What do we think of this?
CrowdStrike President Michael Sentonas was at the Pwnie Awards on Saturday to pick up 'Most Epic Fail' in person.
Here's a link to a video of the presentation and his acceptance speech https://lnkd.in/ektzi8t9 [Hat-tip @singe on X].
In crisis comms terms, I can see what they're trying to do. That is, trying to demonstrably show leadership by owning the problem, and thereby earning the right to reshape the narrative and rebuild trust.
CrowdStrike have been on the receiving end for three weeks. No doubt in anticipation of legal actions to come, much of their comms to date has (necessarily) been thoroughly well lawyered and somewhat stilted.
Not the stuff that's going to win hearts and minds. If you're desperate to get on the front foot, I can see how the leftfield idea of accepting the award might make sense. (And it did seem to win over the audience in the room.)
But surely not for an outage of this scale. CrowdStrike has lost 35% of its stock price, and the estimated loss to Fortune 500 companies is c.$5.4 billion [excluding damage to Microsoft], and Delta are one of the first out the gate with a damages suite for $500m.
Lots of sorrys to customers and partners. But what of the indirect impacts on ordinary citizens, employers and small businesses caught up in all this?
The idea should have been on the table... then shot down as tonally deaf given the weight of distress, anger and damage caused.
CrowdStrike's 'Root Causes Analysis' is out there and it's a very good, clear description of the sequence of events and their response [https://lnkd.in/eK9iwYcW]. But that's overshadowed now by an appearance at a tech 'Razzies'.
It might be a marginal call, but introducing the risk of looking like a bunch of out-of-touch teflon tech bros conniving to present their brand as a punchline at an industry in-joke just three weeks after causing $5bn+ worth of economic damage and evaporating c.$25bn in shareholder value might not be the right move. I think there were better options given our proximity to the event and its overall scale.
Really interested to hear other views. What do we think of this?
Congratulations on a successful DV2024! It's truly inspiring to see such dedication from everyone involved. Looking forward to the insights and innovations that will emerge at DV Sydney. What aspect of the event did you find most impactful this year?