focused Business Process Management, Service-Oriented Architecture and Business Rules events to be held this year," this case study will be presented: SOA for ABC to BAM on ESB...a must for anyone stumped about "how to relate management strategies with design time standards and runtime principles."
Stumped indeed. I'm feeling pretty good about myself because I know what SOA stands for (service oriented architecture).
On the other three, let's see. How about the American Broadcasting Company, something one of the Flintstones kids did a lot of and Extra Special Bitter, a beer I don't particularly like. How'd I do?
The Washington Post received the advisory and ran a bit of it in the paper Wednesday with the headline: "Noted with Confusion." Since I cover technology, I get similarly muddy emails all the time. I was also amused by a blog rant about the topic at valleywag.com sent to me by Chris here on the 13th Floor.
PR folks, here's the best advice I can give. If your press release can't be understood by a high school senior, go back and rewrite it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, eschew obfuscation. Or expect your missive to be dismissed in a nanosecond.
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