--- title: "Lesson for the Taliban: Always Double-Check Your Work" id: "14476" type: "post" slug: "lesson-for-the-taliban-always-double-check-your-work" published_at: "2012-11-16T22:20:01+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T19:21:33+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/11/16/lesson-for-the-taliban-always-double-check-your-work/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/11/16/lesson-for-the-taliban-always-double-check-your-work.md" excerpt: "How the Taliban revealed hundreds of private email addresses by accident. Also: A hotel company asks PR agencies to pitch them … with a focus on brevity." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AI" - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Communications" - "Social Media" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Director" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Lesson for the Taliban: Always Double-Check Your Work We’ve all done it. That email gets sent out. You’ve dotted every “i,” crossed every “t,” and even double-checked, just for good measure. Then you screw something basic up and are left cleaning up the mess. It’s OK, it happens. People will forgive you. Plus, it’s not nearly as bad as what the Taliban just did. That and more in today’s Social Media Roundup: ### Don’t do as the Taliban Does > Taliban Accidentally Leaks Their Email List [http://t.co/kSIAxy5p (opens in a new tab)](http://t.co/kSIAxy5p) > > — John Chen (@johnYSchen) [November 16, 2012 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/johnYSchen/status/269523537570701312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Today in tactical errors:** The Afghan War is full of high stakes and lots of dangerous situations with little room for making mistakes. That’s why a mistake as basic as mass-emailing your contacts using CC instead of BCC could prove to be particularly bad. [That’s what a Taliban representative did last week (opens in a new tab)](http://www.fastcompany.com/3003216/taliban-accidentally-leaks-their-email-list) , revealing more than 400 email addresses of journalists, spokespeople, and other figures. Some of those figures weren’t happy. “Taliban have included all four of my email addresses on the leaked distribution list. Quite reassuring to my safety,” [said journalist Mustafa Kazemi (opens in a new tab)](http://abcnews.go.com/International/taliban-accidentally-reveal-identities-mailing-list-members/story?id=17737950#.UKarnuOe_N-) , a prolific tweeter. Obviously, your stakes may be not nearly as high as the Taliban’s probably are, but you could probably learn a lesson from this about email security. *(ht [@johnYSchen (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/johnYSchen/status/269523537570701312) )* ### You Have 140 Characters. Go > A hotel chain conducts their RFP via Twitter. Agencies respond in 140 characters or less. What do you think?… [http://t.co/oG1wpjo9 (opens in a new tab)](http://t.co/oG1wpjo9) > > — Lara McCulloch (@laramcculloch) [November 16, 2012 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/laramcculloch/status/269515288876306432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **One way to get pitches** from potential PR agencies? Request them via Twitter. Recently, Starwood Hotels’ Aloft chain sent out a message asking PR agencies to pitch them, using the hashtag #RFTweet. To go along with that, [it launched a site presenting the pitches (opens in a new tab)](http://www.starwoodpromos.com/aloftrftweet/?EM=VTY_AL_RFTWEET_PROMOTION) . The company will be asking for pitches over the next month. “If we like what we see, we’ll get in touch with your agency,” the company writes. Crazy, or just crazy enough to work? [AdAge has more details (opens in a new tab)](http://adage.com/article/agency-news/hotel-chain-aloft-conducts-agency-review-process-twitter/238358/) . *(ht [@ready2spark (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/ready2spark/status/269515288876306432) )* What’s the quickest way a potential vendor could make an impression on your association? Let us know in the comments. [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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