Bozeman, Mont: Great place to visit. Even better place to leave?
The Montana Office of Tourism has been in damage-control mode since Friday, when it posted this status update to its official Facebook page: "F this job. I just want to live in Whitefish with my future husband. Leaving Bozeman for good tomorrow. I love you with all my heart and you are not leaving me. Never. Thanks for the good times MercuryCSC!"
If that seems like a poor pitch for getting people to visit Montana, that's because it was a personal message from someone at the client's agency, MercuryCSC, meant for that person's own Facebook page. The client quickly deleted the post and then explained its origins to the press. "They usually run everything they will post through us first," said Sarah Lawlor, spokeswoman for the tourism office. "It was a personal error by this person, and once they realized this error, we removed the post," she said. "Obviously, it wasn't content intended for our Facebook audience."
The agency, which had access to the client's Facebook login and had been posting updates on its behalf, released its own statement and said it was no longer doing social-media work for Montana Tourism. "MercuryCSC accepts responsibility for and is actively working with the Montana Office of Tourism to address the situation," it said in a statement."MercuryCSC regrets this chain of events. We apologize to our client and the state of Montana for this issue."
On the bright side, at least she was quitting the job anyway.
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