I got into a fascinating discussion yesterday on Twitter with someone who was responding to yesterday's Unplugged blog. At the end of the discussion, the person I was speaking with commented that if people knew more about the mechanics of restaurant reservations, they wouldn't be so quick to anger:   "Communication is key."

She's right, of course. If you aren't evil, then honest, forthright, non-spun-by-fancy-suited PR reps communication is the perfect right tool for smoothing over just about anything.

All this was on my mind when I stumbled on this post this morning about the cruise ships full of frolicking passengers that are docked in Haiti. However you feel about the matter isn't the point here. The point, really, is the C-level bloggers of Royal Caribbean who are being as transparent as possible about their decisions.

The cruise line's CEO blog, updated a few times a day, goes into extensive detail about the decision-making process — they even go so far as to include a PDF of the daily meeting notes.

Can one argue that Royal Caribbean is just giving one side of the story? A better question is, will (some)one? And the answer is assuredly yes. But more because people tend to need the chemical imbalance of hysteria to make their day interesting than because they have actually reasoned to the answer — you may leave your ranty comment below.

But, to the outsider trying to lay aside agenda and look in, one has no choice but to see the decision-makers at Royal Carribean as humans, trying to do the human thing. And the extent of their blog actually helped them manage the story because no journalist covering the topic could responsibly miss reading the blog.

Which leads me to my point.

Whether you are dealing with reservation policy or disaster relief and reaction, it is your job to commit the time and discipline to communicate to your constituents if you want your story to be told your way.

Never before in history have we had this kind of power/opportunity to express ourselves and our opinions, tell our own story, participate so fully in getting the word out.

For the chef, who previously could only hope to attain cult status in order for his story to really start being told, this opportunity is a game-changer. It means no longer needing to add white asparagus to a menu because that's what the media is writing about. It means no longer having to attend every large fundraiser humanly possible in order to interact with as many potential diners as possible — because how else do you reach people who don't know about you? It means no longer having to pay huge fees to have a PR person interpret — and possibly mutate and bastardize — your story because they once were the gatekeepers to the media.

And in the telling of your story, you can actually even begin to get media attention, as a few chefs have with their blogs.

This all seems thrilling to me. And I wonder why more chefs aren't jumping in with both feet. If anyone has any insight into why, please ... share a thought or two.