Sunday, April 14, 2013

Now Blocking Retirees

TriMet's communications department went off the deep end today, by blocking Al Margulies on Twitter. This is the most ridiculous and pointless tactic the agency can use. They have missed three basic points:

1) Blocking him won't stop him from tweeting about TriMet,
2) All they're doing is depriving themselves of a valuable source of feedback and information, and
3) By blocking Al on Twitter, they are simply proving what he is saying.

Now, there was a time when I didn't listen to what Al said. I didn't like his negativity and I didn't agree with him on certain vital issues issues. But I soon found out that his voice was one of the few voices that cared so much about making sure that the agency's future is bright that he would put his back-side on the line to fight for it. And though I still don't agree with his views on things in general, I tend to agree with all his views pertaining to TriMet.

So, TriMet, I continue to call on you to prove to all your stakeholders that you are looking out for their best interests. By attempting to close off the communication between you and your strongest naysayer, you are in effect blocking out your strongest source of feedback on what's going right and what needs to change. And we both know that the goal is to be the best transit agency in America, right?

That you may know the truth, and where it's lacking, that together we find the truth.

6 comments:

  1. And your absolutely right Mr Stanley.
    Your worst critic is your best teacher.

    Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.
    (Winston Churchill)

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  2. Exactly. Someday, I believe, we will see that sort of communication in and around the agency again.

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  3. I thought they said they would be more transparent. Oh wait, was that another lie too? Those idiots.

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  4. Interesting... Al, what do you mean when you say you were "blocked on Twitter"? We haven't intentionally blocked anyone, and I'm not even sure how we would go about doing that...

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  5. I cannot search @trimet any longer which is what happens when someone is blocked

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  6. Al, did you get this resolved yet? Must be a Twitter glitch. Asking around here, this happens to us from time to time, too. Twitter search function is not always consistent.

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Please keep it clean! Thank you.