Employer's restrictions - or is it protection?
On blogher in To Blog or not to Blog: when your employer decides:Well, in case of people being fired "because" of blogging, it is seldomly because of that but most likely because of what they blogged about - and they did not use common sense for example to keep secrets.The concerns of the modeling agency aren't clear, but it does raise what is likely to continue to be a tough choice for employees. When an employer dictates your activities outside of work, what recourse do you have?
In case of Anina - I would really like to see some kind of official statement of her agency about that, because as far as I can see it till now, it is only her side of the story - and a very effective one in regards of what a blog (and therefore a person blogging) needs most. A scandal! Link to her!
Assuming she did get the question: I don't follow her blog that closely, but she did post from several jobs = she posted "from the work place" and content she is providing could also be seen as "telling everybody where you (as a consultant) are going to". Also, her going into the "non model space" may make customers booking her uncomfortable, or it may be that the agency saw something lacking in her performance.
This does not necessary needs to be how she does her job - but when and if. Doing her own project as well as other stuff (just grabbed as an example here) is time consuming. If the model business only deals with full time models which are contracted based on the fact that the model is available for the agency and suddenly she is not because she is running around the continent to attend conferences?
Back to employer's and restrictions: While yes there should be a right to blog about what you like, there are other people involved when you blog about / around the workplace. A misconception I really like about CEO blogs? That they are "just the person, just authentic". Any CEO of a big company who does not know which parts of a blog to check with legal department first and what to say when will not live very long in that space.
They will get into trouble, as well as employers who blog about company secrets - knowingly or not, and whether they think they are important or not. Don't believe me?
Take any Microsoft blogger you can think, preferable from the more media department, blogging about "Hey, we did spend a great day at this big company in Cupertino making business - that will be a great thing soon; stand by for more later!". Nothing really said, right?
Okay, you need to be a bit geeky to 'decode' that. But such a posting could be the beginning of a rising or fall at the stock market of the favorite fruit company of some of yours. Think about that for a moment.
Back to Anina: I find it hard to believe that an agency - which is living from what their models bring as business to them and lives from the fact that her models get more famous - would threaten as an ultimatum "just" because of she is a bit geeky. There is a second side of the story I would love to hear. Then again, yes they may be just as stupid as that.
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