Recently, I was on the 2012 Honda Civic launch in Washington. The Honda Civic is always an important draw traffic-wise; it is and has been the best selling car in Canada for the last 13 years. Many of us here at the office have owned or driven a Civic at one point in our lives. I'm sure you know of someone that has a Civic in their stable. Yes, the Civic is HUGE!
When the invite came in from Honda to take part in the new 2012 car's launch in Washington, we jumped on it! I was going to the US Capitol.
One of my responsibilities is to plan and maintain our editorial calendar. In the invite, it was clearly indicated that there was an embargo and I quote: “P.S. Reminder that the embargo date for full spec's and driving impressions is Wednesday, April 20”. I therefore made an entry into my planner: April 20th, 2011, 2012 Honda Civic First Drive (Matt).
I got to Washington, got a massive seasonal allergy attack, got to dinner where the cars were on display and, got to tweeting. I'm telling you, I was making my Social Media Strategist (the guy in charge of our Facebook and Twitter accounts) proud. Here I was, taking picture after picture with my BB Torch, uploading them on Twitpic through Seesmic and jamming my timeline (@Matt_St_Pierre) with images and comments about the new 2012 Civic. Job well done. Not!
Less than a half hour later, while carrying on a pleasant conversation with a colleague, a rep from Honda walked up to me and asked if I had posted pictures of the cars on the internet. Manifestly, the embargo also covered pictures as well as full specs and driving impressions. Apparently, a large American media outlet had noticed my tweets...
Apologetically, I proceeded to delete my tweets and carried on with dinner, forgetting that my pictures were still alive and well on Twitpic... I was reminded shortly afterwards and put them to bed as well.
I and Honda have learned a lesson. With the emergence of technology and ultra-quick easy-sharing applications, embargo notices will have to be all-inclusive or specify what the “limits” are as far what is and what is not permissible. That's the teaching that Honda comes away with. In my case, I'm going to ask every time to be safe.
The days of publishing something a week or a month after the event are behind us. Today, everything happens in real time. That is, of course, unless someone says otherwise.
When the invite came in from Honda to take part in the new 2012 car's launch in Washington, we jumped on it! I was going to the US Capitol.
One of my responsibilities is to plan and maintain our editorial calendar. In the invite, it was clearly indicated that there was an embargo and I quote: “P.S. Reminder that the embargo date for full spec's and driving impressions is Wednesday, April 20”. I therefore made an entry into my planner: April 20th, 2011, 2012 Honda Civic First Drive (Matt).
I got to Washington, got a massive seasonal allergy attack, got to dinner where the cars were on display and, got to tweeting. I'm telling you, I was making my Social Media Strategist (the guy in charge of our Facebook and Twitter accounts) proud. Here I was, taking picture after picture with my BB Torch, uploading them on Twitpic through Seesmic and jamming my timeline (@Matt_St_Pierre) with images and comments about the new 2012 Civic. Job well done. Not!
Less than a half hour later, while carrying on a pleasant conversation with a colleague, a rep from Honda walked up to me and asked if I had posted pictures of the cars on the internet. Manifestly, the embargo also covered pictures as well as full specs and driving impressions. Apparently, a large American media outlet had noticed my tweets...
Apologetically, I proceeded to delete my tweets and carried on with dinner, forgetting that my pictures were still alive and well on Twitpic... I was reminded shortly afterwards and put them to bed as well.
I and Honda have learned a lesson. With the emergence of technology and ultra-quick easy-sharing applications, embargo notices will have to be all-inclusive or specify what the “limits” are as far what is and what is not permissible. That's the teaching that Honda comes away with. In my case, I'm going to ask every time to be safe.
The days of publishing something a week or a month after the event are behind us. Today, everything happens in real time. That is, of course, unless someone says otherwise.