A peek inside Redmond's PR machine

It's got to be in the top 10 list of worst nightmares for a PR person: accidentally sending a journalist a memo meant for the client's eyes only.

Especially when the memo is about that journalist.

That's what happened recently to some poor Microsoft flack, who accidentally e-mailed a 6,000-word bio and handling memo to a reporter at Wired working on a story about Microsoft's blogging initiative.

No one should be too shocked at the existence of the file--that's what PR agencies are employed to do, after all. But keeping the secret file, well, secret, would seem to be a key part of the mission.

Blog community response:

"I have just one request, though. Since Frank Shaw says this is no big deal (my interpretation of his response post), can I have my file, too? I am interviewing Ray Ozzie at the keynote of the upcoming Mix '07 conference, and it would be nice to have a little background on my background. I wonder if it says 'don't mention Wikipedia at any time.'"
--TechCrunch

"I can't help wondering whether Waggener Edstrom deliberately copied the information to the journalist. He and the PR know the game. Both know that preparation on both sides is key. So why not be transparent and pretend to reveal all? Then, with the journalist suitably off guard, send a second, confidential briefing to the executives that takes them deeper into the journalist's psyche and the interview strategy."
--Teblog

"I think we can add PR to that list of 'laws and sausages' as things that you don't want to see made."
--Don't Eat the Shrimp