Calling hoteliers: Just how clean are your hotel's room glasses? And perhaps even more scary for you - is a TV network filming your staff?
Luke Clark looks at the potential impact of an alarmist clip.
A sobering video for hoteliers (see link below) is circulating on YouTube, stating a case that many hotels in the United States never bother to clean the glasses in hotel rooms.
The 60 Minutes style clip uses hidden cameras to film room cleaners in hotels ranging from Holiday Inns to Sheratons, showing cleaners merely cleaning these glasses with glass cleaner - or even cleaning the glass with a glove previously used to clean a toilet.
We say that the danger of a video like this in a YouTube like today is a Tipping Point effect - when a specific example becomes a mass generalisation.
Given the speed with which news clips circulate, and the fact that the most alarmist material tends to get the most hits, it is surely within limits to assume that a climate of fear possibly greater than the initial risk could be the result.
Just reading the YouTube reaction to this clip is further evidence of this.
This is the hope and curse of Web 2.0. The more connected we are, the more impactful the alarmist material can be.
And which media will have more cut through - the fearful video, or the press release you send, stating you wash your glasses? It's pretty obvious.
These days, a dirty little secret can do a lot of damage.
www.thetransitcafe.com/site/take_me_there/archives/2008/02/dirty_little_se.php Luke Clark
From the mountains to the sea, Luke Clark has been talking and travelling all his life, so it was a natural career choice. A born performer when not at the monitor, Luke has branched out recently – which when you're as tall as him, is always a little dangerous.
