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As of 5:10 pm ESTon Thursday, October 26 here are the poll results:

79.59% of those responded to the poll noted that Edelman should be removed from Word of Mouth Marketing Association because of ethic violations with 14.29% noting that the PR firm should not be removed from WOMMA. Further, 6.12% of those casting a vote noted that they were “not sure” if Edelman should be removed.

Please note these numbers are simply a sample of sentiment of poll responders. These poll numbers and just numbers are not more likely to change your viewpoint on what Edelman should do anymore than polls are going to tell you who you should vote for in your Congressional election in November. It is important to note that Quimble, the tool provider I used, serves a cookie to reduce multiple voting by a single individual. However, one respondent contacted me to let me know she was able to vote twice. If you’re wondering how I voted, I voted in favor of having Edelman removed from the association. I think Edelman needs to regroup, regain their ethical footing, and return even stronger. Staying on as a WOMMA member as well as a member of the board is distracting for WOMMA, Edelman and for our industry.

What’s important now is to hear more from Edelman on how they intend to repair their brand and the relationship of trust and ethics. It’s time they seek out help and counsel.

As a first start, I believe Edelman needs to go outside of WOMMA to facilitate the ethics conversation. It’s time for new voices. WOMMA’s ethics principles were a nice beginning but expanded frameworks that include accountability and consequences for those organizations and individuals that continue to erode trust and break agreements needs to be addressed. As Michael Arrington noted: in a post about Chris Heuer’s Social Media Club:

The WOMMA guidelines are a good start, but I think more practical and far reaching advice is also needed. I also think that we need more than a set of principles.

Perhaps we need a coalition that includes acedemic groups like Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics run out of Darden Business School at the University of Virginia to guide this new dialog. Perhaps even the Viral and Buzz Marketing Association (VBMA) of which I am a member of the board.

We need new voices. I believe WOMMA simply does not have processes in place nor the staff to allocate resources to support Edelman nor the industry.

I can’t image how difficult it will be for Edelman executives to participate in seminars and conferences in the coming weeks. But they will. We need to hear from them and they need to hear more from us and perhaps during those exchanges we’ll begin to reconnect so that we can all get back to the important work at hand. It’s time to work together.

Let’s help Edelman get back on track. It’s something we can all be proud of.

TAGS: Edelman, WOMMA, Michael Arrington, Chris Heuer, Social Media Club, University of Virginia, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics, VBMA, Viral and Buzz Marketing Association, Quimble