Sarah Lacy Interviews Mark Zuckerberg at the 2008 SXSWi, Gets Heckled, Ends Up the Winner

A quick who's who
Business Week reporter Sarah Lacy's interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg went from bad to worse during the keynote for the 2008 SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive) four day technology meet-up and drool fest for hardcore techies. The choice of Sarah Lacy as interviewer was not a surprise, given her acumen for the technology beat and her unique ability to make even the driest subject matter, well, palatable to those not engrossed in the world of Beacon advertising systems.

Mark Zuckerberg is the 23-year-young founder of Facebook and has been hailed as the youngest billionaire, according to Forbes Magazine. His throne began to crumble when the Beacon advertising system was found to be a threat to online privacy and the origins of Facebook inspired lawsuits suggesting misappropriation of trade secrets and rumors of good old-fashioned idea theft.

Recap
When Ms. Lacy and Mr. Zuckerberg met up on stage in what appeared to be a sit-down style interview with a distinct effort made to create the effect of a laid back atmosphere - a trademark of Ms. Lacy - it was more a matter of oil and water meeting up and the audience doing its level best to agitate. One wonders what possessed Mr. Zuckerberg to embark on this interview as though summoned to report in front of Congress, but before long the crowd turned on Sarah Lacy and egged on by Mark Zuckerberg's one-liners heckled the journalist and danced on their seats - literally.

For a play by play, check out ValleyWag and be amazed. Clips of the odder portions are also available.

If she could do it all over again...a few suggestions
Do not misunderstand, Sarah Lacy is a seasoned reporter on the tech beat and most certainly does not need advice from me! At the same time, as an onlooker who is making a business out of reading crowds and their propensity for mob rule and sound bite allegiance, let it be said that there might be a few ideas on how Ms. Lacy could have fared better with Mr. Zuckerberg and the audience. Here are five tips for how to better conduct an interview of this magnitude without getting ripped to shreds.

1. Assume the audience is out for blood and that it is yours they're after.
The time of the friendly interview is over and everyone has an agenda. With audiences simultaneously online chatting away with bloggers and others and only listening with half an ear to what is happening, yet deriving their opinions from those on the 'Net, the only time that this kind of interview style is going to succeed anymore is either on daytime television as a coffee talk or in front of cameras without an audience in sight.

2. Go for the jugular and leave the small talk for later.
Sarah Lacy tried to interview Mr. Zuckerberg from a human to human perspective. A tried and true tool of investigative journalism, in this venue it failed miserably because the audience wanted blood and circuses, not a carefully crafted and built up interview in the old style. Thus, you may want to consider going straight for the meat of the matter and pelting the interviewee with the hardest hitting questions first. Sure, you might find yourself alone on stage after about 10 minutes, but it will not reflect badly on you.

3. Leave the personal info out.
In the style of mid morning women's talk shows, Ms. Lacy was trying to make a connection with Mr. Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor the place, or, as Dave McClure put it, her level of geek-ness was not up to par with the interviewee or the audience. If you're discussing crocheting for an orphan's charity, personal items are great; if you are talking about a highly controversial figure that has shaped and is re-shaping online life as it is known, nobody really cares about his shoes or shirts and just wants the facts.

4. Being all things to all people did not just work for Paul.
The apostle Paul advised his hearers to be "all things to all men" to "win some." The same is true in the realm of journalism. When interviewing a naturally bubbly personality, your interview style must be different than when seeking to coax information out of a naturally tight-lipped individual whose claim to fame is the subject of lawsuits and complaints.

5. If all else fails, self deprecating humor covers over a multitude of sins.
Okay, so the crowd is turning on you and your interviewee is egging them on with one liners and quips at your expense. As a highly trained, seasoned, and self assured woman about town you know not to fall for the hecklers, but... This, unfortunately, was the mistake Sarah Lacy made and rather than ingratiating herself to Mark Zuckerberg and the crowd with some self deprecating remarks and that brilliant smile she is known for, she went on the offensive, at which point the crowed picked up the challenge only too willingly. A big mistake, as the pandemonium evidenced.

In closing, and this one is a freebie, here is one more word: Ms. Lacy is a professional and she rocks, Mr. Zuckerberg is a kid who struck it rich and is finding his road to success rocky, and the crowd, well, quite a few appeared to have rocks in their heads for their treatment of the situation. Enough said.

Sources:
http://www.sarahlacy.com/
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115/open_features-hacker-dropout-ceo.html
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Mark-Zuckerberg_I9UB.html
http://valleywag.com/365644/mark-zuckerberg-sxsw-keynote
http://valleywag.com/365745/sarah-lacys-lesley-stahl-moment
http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2008/03/the-problem-wit.html