Gartner probability of less than .1

So, Karen Tillman, VP of Corporate Communications at Oracle asked to meet Dennis Howlett and me after this post about bloggers versus analysts. It could have been a screaming match or worse. Instead it was a civil drink at a nearby hotel as Dennis describes, and when she saw a NetSuite bag I was carrying she asked where I got it. When I told her at a reception a few floors above she asked to be taken there.

What happened next was the most unexpected turn I could never have anticipated. Karen was greeted with the loudest, squeezyist, longest hug I have ever seen. Wish I had have caught it on video. The hug deliverer was Mei Li, Senior VP of Corporate Communications at NetSuite. Those who know Mei know she is a wonderfully passionate person and Karen and her go back a few years. We spent the rest of the time mingling with the crowd there.  Fittingly, the NetSuite reception was “color blind” – analysts and bloggers and journalists of all stripes were there.

As Dennis elaborates in his note, Oracle could do so much to improve communications – not just with bloggers. But this evening turned out to be far more pleasant that any of us could have expected .