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Topic: boss confidential
| Author | Message |
| PluckyPane | Posted – 1/30/2008 3:50:22 PM | show profile A senior editor of mine (my boss) just peeked her head in and asked to chat. I thought it was going to be about something I did or didn't do, but to my surprise, it was about her. She basically confided in me (only me) that she is on the verge of a mental breakdown because of this job. No clue why she picked me. She's friends with the owner of the mag, so they authorized a quicky getaway trip to keep her head on, which explains why she's knocking out right during our deadline (a no-no for our team). While I feel for her, the rest of us are also on the verge of mental breakdowns too because of unrealistic deadlines and expectations, but instead of offering us paid vacations, they are passing over us for raises this year. Since she took over as my boss two years ago, she was going to be the reason I quit. Tightly wound, never bending, can never be wrong. Rarely backs up her staff. Passive aggressive. Always on the defensive. Gave me crap about taking off when my dad had a stroke. Regularly abuses attendance policies while enforcing ours. Give me a good reason other than being a professional not to blast her in this time of crisis. I know the rest of the staff would have a field day with this. They are just as fed up with her exclusively. |
| mkelly | Posted – 1/30/2008 3:55:35 PM | show profile Please see the 'Quit or Get Fired' thread for further instruction. |
| foodlit | Posted – 1/30/2008 4:19:18 PM | show profile Maybe she's testing you, to see what you do. I suspect if you give in to temptation and tell people, she'll make your life far more miserable than it is. If you don't, you may see things improve with her. go with your gut. Do what feels right. |
| Chamsah | Posted – 1/30/2008 4:27:17 PM | show profile Here's a good reason Because you are a better person than that? For real, is it ever appropriate to use personal information to hurt another employee? No matter how retched she/he may be? I'm going to have to say no, never. Your issues with this woman are understandable but I don't see what you gain by spreading this information around. Honestly, it will only make you look shallow and petty. Who wants that reputation? Keep this information to yourself and remind yourself that this woman is troubled, hence the reason for your horrible work environment. The best thing to do? Start looking for another job. Good luck. |
| darkfire | Posted – 1/30/2008 5:08:35 PM | show profile Because it would be unprofessional is enough of a reason. Treating her badly won't teach her anything - she likely doesn't know any better. Maybe this rotten behavior over the last 2 years is the best she can do. Take some pity on her that she's a poor manager and would likely not last if she didn't have a personal relationship with the owner, and let it go. The loss of talented professionals who know better than she does (i.e., you and your coworkers) will be enough of a message when you all get fed up and walk. |
| PluckyPane | Posted – 1/30/2008 5:41:59 PM | show profile foodlit gets the gold star. Yup kiddies she was testing me on this very board. Let me thank Scholer Publications for entraping their employees when they need to vent because nutty senior management are so insecure. Maybe she learned a thing or two at my expense about her management style. How low can you get. |
| Mirage | Posted – 1/30/2008 5:47:15 PM | show profile Wow. Just...wow. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 1/30/2008 5:52:00 PM | show profile Wow. Another lesson to us all about venting on this board... the details we spill on here make it clear to those involved in our personal situations who we are. |
| Marie | Posted – 1/30/2008 6:01:56 PM | show profile That was exactly what I thought of. You were so identifiable. So was the whole thing made up to see what you would do? What happened to you? |
| hawkmail | Posted – 1/30/2008 6:10:28 PM | show profile So this was all made up by the boss and the owner of the company to see if you would talk about the situation to anyone? That is really low and totally screwed up. It's definitely best to keep in mind not giving away too many identifying details in a rant. I also hope that no one at MB would tell a company the identity of anyone who posts here. |
| Chamsah | Posted – 1/30/2008 6:10:54 PM | show profile OMG! Did you actually name the company you work for? Wow. I hate to say it, but not smart. Not at all. Good luck. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 1/31/2008 1:13:27 AM | show profile you gotta throw em. Don't spill details. change the sexes of parties involved and location. Talk about a girlfriend if you're married, a boyfriend if you're male. Don't be dumb. I'm bet a toidy sum if "certain someones" call MB the identities would be passed--off the record of course. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 1/31/2008 5:03:57 PM | show profile So. Why aren't you and your colleagues organizing into a union? |
| seeattleme | Posted – 1/31/2008 5:33:40 PM | show profile and you might want to start keeping a log and talk to a lawyer about a retaliation case. |
| hawkmail | Posted – 1/31/2008 6:16:48 PM | show profile I agree that there were specific details in the original post that would make it easy enough for the boss to recognize herself. My concern here is the thought that MB will give up our identities if asked by a media company, particularly an advertiser. That should never, ever be the case. While I'm not usually writing anything worrisome or scandalous, it would be really disconcerting to find out that an anonymous board is not always anonymous. Anyone from MB care to weigh on this concern? |
| noname1234 | Posted – 1/31/2008 6:32:09 PM | show profile I'm not from MB, but their privacy policy states: "We do not share our users' personal information unless you specifically authorize us to, or unless required by law." It would very, very much surprise me if MB would violate their own privacy policy, as a violation has real legal and ethical ramifications for them. |
| Chamsah | Posted – 1/31/2008 10:57:05 PM | show profile Come on! MB didn't NEED to give out the name of the employee. This poster outed herself by providing plenty of specific details, then went ahead and named the company! I'm usually on the side of the employee, but come on! Show some intelligence! |
| hawkmail | Posted – 1/31/2008 11:48:21 PM | show profile Chamsah - I'm a pretty intelligent girl. It was obvious the original poster gave herself away with too much detail. That is not my point. My question is, would MB provide proof of it to an angry employer? If media companies see critical postings could they possibly find out the identity of the poster. So, not stupid, just looking beyond the situation at hand. |
| Chamsah | Posted – 1/31/2008 11:55:06 PM | show profile hawkmail: I'm not saying you're stupid, I am saying what SHE did wasn't smart. I am not sure why anyone would even raise this question simply because she gave away so many details. Her boss didn't have to bother calling. But since someone asked, I know the answer from dealing with MB in the past. No, they do not give out names of posters. So no one should worry. But they do need to be careful, which was my only point. Cheers. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 1/31/2008 11:57:59 PM | show profile except that--well, not to get all conspiratorial on all you realists, but--I've been posting here since the late 90s. Very late 90s. I've had a few different handles/screen names. One poster actually connected my screen names when I'd just changed it. Not the handle, but a different account entirely. I barely mentioned much about myself because it was a new account (I had to create it from a work account as I couldn't access my home account) and this poster said "I think granitegirl is actually X poster, just with a different name." It was very strange. I mean, come on. If we all are trashing some big name editor, and these people all party at the functions and know each other, whose to say, say, if Jane Pratt or whoever calls some MB employee and says, psssst, on the sly, who is poster Y? that that editor won't be told "off the record" or "Under the table" or over cocktails at Michaels or something? Frankly, I'd never ask cause you'd look bizarre. But there are paranoid people out there. And if you are some MB employee who's looking to score a staff job elsewhere--just sayin, who's to say WHAT goes on behind closed fdoors, off board? To sue successfully you'd have to prove it, and proving that Big Cheese A was given information by mediabistro employee Z about poster Y would be impossible to prove. yes, the poster above gave many details, but not THAT many specific ones. Hell, she describes four situations I've been in in seven years. The latter post, yes, she gave it all away. maybe. If the second post is even the truth. But to think that information in this industry isn't shared, off the record or offline, seems to me to be a bit naive. |
| Chamsah | Posted – 2/1/2008 12:06:59 AM | show profile Sigh. I probably shouldn't continue on with this but oh, what the hell. Is it possible that MB slips the names of posters to curious editors? For jobs, for kick backs, for shits and giggles? Sure, anything is possible. I do know from my own experience posting here as an employer and as regular old me, that it is not their policy to give up names. I still believe it's important to protect yourself either way, to which you agreed. I don't have enough interest in conspiracy theories to worry about it further. |
| seeattleme | Posted – 2/1/2008 12:30:02 AM | show profile chamsah, pull it out. Neither do I. But what happened happened. Coincidence? Maybe. Doubtful, but maybe. "Not our policy"? Give me a break. That has no credibility. I'm sure it's not the Bush administrations policy to do a lot of things they've done. I know people. I know human nature. I'm not stupid. There was a MB writer who shone sunshine up several editor's asses for years and eventually got a job working for two of them. There are "huge fans" of Sassy who have gone on to write for Ellegirl and YM and Jane. If you're telling me that, offline, when some nasty posts about certain editors like Atoosa Rubenstein went up, that is she called up employye X and took them to lunch and asked, "Who the fuck is this who says they worked for me and that I attacked someone with a stilleto???" that some info wouldn't be given up, then--well, sorry, I won't necessarily believe you. Not sayin it makes me parnoid. My colleagues don't even know what the fuck Mediabistro is. And I keep posting, so I really don't care. But a word of warning to other posters: don't post anything on here you wouldn't want any of your former coworkers to hear you say in public. If that makes me a conspiracy theorist, I proudly join a group that includes Woody Allen, Hunter S. Thompson, John Lennon, and that guy who plays Munch on Law and Order (he was on Bill Maher last night). |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 2/1/2008 10:48:11 AM | show profile granitegirl, I remember when that happened regarding your screen name, and in all honestly, I knew it was you too. Not because of MB, but because you have a really unique posting/writing style. Some people are just identifiable based on the way they write! |
| noname1234 | Posted – 2/1/2008 11:26:45 AM | show profile Granitegirl, I'm not sure the exact incident you're talking about regarding your screenname change, but I do recall that you used to post under a different name, and the first post you made under your new name, I also immediately could tell that you were the same poster, as with Mag Girl, just because of your writing style. No conspiracy there. |
| foodlit | Posted – 2/1/2008 11:28:20 AM | show profile Honestly, I doubt that anyone at MB cares who is who on these boards. It may be terrible important to a poster, but yawnworthy to those behind the scenes. Certainly not important enough to violate their privacy policy. That would just be stupid. Way too much at stake for the business....and really, I just don't think it's that interesting to them! |
