Cost of gas and tolls to drive down to Philadelphia: $40.00
Cost of room (per room) at Sheraton Society Hill Hotel: $68.00
Being told — at the very last moment — that you were being denied press access to Disney’s annual shareholder meeting: Priceless.
(From a publicity point of view, anyway …)
Oh, I have seen the Promised Land, my children. It is a wondrous place, laden with fresh Disney press kits and a sweet scent of a continental breakfast.
But — sadly — I was unable to reach the Promised Land (AKA the Press Room at Disney’s Annual Shareholders Meeting) yesterday morning, because … well, you see … at the last possible moment, Disney Corporate Communications decided to pull JimHillMedia.com’s press credentials for yesterday’s event.
Which meant that not only was I prevented from sampling that yummy smelling breakfast … but I was also prevented from covering yesterday’s shareholders meeting as a member of the working press.
Now let me stress here that — prior to yesterday morning — things seemed to be perfectly fine between me and Disney’s Corporate Communication Office. In fact, this past Monday afternoon (BEFORE Nancy and I got in the car to begin the 6½ hour drive down to Philly), I made a call to Disney’s Burbank headquarters. I spoke with Heather in the Corporate Communications to arrange for the site’s press credentials. She said that there’d be no problem. She even fired me off a e-mail confirmation. So I thought that we were good to go.
But then that situation changed. Why For? Well, how many of you saw Tuesday’s front page article in the Wall Street Journal? You know, the one that prominently featured yours truly. (With a woodcut-like photo of myself in the center column that proved — once-and-for-all — that I have a face that is best suited for radio. But I digress. Anyway …) Well, the folks at Disney Corporate Communications supposedly read that story and immediately decided that I now must be in cahoots with Roy. Which means I couldn’t be possibly a really-for-real reporter.
So it was ACCESS DENIED for JimHillMedia.com. “No soup for you!” in Seinfeld-speak. Or — in this case — no continental breakfast.
To be fair, I should point out that the Disney PR reps that I spoke with Tuesday morning were both extremely polite and very professional. They discreetly pulled me out of the press check-in line and quietly explained that — as a direct result of Tuesday’s WSJ piece — I was now being viewed as a member of Roy’s camp. A hostile party, you might say. Which is why I would no longer be allowed to officially cover Disney’s annual stockholders meeting as a member of the working press.
Now where this gets funny is that — earlier on Tuesday — while I was attending the “Save Disney” press conference, Roy Disney actually took me to task for saying things (in my recent articles) that weren’t all that positive about what he and Stanley Gold were attempting to do. So certainly, in the eyes of the folks over at “Save Disney,” I haven’t been playing favorites. But yet — less than 24 hours later — in the eyes of Mouse House management, I’ve somehow become Roy’s right hand man.
Talk about your Catch 22s.
Anywho … again, I should point out that the head of Disney Corporate Communications seemed somewhat sympathetic. He said that “I’m sorry that we can’t allow you in as a reporter, Jim. But — if you use your proxy — you can still get into the meeting.”
That’s when I explained to him that I didn’t have a proxy. You see, I don’t own any stock in the Walt Disney Company. “Why not?” you ask. Because — me personally — I think that it would be kind of unethical of me to own shares in a corporation that I write about. That that investment — no matter how small it may be — might still somehow color my perception of the Mouse House. Which is why I’ve always made it a point to never invest in the Walt Disney Company. I prefer to fritter away my discretionary funds on frivolous things like food and shelter …
Anyhow …
Back at the entrance to Disney’s press room, Disney’s head PR guy was still somewhat sympathetic. But NOT so sympathetic that he’d actually allow me to attend the annual meeting as a member of the working press.
Mind you … just to play Devil’s Advocate for a few moments here … but did Disney Corporate Communications REALLY have to wait ’til this morning to let me know that I was being denied access to the annual shareholder’s meeting? I mean, clearly these guys knew how to get ahold of me. After all, they were able to reach out to yours truly at 3:05 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, sending me an e-mail to let me know that Bob Iger would be meeting with the media later that same day in the Grand Hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
So THAT message they were able to get to me in a timely fashion . But the message saying that my press credentials for Disney’s annual shareholders meeting had suddenly been revoked … THAT ONE, they couldn’t tell me in advance. THAT ONE had to wait ’til yesterday morning. Til the very last minute. When they could deliver it in person …
Now — if I were a suspicious sort — I’d have to say that this was a deliberate act on Disney Corporate Communication’s part. That this was NOT just a case of someone dropping the ball. But — rather — a cold and calculating effort that was deliberately done in order to deny me the chance to report on this monumental Mouse House event. This once-in-a-lifetime occurrence in Disney Corporate history.
“Payback is a ***,” as they say.
But — then again — I also got this odd sort of vibe off the Disney Corporate Communications people. That these folks actually weren’t the ones who actually made this call. That the decision to boot JimHillMedia.com wasn’t made at this level. But came from somewhere further up the food chain.
Which is why I guess that’s a good thing that I’m not really a suspicious sort. More importantly, that I found Disney Company’s rather heavy handed attempt to get back at me to be more amusing than aggravating.
After all, I came all the way down to Philadelphia to get a story. And believe you me, folks: Singling me out as the one reporter to be denied official access to Disney’s annual shareholders meeting — all because I’m supposedly in bed with Roy — that’s a pretty big story.
Wait. That’s not entirely true. It wasn’t just me who was denied access to this year’s annual shareholder meeting. Chuck Oberleitner also was denied credentials. Not because he’d actually done anything wrong. But rather, because he works for JimHillMedia.com.
Now I really wish that the Mouse hadn’t done that. After all, Chuck had paid his own way out here. Flying all the way from LA to Philadelphia. Just so he could cover this year’s shareholders meeting as a member of the working press.
But Oberleitner too was denied press credentials for yesterday’s event. Even though he’s never ever had any direct communication with Roy Disney. In fact, the only time that Chuck has ever talked with anyone from Shamrock was this past Tuesday morning, when he stood up at the “Save Disney” press conference and asked a question of Roy, Stanley and Mike McConnell. I guess that — given that he works at my website — Disney Corporate Communications must be working from the “Guilt by Association” principle.
Mind you, I guess I should mention that there’s actually a happy ending to this part of the story. At least in Chuck Oberleitner’s case … you see, Chuck … he’s a wily sort. He hadn’t traveled 3000 miles just to come up short 300 feet away from the entrance to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. So Oberleitner hung out near the entrance to the hall. And — within a half hour or so — he finally found a sympathetic JHM fan who took pity on the poor guy and took Chuck into the meeting as his guest.
So — in spite of the Walt Disney Company’ best efforts — JimHillMedia.com WILL have coverage of yesterday’s annual shareholder’s meeting. Only — this time around — Oberleitner will be the lead reporter on this story. He’s the guy who will eventually be bringing you the blow-by-blow of what Uncle Mikey said and did yesterday while he stood in the Pennsylvania Convention Center in front of Disney shareholders.
But as for me … I wasn’t going to stay where I obviously wasn’t welcome. So I opted to retreat to the car. Where — after I fired up my laptop — I quickly began calling all of those nice JHM readers who had originally volunteered to take me in to this year’s annual shareholder meeting as their guest. Unfortunately, given that most of these people were already seated inside the convention center, they then weren’t really in a position to help me now.
Which is why I found myself — on a warm March day — with lots and lots of free time on my hands in Philadelphia. Which really is a gorgeous city, by the way. And given that Jeff, Chuck and Nancy were now stuck on the inside of Disney’s shareholders meeting (which didn’t actually get over ’til nearly four — making this the longest shareholders meeting in Disney Company history), I opted to stroll around the town. Have myself a cheese steak. Go visit the Liberty Bell.
Oh. I also did one other thing to kill time while I was waiting for that meeting to get out.
I talked with reporters.
Lots and lots and lots of reporters.
CNN … MSNBC … etc.
Who all seemed keenly interested in hearing about how the management of the Walt Disney Company had — because of Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal article — decided (at the last possible moment) to deny me access to yesterday’s shareholder meeting.
Jim talking with Deborah Norville on MSNBC
(Click the image to visit the MSNBC site where you can watch the video of
Jim — and Fabulous Disney Babe Michelle Smith — speaking with MSNBC.)
Maybe, in the end, it would have been wiser for those guys to just let me in. For Disney Corporate Communications to just allow me to cover this story. Rather than unintentionally TURNING me into a story.
But then — hey — that’s just me. A relatively easy-going guy who suddenly found himself with a lot of time on his hands yesterday.
So — all in all — it was a pretty good day. And how was YOUR Wednesday?