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Whatley quits the Sinking Ship that is SpinVox

Former MIR contributor and Head of Digital & Social Media James Whatley, has quit the Stinking Ship that is SpinVox.

Once the pinnacle of delight, excitement and social media excellence bar none, SpinVox is deservedly continuing to receive a complete and utter kicking.

Whatley has, I suspect, had enough of it. He’s a talented communicator, tailor made for managing the public, friendly — dare I say, fluffy — side of the enterprise reputation. It’s Whatley who sat glued to his Matrix-like screens of TweetDeck constantly, hunting for even a whiff of discontent. Watching his personal Twitter I used to enjoy seeing him firing off help and assistance to all those who even mentioned the word SpinVox in the social media world. It was Whatley who fixed the bollocks too. If I ever came across a user who had a technical problem with the service, or who wanted to try it out, I put them in touch with James straight-away, safe in the knowledge that he’d sort-it-out.

If I ever needed commentary, I’d get on the phone to him. Or more often than not, whilst at an array of mobile-related events, he’d brief me on the latest-and-greatest.

When SpinVox was good, Whatley would shine. There’s absolutely no denying it.

But when the company can’t produce the goods, when the management team are engaged in a complete and utter bollocks closed-mind head-in-sand policy, there’s not much you can do.

What’s been fascinating with SpinVox over the past weeks is simply how stupid the management team have been.

You can’t ignore the fact that Whatley has done a brilliant outreach and reaction job over the years with the company.

The moment the shit hits the fan, he’s been left with next to nothing to say or do. No wonder he pressed exit. Clearly the inept management team haven’t quite realised that when you spend years reaching-out via James — and then spend the most tense period of the company’s history feeding James fuck all, well then… we can see it. Everyone can see it.

And of course, James can see it.

So I say good luck to the chap. There was a danger that he — like the rest of the senior team at SpinVox — would be tarnished irrevocably by the past weeks.

It was a good point to exit. Those who knew James just a little bit knew that, although he kept a dignified (and I’m sure, frustrating) silence during many points in the drama, it wasn’t him. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t at his instigation. He wasn’t to blame.

His polite resignation post speaks volumes. It’s polite. He thanks SpinVox.

It’s good for James. There ain’t nothing doing at SpinVox other than — if Rory’s got his sums correct — a huge, huge debt repayment at the end of the year.

James is, of course, now for hire. He’s always been in demand particularly from the larger brands wondering just how to manage their consumer out-reach via social media. If you’re quick, you can probably snare him for some consultancy.

TechCrunch’s Milo covered James’ exit here. Yes, for a time, Whatley was frontpage news on TechCrunch.com!

You can read James’ announcement here.

12 COMMENTS

  1. It is an astute observation that social media in general complements the upward part of a company's hysteresis better than its decline. An audience always prefers a dialogue with the successful.

    When bad times come, companies can easily succumb to a bunker mentality. In this case: launching the big PR guns over the trench instead of knowing how to use hand-to-hand ninjas like James.

    Techcrunch comments suggest he missed a chance to prove himself and his craft. I prefer to agree with you: if James couldn't apply social media wizardry to help mitigate SpinVox's problem, then probably no-one could have.

  2. Good summary there Ewan. And I like Rory C-J's take too. This is turning from a technology peice into a corporate skullduggery peice, and like a BBC comment says, “This is the sort of thing I pay my licence fee for”.

    No-once could reasonably blame the Beeb for this – had it gone on longer, the hole would have been deeper, and staff would possibly have sunk more of their own cash into a sinking ship. Personally I think the senior team have a hell of a lot to answer for to the good people of Spinvox. We should not forget this when the ship is broken up and the management scatter into other firms.

  3. “You can’t ignore the fact that Whatley has done a brilliant outreach and reaction job over the years with the company.”

    That's not a fact, that's an opinion. An opinion from a mate of James.

    SpinVox's media profile is down to the millions it spent on marketing – it always had the biggest stands at a show, it threw cash around like there was no tomorrow.

    “he’s been left with next to nothing to say or do”

    You're ignoring James big contribution, the disastrous FAQ, which was so inept and evasive it set the press pack on SpinVox full time.

    Everyone at the company knew the true nature of SpinVox. James Whatley claims he never realised until now.

    Draw your own conclusions

  4. He has done a brilliant job. That's opinion rooted entirely in my ('factual') experience. The FAQ was the right strategy — but the content, well, he had next to nothing to play with whilst the idiot management were sat staring at the wall keeping silent.

  5. Good summary there Ewan. And I like Rory C-J's take too. This is turning from a technology peice into a corporate skullduggery peice, and like a BBC comment says, “This is the sort of thing I pay my licence fee for”.

    No-once could reasonably blame the Beeb for this – had it gone on longer, the hole would have been deeper, and staff would possibly have sunk more of their own cash into a sinking ship. Personally I think the senior team have a hell of a lot to answer for to the good people of Spinvox. We should not forget this when the ship is broken up and the management scatter into other firms.

  6. “You can’t ignore the fact that Whatley has done a brilliant outreach and reaction job over the years with the company.”

    That's not a fact, that's an opinion. An opinion from a mate of James.

    SpinVox's media profile is down to the millions it spent on marketing – it always had the biggest stands at a show, it threw cash around like there was no tomorrow.

    “he’s been left with next to nothing to say or do”

    You're ignoring James big contribution, the disastrous FAQ, which was so inept and evasive it set the press pack on SpinVox full time.

    Everyone at the company knew the true nature of SpinVox. James Whatley claims he never realised until now.

    Draw your own conclusions

  7. He has done a brilliant job. That's opinion rooted entirely in my ('factual') experience. The FAQ was the right strategy — but the content, well, he had next to nothing to play with whilst the idiot management were sat staring at the wall keeping silent.

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