Blunder Archieven — Protocolbureau

Much to discuss

20 maart 2017/in Blunder, protocol /door protocol

Read the article about Kellyanne Conway in the
New York Times or the article about the shoes
of Sean Spicer in The Guardian or the article
about Angela Merkel in Time Magazine

A lot has been written about the Trump Presidency, not in the least by the protocol experts. We have to thank the new President for so many opportunities. Or as William Hanson recently put it on Facebook about yet another incident: “Much to discuss”.

Pamela Eyring of the The Protocol School of Washington was recently interviewed by The New York Times about the casual sit of Kellyanne Conway. The remarkable behaviour of the President’s advisor took place during a meeting in the Oval Office of representatives of so-called ‘historically black universities’. Historically black universities have been founded before 1964 specifically for the black community in the United States.

Pamela called the incident “a step too far”. DeRay Mckesson, a prominent figure in the ‘Black Lives Matter movement’ went a little further on Twitter and wrote: “Now, you can’t expect us to take this ‘meeting’ seriously when this is the setting”. The behaviour of miss Conway got more publicity then the meeting itself.

Last week press secretary Sean Spicer wore two different shoes at a press conference outside the White House; one brown and one black shoe. Did he have trouble waking up? He overslept and accidentally put on two different shoes? The shoes got more attention than the Republican bill that was discussed during the press conference.

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The last incident was the photo opportunity with the German Chancellor. Did Donald Trump ignore her request to shake hands? A reporter asked them for it after which she whispered “do you want to have a handshake?”.

Read the article about Kellyanne Conway in the New York Times or the article about the shoes of Sean Spicer in The Guardian or the article about Angela Merkel in Time Magazine.

Want to know more about protocol?
Follow our basic protocol training on 21, 22 & 23 June 2017 in Brussels. Or choose another article of your interest in the blog archive in the right column. Or scroll further down for books about protocol, interesting links, articles about protocol and protocol related tweets.

Choose another article of your interest in the blog archive in the right column. Or scroll further down for books about protocol, interesting links, articles about protocol and protocol related tweets.

Een woord van dank aan het Witte Huis van Donald Trump

17 maart 2017/in Blunder, protocol /door protocol

Read this article at The Guardian

Een woord van dank aan het Witte Huis van Donald Trump. Sinds hij President van Amerika is, hebben wij protocolexperts meer dan genoeg om over te schrijven.

Afgelopen maandag waren het de schoenen van woordvoerder Sean Spicer. Hij droeg tijdens een persconferentie buiten voor het Witte Huis één bruine schoen en één zwarte schoen. Had hij die dag moeite om op te staan? Had hij zich verslapen en heeft hij in alle haast twee verschillende schoenen aangetrokken? De schoenen kregen meer aandacht dan het Republikeinse wetsvoorstel waarvoor de persconferentie bedoeld was.

Read this article at Time Magazine

Het laatste geval is het fotomoment met de Duitse Bondskanselier Angela Merkel zojuist. Negeerde Donald Trump haar verzoek om de hand te schudden?
Een verslaggever vroeg de twee hierom, waarnaar zij hem voorzichtig voorstelde “do you want to have a handshake?”.

Het artikel over de schoenen van Sean Spicer in The Guardian:
Theguardian.com

Het artikel in Time Magazine over Angela Merkel:
Time.com

Choose another article of your interest in the blog archive in the right column. Or scroll further down for books about protocol, interesting links, articles about protocol and protocol related tweets.

Much to discuss

1 maart 2017/in Blunder, etiquette, protocol /door protocol

Er wordt veel geschreven over President Trump en dat geldt niet in de laatste plaats voor de protocol- en etiquette-experts. “Much to discuss” schreef William Hanson onlangs op Facebook over het zoveelste incident. In dit artikel van The New York Times geeft Pamela Eyring van The Protocol School of Washington commentaar op het opmerkelijke gedrag van Kellyanne Conway.

De adviseur van de President van Amerika zit nogal ongepast op de bank van de Oval Office tijdens een officiële bijeenkomst van vertegenwoordigers van zogeheten ‘historically black universities’. Historically black universities zijn opleidingsinstituten die voor 1964 zijn opgericht voor de zwarte gemeenschap in Amerika.

Het ongepaste gedrag van mevrouw Conway kreeg meer publiciteit dan de bijeenkomst zelf. Pamela noemde het “a step too far”. DeRay Mckesson, een prominente figuur uit de ‘Black Lives Matter movement’ was op Twitter wat stelliger: “Now, you can’t expect us to take this ‘meeting’ seriously when this is the setting”.

Choose another article of your interest in the blog archive in the right column. Or scroll further down for books about protocol, interesting links, articles about protocol and protocol related tweets.

Chaos bij de Oscars

28 februari 2017/in Blunder, protocol /door protocol

Kijk hier het moment terug op nos.nl.

Dit is de nachtmerrie van iedere protocolmedewerker: een kleine fout met grote gevolgen. Tijdens de Oscar-uitreikeing afgelopen zondagnacht (zondagavond in Amerika) werd ‘La La Land’ uitgeroepen tot winnaar, maar dat bleek uiteindelijk ‘Moonlight’ te zijn. Het verkeerde kaartje zat in de enveloppe voor ‘Beste Film’. Je ziet de verwarring bij Warren Beatty als hij de enveloppe opent. Hij twijfelt wat te doen; De fout herstellen of de verkeerde naam voorlezen?

De Oscars worden al zo lang uitgereikt en de procedure van de bekendmaking van de winnaars verloopt altijd vlekkeloos, tot nu toe dan. Dat er zo zelden iets misgaat, is eigenlijk een hele prestatie. Op dit soort gelegenheden zijn mensen vaak nerveus en fouten worden makkelijk gemaakt.

Echter, er is ongetwijfeld veel ervaring en routine bij het team wat deze uitreiking organiseert, maar dit maakt maar weer eens duidelijk dat dit soort zaken alle aandacht vereisen, iedere keer weer. ‘The devil is in the details.’

Kijk hier het moment terug op nos.nl.

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Situation embarrassante pour François Hollande devant Angela Merkel

23 mei 2012/in Blunder /door protocol

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GhahaWeb: The State of the National Address, Protocol and Diplomatic Blunder in Ghana

23 februari 2011/in Blunder /door protocol

Source: GhanaWeb
Feature Article of Friday, 18 February 2011
Columnist: Ata, Kofi

—————–

Good morning, Mr Vice-President,

Good morning, Madam Speaker,

Good morning, Honourable Members,

Good morning, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning, My Brothers and Sisters, so began the Presidential Sate of the Nation address in Parliament yesterday, in the presence of the Chief Justice, the Diplomatic Corps and the immediate past President of the Republic. Why were they left out in the salutation?

In affairs of the Sate and on certain important occasions, getting the salutation right is as important as the state herself, especially, in a democratic society when the three arms of government (The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary) are present at one place in official capacity. Recognition of the three arms of government by each other is critical for the rule of law and democratic accountability. It is also about respecting and acknowledging the authority and the roles of the office (even if not the individual office holder) by each arm of government amongst themselves. I am sure, the President, who is a law professor is in no doubt, aware of this. It is therefore imaginable for a President not to acknowledge and respect the office of the Head of the Judiciary, the Chief Justice at such an august event. I was shocked beyond belief when I listened to the audio of the President’s speech on Joy FM’s website. In fact, what horrified me, was that, some Honourable Members of the House (possibly, the minority) reminded the President of the presence of the Chief Justice and her omission in the salutation but sadly, the President paused for the noise to die down and continued without ameliorating his blunder. I wonder how the Chief Justice felt at that material moment when the President who is the head of the Executive refused to acknowledge her presence, despite being reminded of the presence of the Head of the Judiciary.
Read the rest of this article @ GhanaWeb

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The lack of protocol was shocking: Chaos at CPA regional meeting

16 februari 2011/in Blunder /door protocol

Source: sundaytimes.lk

The opening ceremony of the 3rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Asia Regional Conference held at the Hilton Hotel in Colombo yesterday where the Speaker of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) Meira Kumar was the guest of honour was a nightmare not only for journalists but also for invitees.
While journalists were kept waiting for more than four hours before the conference began, the bigger mess-up was seen in the seating arrangements. Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody had to leave the venue as he had no seat.

The lack of protocol was so shocking that delegates, diplomats and special invitees were seen vying for a place to sit and in one instance an employee of the Indian High Commission had to stand by and safeguard two seats for senior members of his mission.
The confusion was such that many were unaware the Indian Parliament’s Speaker had walked into the hall and was seen seated alone at the head table for a while till Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratna who was the chief guest was heralded in by Kandyan dancers and drummers who could barely manage to squeeze through the narrow ally of the hall.

When it was time for the lighting of the traditional oil lamp, the compere Arun Dias Bandaranaike read out 14 names of those who would be lighting the lamp but not before asking the cameraman present not to intrude too close to the lamp due to the “problematic space.”
As to why the smallest hall available at the hotel was selected to hold the conference when the two other bigger halls were both available last mornings is puzzling. Instead the ballroom has been arranged for participants to have lunch.

Read this article @ sundaytimes.lk

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No, the real etiquette blunder was our Prime Minister’s.

3 november 2010/in Blunder /door protocol

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s blunder on etiquette during Asian tour
Mirand Devine
From: Herald Sun
November 04, 2010 12:00AM

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard and her First Bloke, Tim Mathieson, were slammed on talkback radio this week for his sartorial splendour while visiting South-East Asia.

It seems the poor guy can’t win. His tie was too long, or he should have worn one, or his suit jacket should have been buttoned or he didn’t know where to walk. Yada, yada, yada.

The criticism contained a touch of reverse sexism – and not so reverse, with commentators also referring to Gillard as “frumpy”, lacking “gravitas” or “out of her depth”, on her first regional tour.
It would be hard to imagine the same being said about a male prime minister, no matter how pompous (hello, Kevin) he might be in his dealings with foreign dignitaries, which, refreshingly, Gillard is not.
Mathieson scrubbed up just fine, his face pleasant, demeanour unruffled, and no obvious faux pas, quite some achievement for a hairdresser-turned-First Handbag.
No, the real etiquette blunder was our Prime Minister’s. Why, when visiting conservative Islamic countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, did she decide to bring her de facto partner, and flaunt a non-marital domestic situation that is in strict contravention of the mores and laws of her host societies.
In the majority Muslim nation Malaysia, after all, every Valentine’s Day the modesty police go around town raiding budget hotel rooms, arresting unmarried couples and charging them with “khalwat” or “close proximity”, a sexual misconduct offence that carries a maximum two-year jail sentence.
Even the current Opposition Leader, Anwar Ibrahim – a former deputy prime minister – has been jailed for sodomy. We are not talking about a progressive society.
So what were Gillard’s protocol people thinking? More to the point, what was she thinking? This isn’t a backpacking tour where you say, “To hell with local customs. I’m a proud Aussie and I’ll do what I want”.
Read this article @ the Herald Sun

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