Did it ever occur to you that those posting anonymously could be one of those IT people that are asked to keep the engines going on the Titanic as it sinks beneath the waves and are posting anonymously so-as to protect their jobs for the remaining time? Posting with your name will result in a backlash by Eric and his henchmen. When you're looking at alot of severance and PTO that is coming your way, why jeopardize that by posting with your real name? And when your piece was nothing more than a puff piece to make Eric look like he's a competent CIO addressing the issue of the day for many CIO's then you should expect the other side to be presented as well.

If you want honesty, then let those comments fly. I'm sure Eric's supporters will be more than willing to back him up. But based upon the number of detractors and supporters last time I doubt it.

Besides, you got free content by allowing those comments to be posted. As a webmaster, free content that updates your page as it slides past the front page is golden. Taking those comments down was a poor choice on your webmaster's part.

Here, here! I applaud your policy and your adherence to high values!

Not an Eric Fan:

Of course it occurred to us that people may have good reasons not to post their real names.

That's why I said quite clearly that we would consider posting comments without real names from people who identified themselves to us. Anonymous sources are a staple of journalism; unchecked potshots are not.

I believe that preventing those personal shots here is fair. I don’t know Eric personally but it was clear to me since he took over this role within the company that he wanted to do something new and innovative.
Eric did a great job "start" under very hard circumstances of cost limitations and future uncertainty. Let us learn out of this situation as IT professionals for our next career phase, we've enough problems to solve!
Ahmed

Most excellent.
Integrity, good job.

Too many sites allow anonymity and those hiding behind their status of an "anonymous guest" just flat out run amuck. Slinging salacious, falacious, slanderous and flat out untrue statements too, too many times.

Sure, there are times to use anonymity but there are far more times when that anonymity just goes overboard and turns into something else.

Bravo Mr. Cone! Everyone has the right to say whatever they want, but they also bear the responsibility of what they said. You have done a good job on taking responsibility and showing integrity. I’m sure that if the anonymous posters have information that is relevant to a particular story, you have an avenue where they can sign their name confidentially and the facts can be verified. (Maybe you should publish instructions). Anyway, keep up the good work.

jim

I do respect the desire to keep the peace in the forums. Some of the comments were very personal attacks of Eric.

However, I think it would have been appropriate to admit that the article had some factual errors and was somewhat biased in the presentation of the information.

I find your position very interesting because when I read the original comments they seemed to be more a criticism of your reporting than anything else.

I worked for Mr. Goldfarb since his arrival at BearingPoint as the Senior Network Architect. Having been in that position it is obvious that your article was based upon an interview and not an investigation of the actual environment. Retention of talent in Eric's organization is based upon two criteria. Those criteria are salary paid and unequivical support of Eric Goldfarb. Productivity, leadership and general competency have little weight in decisions made regarding retention of an individual. You can validate this by reviewing the talent retained and the talent departed over the past several years - not just since the bakruptcy. Simply look at certifications, education, credentials, ending salary and work history.

So, I do believe that you published a nice fluffy article with no substance that will look very good in Eric's resume. I would suggest that perhaps you review the comments submitted with a more critical eye.

Now that I have recieved my severance pay, I can make these statements with with only a moderate concern for retribution.

You may publish my name because as soon as I identified my former position, I identified myself to everyone in Eric's organization.

You did the right thing. There is far to much anonymous stuff aimed at hurting people, or simply creating havoc because it's possible. Congratulations for taking a stand for honesty and factuality. Keep up the good work.