You Can Wish Coach John Wooden a Happy 99th Birthday Online
Monday, October 12, 2009
, Posted by Christopher Byrne at 8:59 AM, under
Privacy Issues,
Social Media
The "Wizard of Westwood", Coach John Wooden, turns 99 years old on October 14th, 2009. A web site has been set up where you can wish the Coach a happy 99th birthday. The goal is to have 9,999 people post him birthday greetings. This is a great thing, and after an unexpected phone conversation with former LSU coaching great Dale Brown last night, I sincerely hope that this goal is met and exceeded because men like Coach Wooden are indeed a rare breed of role model.
I initially had concerns that the web site was a marketing tool for Coach Wooden's new book, A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring, and that the site was being used to gather/harvest email addresses for marketing uses.
This concern arose from the fact that I could not find a clearly defined and labeled privacy policy that clearly stated the purpose of gathering the data as required by California law. It turns out that it is included, but not in an area where most people would expect it or look for it. It is included under the book "Synopsis" link and is as follows:
Now that this legal disclaimer has been found, it does provide the information people need to see and read so that they feel comfortable leaving their information.Type and Use of Personal Information
To post a comment on the website, you must provide information such as your name, email and website. We collect only the information that you voluntarily provide us when posting a comment on our website.
We receive and store any information that you enter on comments posted to this website. Your participation is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose this information. If some information is required and some is optional, we will identify the required information.
Your email address will not be used for marketing purposes, shared with any third party or any other reason than to allow Coach John Wooden to send you a thank you email.
If there could make one recommendation to the publishers of this site, it would be to put this information on its own page labeled "Privacy Policy/Use of Personal Information" and clearly include a link to it right above the comment form in the guestbook. Not only would this give site visitors a warm fuzzy about leaving information, it would also help bring the site into fuller compliance with California privacy laws.
Related Link(s)
Happy Birthday Coach Wooden
Photo extracted from Happy Birthday Coach Wooden web site.
Everybody needs a game. It is to play. To play is to be active and to accomplish. The good thing about B-ball is you can always make the next shot so you always have hope for the future.
Coach Wooden's teams were a focused blend of talents not a focus on a talent. God bless you coach.