Sounds crazy. Nobody would do that. It would kill the conversation and suck the life out of the room, not to mention your sales funnel.
Except serious, smart companies do it every day -- on their blogs.
They set up a blog, summon their inner Hemingway for the posts, then suffocate commenting and conversation:
- They insist on moderating comments before publishing them.
- They don't allow commenters to identify themselves with a url.
- They don't respond to comments or participate in discussions taking place in the comments.
- They don't learn from or listen to commenters.
Then they wonder why their blog isn't taking off.
Successful business blogs have the kind of atmosphere you'd want in that ballroom. They're opportunities for you to talk about your product and your industry, but also to listen and interact.
If you don't engage with commenters in the ballroom, everybody goes to get a cup of coffee. Same with the blog.
