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Board of Ed member Renata Hernandez maintains a personal blog. |
Dan to fellow Plainfield blogger Renata Hernandez: I am guilty, on TWO COUNTS.
- FIRST, of trying to make some sense of your often recondite posts in the same amount of time I devote to each of the other Plainfield blogs in the daily preparation of the CLIPS blog; and
- SECOND, of trying to craft a 'clickworthy' teaser for your post in my headline to drive traffic toward your blog, assuming you do like to have readers' attention called to it.
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The mysterious entry that got Dan in hot water. |
Landing on your 'Dear Michael' post yesterday, it seemed to be clearly part of an ongoing conversation...giving no clue to your readers exactly WHERE that conversation was taking place. Given my time constraints and the fact that you did not point folks toward that conversation (which it turns out actually can be found here), I had to try and figure out -- QUICKLY -- who 'Michael' was and what blog was being referenced.
Since the topic obviously concerned the Board of Ed, but didn't state DIRECTLY AND CLEARLY whether it was about a SPECIFIC issue with a particular meeting notice or a GENERAL issue with the POLICY of giving public notices, the question became: How much time am I going to spend on this puzzle before moving on?
Answer: Not more than on grasping any other blogger's post.
All I was left with was 'MICHAEL' and 'blog'.
There is another Plainfield blogger, who chooses to be anonymous, but whom many think is a person named MICHAEL. So, I wondered, is Renata referring to this supposed person? Is she carelessly 'outing' the purposely anonymous blogger? Or is it on purpose? Hence my headline teaser.
Turns out it was nothing of the kind, as I learn from reading your Wednesday post in response.
Which led me to Olddoc's post where you got into a back-and-forth and Olddoc asserted his right not to have his blog's comments highjacked (see here) --
Ras, I am not posting your comments in reply to MT since I do n ot feel that it is the function of this blogger to open his blog to a commentary tiff. Your points are appreciated and fortunately you have your well read blog to express them. That perhaps is a better venue than turning a commentary section of a blog into one which we find in the newspapers. (October 26, 2010 9:26 PM)Each of us bloggers has the right not to have our blogs or comments taken over by others with issues not seen as germane to the blog's general intent. And to suggest that commenters take it elsewhere. Fair is fair.
This is not the first time that your blog has left things that could -- and should -- be made perfectly clear left unaddressed or clouded.
Two recent examples --
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The public got a 'take that' whack for not attending a BOE presentation. |
Would it not be reasonable to expect -- since you considered it so important -- that YOU would have promoted the 'State of the District' address on YOUR BLOG? If I read you correctly, you would have found out about it in your Friday packet before the meeting. That would have left you from Friday to Tuesday (since the meeting was held on Wednesday) to post something useful for your many readers inviting, encouraging or challenging them to come out for this key presentation.
Yet you did not.
However, you didn't resist a little tongue-lashing (and WHERE were YOU?) of the public after the fact (see here). What is YOUR responsibility for the admittedly low turnout?
And if the District's efforts to put the info in the little fluttery text box on its website and in a legal notice (I would want to see proof it was even mentioned in a legal notice) only netted TWO members of the public, why isn't it fair to ask why the District's public relations machine didn't do more?
Guess what, Mark Spivey is putting just everything that folks throw at him on the InPlainfield microsite. So, why not make use of that outlet, which is the best read of all Gannett's microsites in the whole state of New Jersey?
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The event has a clear deadline, how should folks interpret today's post? |
Then we have today's post promoting the P-PAL's event presenting the very talented Alrick Brown, hometown kid, PHS grad and successful film director and screenwriter in their 'Plainfield's Promise' speaker series.Though being bloggers means we are free to express our opinions on all sorts of things and in as convoluted and obscure a manner as suits us, when any of us turns to PROMOTING MEETINGS OR EVENTS, we are subject to the same FIVE W's PLUS ONE of the mainstream media: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and hoW.
THIS Saturday, at Washington Community School.
But one question is left UNADDRESSED.
Reading the fine print on the event's graphic, there is a notice that the deadline to register for this event was OCTOBER 15, nearly two weeks ago.
So, is the deadline in effect, in which case folks should disregard your notice?
Or has the deadline been waived, in which case those interested should go ahead and show up?
Why would you leave such a question up in the air?
It's common sense. It's best practice. It encourages readers to take us seriously.
Bottom line: From now on, when I read your entries to summarize them for CLIPS, if I can't get the gist in the same amount of time I spend on the others, I'll take a pass. And that includes including you in the headline teaser -- with or without 'clickworthy' copy.
Life is too short, and there is so much ground to cover.
Especially in the Queen City, which has to be setting some kind of record to have TWENTY TWO blogs and counting.
- Doc's Potpourri: "10/25/10 Potpourri, with back-and-forth on BOE meeting"
- Standing in the Gap: "10/22/10: And WHERE were YOU?"
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11 comments:
What ever you get paid to keep track on the "world of Plainfield blog's" is not enough. Unless do they let you take a car home at night ??
Dan, that is the longest non-apology apology I have ever seen. "I am guilty" but it was all your fault anyway, and besides you have done other things you shouldn't have done and left undone things you should have done.
Good grief, Dan, this was absurd. Must be a slow day.
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
She seems to have a propensity for stating in 200 words or more , what could be succinctly put into one short sentence!
8:56 --
you remind me of the old vaudeville gag: Help Wanted! Garbage collector. $10/week plus all you can eat!
9:01 --
You may actually be brighter than people say you are!
Dan, wouldnt this be better addressed in a private email? Are you doing online tutoring for aspiring bloggers? Or did you just want to call her out and embarrass her in front of the whole city?
Michael
9:01 --
BTW, your BCP is showing...;-))
During your keen observation you undoubtedly noted that there were two different flyers on my blog and my daughter’s which for someone as astute as you certainly could pick out the difference. BUT more to the point, there is a contact email address noted on the flyer by which any individual unclear of what that particular line meant could certainly investigate further.
People like that are somewhat scary! They seem ruled by emotion and lack the ability to exercise reason!
I am ruled by my emotion, however I reason quite well and can deduce you personality type immediately -- I just don't let people say whatever they want to -- to me or about me (period)-- unless of course I want to. And I don't/won't apologize for it.
With these undecipherable, tit for tat messages between bloggers, it seems that the Plainfield blogosphere is beginning to devolve just like tne city it's attempting to cover. People - grow up! There's serious business to discuss.
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