I did a double take over a story in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine about the websites of troubled financial institutions. There are about four paragraphs on the Lehman Brothers website — and that site was one of my responsibilities when I was Lehman’s managing editor for e-commerce.
Image from the New York TimesThe story by Virginia Heffernan complains that while the institutions were flailing, their websites didn’t reflect reality. While I am always in favor of criticizing Lehman, I don’t know what Hefferman expected. A black screen with “OMFG!!!! We’re going dowwwwwwwwwn! Mayday! Mayday!” flashing in blood red? That’s not a good idea when you’re trying to avoid bankruptcy. (By the way, anyone who can make an animated gif of that for me will get a gold star.)
Also, back in 2003 or so, we were very proud of our elegant corporate history timeline, thank you very much!
UPDATED TO ADD: Thanks and a gold star go to gorgeous blogger June Shin for creating the new Lehman Brothers home page.
awww.. seriously! i’m sure you did a fab job while you were running the site!
That timeline is truly a thing of beauty.
Nice job, Wendy!! You rock!
xoxox,
CC
I can’t really imagine any company being entirely honest about being in financial dire straits. But if they were, that animated .gif would be the way to go. If only I knew how to make one.
That .gif/Flash would be awesome.
I’m surprised no one hacked in and did it just for “fun” (aka spite).
Maybe I’m just twisted that way.
Poochie
Seriously!
Hi Wendy, I was just watching an episode of Ugly Betty and I noticed Betty wearing what looked like one of your Boleyn necklaces with the initial B.. is it one of yours?! It was on a string of pearls though but I only saw it in one shot.. hope its one of yours!
Do they still trade for cotton?
Very nice timeline. Back in the “old” days (pre-2003, obviously), I designed those for books and they took FOREVER to get into print . . .
I like the smiley face.
that’s one damn lovely timeline.
It seems there were a lot of activities here while I was sleeping. I could have made you a beaut animated gif!
Well next time for me. 🙂
Absolutely classic! And you’re dead-on. I am the person who also has the joy of writing client reports and website content amid these interesting times. Finding the appropriate tone is a challenge. Hopefully this period will help me broaden my skills and enhance my career. (How’s that for a long-term investment horizon?!)
I read that article and was surprised that she was surprised about the websites! Would any company ever acknowledge financial difficulty on their corporate website? Seems like a given that a company wants to maintain a positive front right up until the end.