Two stories about WikiLeaks and big corporations in the New York Times yesterday serve as yet another cautionary tale about communications strategy to anyone conducting business today. One examines the extraordinary lengths Bank of America is going to to defend itself in the event that Julian Assange's threat to "take down" a major U.S. bank with a hard-drive full of compromising information indeed is directed at it, as has been widely assumed.

It's the first commandment of sales: Respect thy customer. And building rapport with the audience is generally crucial to those among us who are talented and stouthearted enough to stand before floodlights and perform. We're not that far removed from the times when the audience would not only pelt unsatisfactory performers with rotten veggies and fruits. What's worse is that they'd get their money back for having done so.