Topic: Bitcoin Video Series Available (Read 2918 times)

I think it's more of a general comment though.  For example, in the truecrypt video I lost count of the number of times you told me the encrypted files were all really just one big file called boring.dat.

One time you called it something different too - not "truecrypt" but something else - "drivecrypt" perhaps?  I forget.  Maybe there's a similar product you got mixed up with.

Are you Keith by the way?

There have been a number of comments to the effect of "too long to get to it" on the first video, but I think that one in particular was intended for people who were completely unfamiliar with Bitcoin and needed to first understand why we would need an alternative currency type to begin with.

Hi everyone,

This was not an attempt to deceive, this is just a segmentation issue.  We have a social team who is responsible for handling all of our social media efforts, while I am just the web analytics guy who is also a Bitcoin enthusiast.  I'm not in sales, and the series is free, which I tried to emphasize, so I didn't mean any harm.

I knew that this link was going to go out on the official channels on Twitter, FB, and reddit, but I was afraid that it wouldn't hit the places I personally thought that it would be most valuable, in these threads where I tend to be.

I thought that from my posts it was clear that I was involved, but I could have done a better job of making that clear at the beginning, which also would have made it obvious that my posts here were in only a semi-official capacity as a guy who loves Bitcoin and is excited that his company does too.

This is why we have people who do this professionally, and I shouldn't have stepped on their toes, but I assure you that I just wanted to make sure more people saw that we had a free Bitcoin video series.

Mea culpa, but I would still love to see feedback on the actual video content.

Let's not forget that they don't appear to be selling a product and that this is a free video for the benefit of educating outsiders on bitcoin. Seems like that should also count for something positive!

The fact that the Mr. Pike has explained that he was acting on his own without permission of the company goes a long way toward rebuilding trust in the company.  There isn't much more that the company can do to rebuild trust quickly.  To publicly state that Mr. Pike has been reprimanded would be a bit like a child apologizing after they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar.  There is no way to know if they are just posturing to appease or if they are sincere.

As long as there aren't future actions from other representatives of the company that indicate a systemic problem within the company, over time trust will be restored.  If this is the first time the Mr. Pike has found himself involved in a situation like this, then the best thing the company can do is probably to explain their policy clearly to him and let him know that while one time is a mistake, a second similar event would require significant consequences (and make it clear to him what those consequences would be).  Then leave it up to the social media team to figure out how best to handle the situation.

At this point, assuming I don't see any further indications that the company is untrustworthy, given Mr. Pike's explanation and apology, I don't expect to "be letting [people] know that I find the company to be deceptive and untrustworthy".  I probably won't go out of my way to tell people about the videos, and I probably won't bother watching them right now.  If the company continues to put out a quality product, and I hear others talking about them I'd be willing to give it another look in a few months.

Thank you for clarifying further, I do agree with your sentiments entirely and now that I understand the bigger picture of your response I suppose I support it. Just out of curiousity, if the employee has been reprimanded and is no longer able to make such a mistake, would there still be grounds enough to avoid this particular video for you for any reason other than personal taste or message content?

My response isn't emotional.  It is logical.  I'm not acting the way I am out of spite because they "hurt my feelings" or "offended me".  I choose my actions logically and intentionally to influence behavior.  If a company is known to let ethics slide in one area, then there is reason enough to believe that they do so in other areas as well.

I see that Mr. Pike has expressed regret and has indicated that he took it upon himself to attempt this advertisement without the permission or knowledge of the company he is representing.  If so, and if the company culture provides a reasonable expectation of ethical trustworthy behavior of their employees, then his employer will probably be making it clear to Mr. Pike that his actions were unacceptable.

Social media can be a powerful advertising medium, but when not handled properly it can be a P.R. train wreck. For a great example of how not to handle P.R. via social media see here:

http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/

TL/DR on my previous post:  These posts were from me as an individual "going rogue" and not official company posts.  The social team will hang me by my tendons when they see all this, but don't blame them or the company.  

I'd like to think that true free markets are run at least in part by logic, not emotion.

TL/DR on my previous post:  These posts were from me as an individual "going rogue" and not official company posts.  The social team will hang me by my tendons when they see all this, but don't blame them or the company. 

Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging in business with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

What I meant by that (I wish I could edit my comments instead of reposting ) was do you let opportunities left untouched whenever there was poor judgement involved? What if Satoshi had lied about one of the aspects of bitcoin? Would that make the entire community not worthy and bitcoin a sham? I'm just saying, everything good in my personal life has come from seeking out opportunity despite the presentation.

Harsh. Does poor judgement close doors so easily for you?