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Power Points | Jan 08 2002

Remember that fabulous Powerpoint presentation entitled Yours is a Very Bad Hotel produced by those guys who were totally screwed by the DoubleTree Hotel in Houston? Well, Cory Doctorow, the guy over at Boing Boing, received an email about it today from the General Manager of the DoubleTree Club Hotel in Houston, one Joseph Crosby.

Dear Webhost,

Please provide written authorization, either electronic or hard copy, for use of the Powerpoint Presentation titled “Yours is a very bad Hotel”.

Thank you,

Joseph Crosby
General Manager
DoubleTree Club Hotel Houston

Here’s Cory’s response.

You’re clearly not the copyright holder, your message is clearly intended to intimidate, and there’s clearly an invitation in the body of the work itself, constituting a good-faith license, asking users to “share” this presentation.

If you’ve got something to say, say it. I don’t take kindly to intimidation tactics.

The plot thickens because Cory then heard from the author of the piece, who asked him to take it down. So he did. (More on the author’s feelings in this USA TODAY piece from January 4th.) I, however, decided to look for another version, which I found at hyperorg.com.

Right. But then Cory gets a second email from Houston.

Cory Doctorow,

Thank you for removing the powerpoint presentation from your website. Now I must ask that you remove my name and the name of the hotel from your website as you do not have permission to use either.

Thank you,

Joseph Crosby

One theory I have is that maybe this guy has a YAHWAY thing going on, where for some reason it’s not a good idea to say his actual name or the name of his workplace. You can’t hope but notice those two capital letters: JC.

But seriously, the whole thing boils my blood for some reason, despite being totally ridiculous. I talk about why in the discussion linked to Cory’s first report.

It’s interesting how much I care about this. I guess it’s because I was thrilled to see our community have an effect. I mean, yeah, so they’re getting attitude training down at the DoubleTree. Big deal. That’s a corporate thing: stop the bleeding. But the larger lesson is worth thinking about. Not necessarily trying to, we generated enough bad publicity for that hotel that they had to respond. That’s cool. And the whole thing happened because the presentation is brilliant; it strikes a nerve. That’s inspiring to me.

Okay, maybe I need to lie down now and get my blood pressure to drop.

Maybe I do. But before I do, just let me say this: Joseph Crosby of the DoubleTree Club Hotel Houston is a Very Bad General Manager.

Powerpoint presentation anyone?