A personal podcaster was grilled by his boss, his boss's boss, and an HR rep over the content of his personal podcast RECORDED AND PUBLISHED IN HIS SPARE TIME ** AWAY FROM WORK!!

Digg the story and listen to the episode here:
http://digg.com/world_news/Podcaster_Witch...ed_over_podcast


What the hell?!?

Well the link didn't work for me, but if you identify the company anywhere in your content and your company deems personally produced work as a bad reflection of their business then it may be grounds for termination. Unfortunately many small businesses go overboard when dealing with what may otherwise be a slight HR problem. As an employee you're ethically obligated to support, or at least be indifferent, about the company you work for.

Wow, he did the whole thing without any cuts and without even once getting off track! That man is my hero! Does he have a Pickle page?

Talk about "big brother is watching you"

Paul's Pickle Page: http://www.podcastpickle.com/casts/16853/

If the DIGG link doesn't work, try this: http://myworld.q2u.net/archives/263 (It's 23mins and 10secs into show #85.)

Yeah, I am so glad he didn't back down and censor his podcast afterwards. I agree, it's a fine line about what you can say about your job, but I've listened to Paul's show for nearly a year and I don't believe he's disclosed anything work-sensitive.

Strange situation, though. I was so riled up when I first heard it. I could just imagine something like this happening at my job.


Cheers!
- Jake =)

Rule #1: Never blog or podcast about your job unless they're paying you to do it. Even if you're not saying anything bad, you're opening yourself up for trouble...

This is why when I mention work, I stay EXTREMELY vague, and also I use the name Barely, not my given name. I also make sure it is about people at work, not what we do. Always when I talk about work that is going through my mind. It is such a fine line right now in what people can do. If you mention too much about your job, you are seen as talking to the Media, which could be a HUGE no-no

Agreed. I stay as vague as possible when I mention work. Did you listen to the episode, Barely? It's wicked crazy! It seems like a few people did a lot of digging to find some dirt on this guy. Crazy!

I haven't listened to the episode yet, but I am planning on it.

Thanks


When I found out what your real name was (via the hurricane clue), I burst out laughing.


I can understand the digging. If I had an employee and stumbled across something he had written or said online, I'd probably poke around and see what else I could find, even if only out of curiosity. But his boss and boss's boss were so ludicrously inept. They had some concerns but clearly no plan. Even the boss who said he wanted to talk to him just stood there trying to figure out how to ask him to follow him to another room. It wasn't at all clear what the purpose of the meeting was. Were they asking him to take something down? Were they trying to assess his intentions? Were they indirectly threatening him to put him in his place? I don't think even they knew. They just found his online stuff referencing the company and knew they should talk to him, but they didn't know what to say.

They knew how to tell him he was nearly failing at his job.
Not cool by any means or standards.

I listened. They were giving him a hard time about the following:

1) Moonlighting for another company

2) A potential conflict of interest with something he promoted on his website

Both of which he mentioned on his podcast and probably shouldn't have. Keep your work life out of your podcast unless you want your boss hearing it. Yes, the company is keeping an unusually close eye on what he's doing, but everything he's doing is right out there in the open. On top of that, he mentioned that the company wanted him to take a training course and he refused. It sounds like they're looking for ways to get rid of him. This episode might be all they need, really.

Yes, but they didn't volunteer that. He had to push to get a clear response from them about his job performance. I don't think they planned to say that. (I got the impression they didn't really plan anything they said.)

This is why you need to be careful. In a day and age where podcasts and blogs are mega popular and easy to find and get a hold of, you do need to be careful what you disclose. Even if it's nothing sensitive.

I know somebody who had a similar thing happen to 'em. They got in crap because they blogged and podcasted about work. Even though it was something silly like how he'd had a crappy day at work.

What exactly is a 'personal podcaster'? Do we not all place our shit out there for everyone to see? What does where it is produced have to do with what he says? I'm asking these questions because I'm surprised no one else has.

No offense to Paul, he seems like a nice guy, but after I listened to the podcast, I really don't understand the outrage here. In his own words, he basically put something in plain sight that illustrated a perceived threat to his employer. Game over, right there.

This is an issue that most of us who produce a podcast will deal with at some point... and, it's one that varies with each case depending on the content involved and the boss.

In my opinion, in this case - especially with evidence of a direct conflict and performance issues he mentioned - this dude should be incredibly thankful his bosses gave him the benefit of a meeting and discussion before any action was taken.

I realize Paul's cast is produced in Vancouver, so I have no idea about employment law in BC. But again, he's placing something in the public domain, regardless of when and where it occurs. Just because you produce something at home in your spare time does not make the production invisible or even off-limits to anyone...
throw in a moonlighting project with a conflict, and you've got grounds for termination almost anywhere. It's akin to testifying against yourself. Additionally, in the episode I just heard, he made an issue of it, and even named/taunted his boss - and the line between work/hobby was completely erased at that point.

I remember a very similar grilling with the President and uber-religious VP of a company following a fairly offensive anti-church stunt on a podcast.

I wish I'd been given the benefit of a "hey, you got a minute?" talk on a Monday.

Don't get me wrong, I have as much or more sympathy for work/podcast issues than most in the community, but I don't see the logic in the outrage.

I'm sorry he feels ambushed. I'm sure that sucked, but at least he walked away with his job... Although with continued talk about the job on the 'cast, I'm not sure how much longer that will be the case.

-Nate

Sorry I'm not outraged by the situation.

Given that we're only hearing one person's side of the story (I don't know Paul from a bar of soap and he may be the most honest person to have ever lived but I don't automatically trust ANY complete stranger)(especially not one I've only ever "met" online) I don't really see the big issue here.

Sure his managers could have handled their discussion with a bit more skill - but awkward people management skills are pretty common (I'm not saying it's an OK thing to be a bad manager I'm just saying I don't think that had anything to do with his podcasting).

As for the things they raised - a potential conflict between some website he runs and his company's products plus the content of his podcast which may identify the organisation he works for - they are both legitimate concerns for any employer to raise.

It's not enough to say that he's doing it in his own time because the effects of what he is doing have the potential to cross over into work hours and the employers have a right (even an obligation) to check it out.

Everyone has brought up valid points. I guess I was a little more shocked by the occurrance because I've met Paul and I know he is a genuinely nice guy. Plus, I could easily imagine my own employer pulling the same stint on me- though I don't really mention work anywhere online or in my podcasts. You just never know.

Anyway, if you want to hear Paul's follow-up, it's available here:
(It starts at the beginning of the show.)
http://myworld.q2u.net/archives/264


Cheers,
- Jake