I can't speak to much of Jack O'Dwyer's history with PRSA, but I can speak to the events that transpired at the 2010 International Conference.
I organized the flash mob that "set upon" Mr. O'Dwyer during the Assembly.
The flash mob was a combination of an experiment with social media and a prank. As an academic, I've long been fascinated by the power of social media to enable groups of people to communicate and organize. That's why I organized a similar flash mob at the 2009 International Conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hP4o-3hTjQ
The flash mob organized at the 2010 PRSA conference was intended to be a similar experiment; to add an element of entertainment I thought it might be fun to involve Mr. O'Dwyer as he's a readily-identifiable feature of PRSA conferences and I'm amused by the hyperbolic claims he makes against the organization.
Mr. O'Dwyer has made the accusation that the flash mob was deliberately conducted to disrupt his interview with Art Stevens regarding his criticism of PRSA. That, however, was simply a coincidence. I wouldn't know Art Stevens from Cat Stevens.
The event was timed at 2:45 pm as the assembly was going on break - there's no way I could have known where Mr. O'Dwyer would be at 2:45 pm (all of which is recorded) so the accusation that it was timed to disrupt his interview holds no water:
Video of the flash mob is available on Youtube, and everyone is free to make their own determination about its intentions and impact (it lasted a grand total of :36 seconds after which Mr. O'Dwyer resumed his interview with Mr. Stevens):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bfgcKBwy3E
What ACTUALLY happened was the following:
1. Despite the preponderance of evidence in existence (the flash mob was organized in full view of the public via Twitter using hashtags associated with the conference) Mr. O'Dwyer misinterpreted the flash mob as a sign of dissent against the PRSA leadership and (rather than doing his homework) blogged about this (even though the discussion about the flash mob and the actual final video were readily available and tweeted about prior to publishing his story):
3. Rather than taking me at my word and concede the misinterpretation, Mr. O'Dwyer concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that I had somehow been silenced by the leadership of PRSA for my dissent and was now "backpedaling":
4. Mr. O'Dwyer then proceeded to make a series of phone calls to me and anyone he could find who was associated with me (which included members of my local chapter who had no knowledge of the flash mob).
You can listen to the bizarre voicemails Mr. O'Dwyer left me here (in which he attempts to bully me into corroborating his conspiracy theory with the threat of an unflattering post about me on his blog):
There is a question no one seems to be asking. Mr. O'Dwyer has frequently categorized himself to be a financial competitor to PRSA in terms of the products and services he sells. If that is the case, does that not remove his ability to be objective in his coverage of PRSA - and thusly violate the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics?
I would think PRSA would be well within its rights to restrict his access to the conference on the basis of that conflict of interest alone.
I, myself, have been a critic of PRSA in the past. However, PRSA members can vote with their feet at any time if they feel the organization doesn't serve them well. They clearly don't, as membership continues to rise.
I know that this GOOD congresswoman and Judge Roll both were present at a meeting in Tucson, with a confidential informant who has extensive information about the CIA’s drug smuggling operations in Arizona. Both Gabby Giffords and Judge Roll were intent about doing something about the CIA’s drugs. Look what they got in return for their good deeds…. This shooting was a hired hit.
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I can't speak to much of Jack O'Dwyer's history with PRSA, but I can speak to the events that transpired at the 2010 International Conference.
I organized the flash mob that "set upon" Mr. O'Dwyer during the Assembly.
The flash mob was a combination of an experiment with social media and a prank. As an academic, I've long been fascinated by the power of social media to enable groups of people to communicate and organize. That's why I organized a similar flash mob at the 2009 International Conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hP4o-3hTjQ
The flash mob organized at the 2010 PRSA conference was intended to be a similar experiment; to add an element of entertainment I thought it might be fun to involve Mr. O'Dwyer as he's a readily-identifiable feature of PRSA conferences and I'm amused by the hyperbolic claims he makes against the organization.
Mr. O'Dwyer has made the accusation that the flash mob was deliberately conducted to disrupt his interview with Art Stevens regarding his criticism of PRSA. That, however, was simply a coincidence. I wouldn't know Art Stevens from Cat Stevens.
The event was timed at 2:45 pm as the assembly was going on break - there's no way I could have known where Mr. O'Dwyer would be at 2:45 pm (all of which is recorded) so the accusation that it was timed to disrupt his interview holds no water:
http://derekdevries.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/prsa-2010-assembly-flash-mob-instructions/
Video of the flash mob is available on Youtube, and everyone is free to make their own determination about its intentions and impact (it lasted a grand total of :36 seconds after which Mr. O'Dwyer resumed his interview with Mr. Stevens):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bfgcKBwy3E
What ACTUALLY happened was the following:
1. Despite the preponderance of evidence in existence (the flash mob was organized in full view of the public via Twitter using hashtags associated with the conference) Mr. O'Dwyer misinterpreted the flash mob as a sign of dissent against the PRSA leadership and (rather than doing his homework) blogged about this (even though the discussion about the flash mob and the actual final video were readily available and tweeted about prior to publishing his story):
http://www.odwyerpr.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1399-APR-Fans-Rout-Unbelievers-at-Assembly.html
http://www.odwyerpr.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1411-Delegates-Recognize-Our-Reporting.html
2. I responded to Mr. O'Dwyer's mistaken interpretation and corrected the record:
http://derekdevries.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/jack-odwyer-misunderstands-prsa-2010-assembly-flash-mob/
3. Rather than taking me at my word and concede the misinterpretation, Mr. O'Dwyer concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that I had somehow been silenced by the leadership of PRSA for my dissent and was now "backpedaling":
http://www.odwyerpr.com/blog/index.php?/archives/1423-Were-Nutty-and-Inaccurate,-Says-Delegate.html
4. Mr. O'Dwyer then proceeded to make a series of phone calls to me and anyone he could find who was associated with me (which included members of my local chapter who had no knowledge of the flash mob).
You can listen to the bizarre voicemails Mr. O'Dwyer left me here (in which he attempts to bully me into corroborating his conspiracy theory with the threat of an unflattering post about me on his blog):
http://derekdevries.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/odwyer-off-the-deep-end-a-beautiful-mind-in-its-own-words/
There is a question no one seems to be asking. Mr. O'Dwyer has frequently categorized himself to be a financial competitor to PRSA in terms of the products and services he sells. If that is the case, does that not remove his ability to be objective in his coverage of PRSA - and thusly violate the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics?
I would think PRSA would be well within its rights to restrict his access to the conference on the basis of that conflict of interest alone.
I, myself, have been a critic of PRSA in the past. However, PRSA members can vote with their feet at any time if they feel the organization doesn't serve them well. They clearly don't, as membership continues to rise.
I know that this GOOD congresswoman and Judge Roll both were present at a meeting in Tucson, with a confidential informant who has extensive information about the CIA’s drug smuggling operations in Arizona. Both Gabby Giffords and Judge Roll were intent about doing something about the CIA’s drugs. Look what they got in return for their good deeds…. This shooting was a hired hit.
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