Recently someone told me the following story. I have changed some details to protect my sources.
A marcomm manager (we’ll call her Jane) at a major high tech company recently got a new boss. Before the boss (whom we’ll call Karen) had been on the job for very long, a publication representative invited her (and her husband) on an expensive trip.
Karen told Jane the offer offended her.
“I think such things are simply bribery, and I will not participate in them. How can we make objective decisions about a publication after we’ve just accepted thousands of dollars of their money?”
The reaction shocked Jane, who had been in marcomm for years and never was told such gifts presented a …