Social Media Casualty: Power and Privilege
Imagine this scenario; you finally work your way up to the top position in an organization. You are now the President. You know what that means; you can step on whomever you like and no one can do a thing about it. You have waited your whole life for this. Power is addictive and you have tasted the drug. Life is good, or at least it used to be before social media sucked all the life out of its meaty bones.
Woody White, president of Atlanta Landmarks, Inc., the company that owns and operates the Fox Theatre Atlanta has had to learn the hard way about power and privilege and how little it means in today’s rapidly engaged social media arena.
It began with a blog post from Examiner.com’s Kimy Kennedy recounting the magic of Atlanta’s fabled Fox Theatre posted on July 20th. In her brief history of the Fox, she reveals a 3600 square foot apartment that served as the private residence of Joe G. Patten, former technical director for the Fox and the man credited with saving it from demolition nearly four decades earlier by co-founding Atlanta Landmarks, Inc. Prior to his selfless efforts on behalf of the beautiful theater, he volunteered to restore the Moller pipe organ and served as the caretaker of the property. In exchange for his valuable service, and their need to have someone on site 24/7, the organization provided a no-cost lease to Mr. Patten in 1979 with a term to last until his death. His presence was a win-win for both.
On April 15, 1996 at 5:00am, a fire broke out in the general offices of the theater. There was no fire alarm to trigger a call to the fire department, but Patten was there and he pulled the alarm box handle on a nearby utility pole saving the glorious landmark once more.
The apartment was actually built and funded by Joe, which by some accounts equates to an expense of more than a million dollars in today’s money. Kennedy admitted, “I was very jealous when I learned Joe Patten (RIP) was able [live here] from the 70’s until his death a few years back.” Alan Thomas, president of Atlanta Landmarks suggested in the article that the vacant apartment would not be rented and would instead be used as a dressing space, “It’s unlikely that we’d let anyone else live there.”
That dressing space might get a little crowded, however, especially since Joe Patten and his furniture still occupy it. Seems the 83 year-old isn’t dead after all, something Kennedy’s anonymous blog comments revealed after her post:
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