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.
