Jeremy Wright was recently fired, for blogging "company secrets". The description of the events that took place can only be described as “priceless”.

But now, because of this, we bloggers have more to think about.  Think about what you blog, and if it is in any way related to your job, do what Jeremy did, which is check for policies about it, ask permission, and make sure you aren’t afoul of any rules, legal or otherwise.

The bitch of it is that Jeremy did all that, and was fired anyway.  This means the company he worked for is full of dicks and asshats, and really, although it sucks, he’s better off without them.

My blog…well…you all know that I’m not exactly…reserved…when it comes to my posts.  I say bad words.  Lots of them.  I non-stop bitch about a certain consultant my company uses.  I post code snippets of things that I did at work that I think other people may benefit from.  My boss reads my blog (in SharpReader I think) and one of my team members reads it (in RSSBandit!  Yay!), so it’s no secret.  But it’s sanctioned.  My boss actually says at times “man…you should blog that”.  Because he realizes the value of blogs.  Already in my time here, I have saved the company probably on the order of about $100K in development costs directly related to the blogs I read.  A freeware or open-source component here, a method to do something we might have paid a consultant to do there, and next thing you know, we’re all more productive.  So he doesn’t mind that I give back to the community in what way I can:  a code snippet here, a funny rant there, it’s all good. 

Now I would never post something proprietary, but I don’t consider standard algorithms or methods (like, say, binding a .Net assembly as COM from VB6) as “proprietary”.  That’s knowledge that needs to be out there.  If I were ever asked to censor something that was company related, of course I would.  But I don’t think it would ever come to that, because I have pretty good judgement about what I should and should not say about what I’m doing.

Back to Jeremy…he used discretion as well.  I’m sure there were all kinds of things at work he could have blogged about.  But he didn’t.  And the thing about “divulging company secrets” was total crap, and I’m sure the person that fired him knows it.  It was an excuse.  So, Jeremy was fired for absolutley no wrongdoing, and that’s a shame, because I’d have a guy like Jeremy on my staff any day and let him blog whatever he wants, and these people are missing out on a great employee.

So, the moral…if you work somewhere, and you blog anything even remotely related to your work, make sure you know what you’re getting into.  Talk to your boss, make sure it’s cool, and I guess, when in doubt, don’t blog it.  It’s unfortunate that we have to learn these lessons after someone else falls on the sword for us though…

Jeremy, best of luck!  I’m sure InsideBlogging will be a great success!  If you need anything, you know where to find me.