Techcrunch blogger has the extra bottle of wine at The Flipboard launch and starts to write....yep, another one. Oh dear.

You know the way it is.


You've gone to lunch, had that bottle of wine too many and now you're going to tell everyone what you really think. So you draft that email but most of us never send it until the next day at best, because we're old hands.


Or that text you send and the next morning you look at the phone, arm extended, with one eye, going "no, please, I didn't, did I?".


Just like Jerry Comyn did last month http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/05/irishman-jerry-comyn-leaves-us.html and Greg Smyth of Goldman Sachs, before him.


So you're a blogger with Techcrunch. 


Techcrunch was founded by Michael Arrington (yeah, that's him at the top of the blog. Get my drift?) in 2005 who is no longer there but famed for a 2010 a verbal confrontation with CEO of Yahoo!, Carol Bartz. Arrington started the interview by asking Bartz, "So how the fuck are you?" To which she responded, "Is that appropriate?". Later in the interview, Bartz became perturbed with Arrington's criticism of the Yahoo! business model of conglomeration rather than single revenue source producers. Bartz then responded to Arrington saying, "you are involved in a very tiny company" and ended the exchange by telling him to "fuck off." Bartz received some support from bloggers for her response, including Guy Kawasaki who stated, "I respect Carol Bartz even more now." (per Wikipedia).


Techcrunch is one of the top 2 techy blogs along with Mashable, and so as one of their writers/reporters, you're invited by Flipboard (which I love) to a function to tell you about how it's expanding their monetization policies. Not exactly fascinating but still, has to be done. Pays the rent and all that.


But you have had that extra bottle of wine and you've just about had enough. So you start to write your post for Techcrunch. Think of a good headline. Here's the one Alexia Tsotsis went with


Flipboard Expands Its Monetization Options To Paywall. Welcome To The Future, Old Media Assholes.


Old Media Assholes? Hmmmm interesting approach. But having started, let's not stop there. No way, let's go all the fucking way.


Fuckers I am so sick of reporting on incremental tech news for fucking two years now, so sick I’m pretty much considering reverting full-time to fashion coverage. (Don’t believe me? Well, how amazing and beautiful is my“Clothing I Like and Want To Buy” Pinterest board? A.k.a. my greatest accomplishment in my life thus far …).


But yeah, The New York Times took a step towards the future this blasted Sunday night and all of us tech press are expected to cover it like lemmings. Fine. Sure. It’s a big deal, in a business that is slowly dying, to show an understanding of 21st Century distribution mechanisms. Kudos NYT. You’re still worth less than Instagram. Hahahahhaha, lol (drink).


But still you, The New York Times, are way more important than I am, because you convinced Flipboard CEO Mike McCue to work with you early on, which by the timing of this post you could probably figure out that I couldn’t do (in time). Fail. But we’re still covering it because this is the first time Flipboard has offered a paywall option, and it shows a promising alternative revenue stream for both parties involved  … Welcome to the future, old media assholes.


So in between the downing of tonight’s two bottles of wine, I had the good fortune to ask new media visionary McCue the questions y’all are dying to ask, and here they are — Because he was cool enough to answer me  …


And then the questions all seem reasonable - like they're straight from a press release.


But let's not finish there. Let's just roll it all up in a final insult.


So there you have it. If both Flipboard and The New York Times were public companies and you asked me to convert my invaluable Aol stock into either right now, one and a half bottles of wine deep, I’d instinctively go with Flipboard. Suck it, old media. And please die more slowly from now on, because I (clearly) hate you.


Of course, you're all saying this didn't appear on Techcrunch yesterday.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/25/die-less-slow/


And you're also saying it wouldn't have got past the editor.
Nope because Alexia is the co-editor.



Alexia Tsotsis
CO-EDITOR
Alexia Tsotsis is the co-editor of TechCrunch. She attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, majoring in Writing and Art, and moved to New York City shortly after graduation to work in the Media industry.


She made the Forbes, "30 under 30 rising stars media list". One wonders will she do it again this year?


As for Techcrunch?
Well to be fair, they've left the post up. 
There's a bit of integrity about that somehow.


But a shocking bit of concern that albeit "approved sources" can write anything on Techcrunch without somebody reading it? That is a huge issue.


Techcrunch needs to be seen as impartial and honest.
If no-one is checking the writing, it opens up huge potential pitfalls - paid to blog just being one.

Irishman Jerry Comyn leaves US Advertising. And leaves the world in absolutely no doubt why!

Bit of a trend going on here which employers should note.

It follows from Goldman Sachs Greg Smith doing exactly the same.

When someone leaves, they're inclined to tell the world and it appears on Social Media.
But did you expect it from an Irishman abroad?

I don't know him - I don't think I do anyway - but meet Irish senior Outdoor Advertising man Jerry Comyn who's left US major outdoor player 'Titan' (he's from Navan so he worked in Ireland too with Nova and gives Ireland a good old mention) and decided to tell all in an email letter to his contacts after 18 years in the business. (Within hours of publishing it, I heard from the man himself and publish his comments at the end).


He says it's not a reflection on any one company but just his general advertising experience.
Obviously.


It's all over the web so I've no reason to doubt it's true.


And Twitter? Nearly all the responses (and there's masses of them) are thumbs up. 
Plenty of "me too!", "Go Jerry Go!" and even one spuriously claiming that "his life in advertising sales brought him a life of debauchery".


Now him, I do know. 
And I'm desperately trying to make contact.


Jerry is on LinkedIn (to be fair, his resume reads real well).
In fact he's on everything.


You'll find him on Facebook - without any difficulty!
I'd say at this stage if you just Googled 'Jerry', you'd get only 2 results - him and Tom Cruise.


The letter is reproduced courtesy of Business Insider. So let that be a warning. It'll get out.

And the other warning - don't write something on the spur of the moment you might regret. Leave it and think on it overnight, then send it. Most don't on reflection (it's an old business rule).


Ouch.

Anyway here goes:

“Hello all,

Having spent the past 18 years of my life in advertising sales, TV, Radio and Outdoor, I’ve always wondered why I was in a business I detested. For years, I couldn’t figure it out, and then I realized what was motivating me, MONEY! There are few careers where one (we called ourselves a business of C students) could earn so much money for doing very little.

The hardest I ever worked were the first 5 years of my career, from 1994 to 1999. This is mostly because I spent my days making my boss look good. I earned him/them a lot of money by making sure the media buyers were kept happy. Let me tell you, back in the mid 90′s, NYC buyers were animals. If you weren’t at the top of your game, they would eat you without salt. As a result, I believe, I learned ‘the business’ from the best.

Over the years I learned that I was part of a ‘club’ I had no desire to be a member of. By the mid 2000′s I found myself lashing out at the very corporate system I had signed up for. Had I sold my soul? No, there was no way I could have done that. Alas, I realised I had indeed sold my soul for the almighty dollar.

Recently, I decided, once and for all, to leave the industry I have dedicated the last 18 years of my life. The reasons are numerous but following are a few:

* I was trained to lie to clients and cheat as much as possible.
* I was encouraged to dismiss FCC regulations on clients business.
* 99% of Advertising Sales Reps spend their days figuring ways to rip off clients
* 99% of Advertising Sales Managers got their positions by lying and stealing their way to the top.
* Most competing TV and Radio Stations COLLUDE on rates.
* Most vendors are ripping off clients by up to 80%
* Reps WILL rip off their bosses (through expenses) if you treat them like crap.
* Most reps are managed through fear, the worst motivator, in my opinion.
* There are few leaders left in a business that once promoted leadership

I know most of you will think these are the bitter words of a disillusioned ex-rep. Maybe you’re correct, but I like to to think of my words as coming from someone who is finally calling BULLSHIT on the ad sales world, both in the USA and Ireland.

I wish you all good fortune and good luck.

Jerry”

Collusion on rates Jerry? You're kidding.
Can't be true. Nah. Could it?
Letters in a stamped addressed envelope please.

(Since publishing last night, I heard from Jerry this morning - "Hi Stuart...thanks for your commentary on my letter. I never expected it would go viral but I guess it touched a nerve with many people. 

I should also like to clarify that I gave very serious consideration before sending the email, which just happened to go viral. With regard to 'collusion' on rates, that is a federal offence in the USA as controlled by the FCC")


Funny enough he sounds like a completely rational bloke to me.