Geeklawyer is by nature a sadist. Most people advise him that it is safer to kick a man when he’s down. Geeklawyer thinks that these people miss the point: it’s also more fun.
So when everyone in the UK legal blogging community stomps repeatedly on the embarrassingly gauche Watson Farley & Williams pseudo ‘blog’. Geeklawyer feels imperatives struggle desperately; the moral one to rescue the victim of a vicious mob assault, or the one to join in the fun.
Geeklawyer is rather more amused than everyone else it seems (CharonQC excepted, of course). WFW have made total and utter twats of themselves. As others have pointed out 5 minutes research would have led them to the true nature of blogs. 15 minutes research would have led them to a blogging consultant friend of Geeklawyer who could have rescued them from the opprobrium in which they are now mired. How can they now pretend to be a hip tech savvy firm to their own punters when Google will forever taint them with the label ‘Clueless tits’.
Geeklawyer is more concerned for the hapless trainees volunteered for this, er, ‘innovative’ marketing effort:
“Wilkins, when you have finished cleaning out the toilets go and write 600 word on the blog on how great we are and how thoroughly enjoyable we are to work for. Make it good or your next training seat will have nails in it.”
No — Watson Farley & Williams — while you still can, yank it and do the job properly. We’ll try and pretend we never saw it. Or at least the other bloggers will; Geeklawyer will rub it in your face forever — but then he’s a sadist, it’s what he has to do.
[Update — 11 Oct 06: Sue Charman has posted a more informed assessment of WFW’s fuck up.]
One can imagine the partnership meeting where this decision was made. The heading “marketing” was on the agenda. “So Jones, got any good ideas for marketing then?” Jones, (aspirational but square junior partner). I’ve heard about this blog thingy Sir..suppose to be all the rage. I’m sure it would make us look hip and groovy. “Good stuff Jones: get to it. Send a report over to me when its done.”
Course its entirely possible that the partnership of Watson Farley and Williams have no idea how badly the blog has backfired: if any of them had read a blog they would never have commissioned this. And lets face it, Jones is never going to tell them. He’s still filing reports to the senior partner saying how well its all going.
I thought Charon’s description of their blog as “Soviet”. Was brilliant.
But still not sure whether its quite as cringeworthy as webcameron…
The really sad thing is the particles did not even attempt to rebel. Not even a ****ing *&$^% stream of invective about the excitement of how to use a photocopier.
Reminds me of a time when I & a couple of others put together a fortnightly “news” letter for our group of about 70 staff in the London Office of Ernst & Young (then Arthur Young).
We managed a few journalistic scoops, which meant there was always a certain demand to read what had been written. This being in pre-blog days it was all hard copy.
When we pre-published the list of promotions to supervisor, assitant managers & managers there was a very uncomfortable moment when we were interviewed by a couple of partners. We pointed out that if they wanted this to be an official organ of corporate policy and exactitude they could always do it themselves.
The following issue was less than a third of a page, reminded people to do the correct amount of CPD points, submit timesheets on time and wash behind ears before going to bed.
I’m glad to say the senior partner asked the partners who interviewed us what was wrong. Having made our point we were “allowed” to continue to circulate the scurrillous along with the informative.
Indeed they have been stamped on by the LTB — lawyers that blog.
I’d suggest that they could rescue the situation by rebranding it, not as a blog, but as an innovative use of pdf files. Then they could create their own acronyms. paaab (pdf as an almost blog), for instance.
That would impress us IT types no end.