Last week, the bright sparks at Dell, namely Chief Marketing Officer Mark Jarvis, published this entry on the Direct2Dell blog, bragging about breaking into the HP Americas Partner Conference to distribute samples of a new Dell ad. They hit close to 80% (so they claim) before Caesar's Palace security thwarted their efforts.

Jarvis's key quote:

"This is playing to win and we will continue to find innovative ways to go on the offense."

As a matter of disclosure, I am a Dell user and recommend them often.

While Jarvis revels in self-congratulations and grows hoarse with his "attaboys", his, and Dell's, credibility vanishes. These are not the actions of an industry leader. It is a sophomoric prank that we would expect from a scam artist. And to show them an upcoming ad? Doing something highly unethical and what should be sanctioned? Really? Is that the extent of your creativity?

If your partner program is that good and that successful, why crash someone else's party to proclaim it. Why not let it stand on its own merit?

Yes, be innovative in your offensive maneuvers. But there is a difference between being proactive and looking like fools.

It's a sorry state of affairs in Austin.

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