You've got mail

I wish I had.  

But these days people communicate with me in so many different ways, which I find makes it harder to track communication and time consuming as you have to check not just your inbox, but LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. And then there’s those who text.

Personally I prefer to get an email in my inbox as that way I can have a paper trail whereas with Facebook, for example, the message space is SO small, it is hard often to see, read or send a message back.  Or maybe that’s just my aging eyesight.

As for Twitter – why would you want to message someone with just 140 characters?? While I believe we should be brief and to the point… this is over the top.  Although, having said that, I did that very thing this week, but only because that seemed to be the only known address I had for the individual in terms of reaching her.

LinkedIn at least allows you more space, but to be honest I don’t check my messages there on a regular basis, so if someone is trying to connect with me and needs an immediate response, they could be out of luck.

The other challenge is trying to remember which way others want to connect with you. Several on my team only use Facebook messenger so if I need to get hold of them, sending an email is a waste of time.

So just to be clear … if you want to get hold of me … email is the method of communication of choice.  And if it is super-urgent, you can always go the old-fashioned route – and phone meJ  

Just voting myself off your island

One thousand, three hundred and fifty eight.   

That’s the number of emails I found lurking in my in-box when I got back from vacation.

While the new CASL requirement is a bit of an administrative nightmare in terms of capturing people’s permission and opt-in to your mailing lists, I have enjoyed responding, or more to the point, not responding (in other words choosing not to opt-in) to the numerous mailing lists that I appear to be on.

Many of them I would never, ever, have signed up for in the first place and you do wonder where exactly a website devoted to having better ankles or one around chocolate fountains got my email address?  I guess these spam tactics will be greatly reduced by the new legislation.

The timing is great too, because the size of my inbox clearly indicates my urgent need to unsubscribe, and I have been, with great energy and enthusiasm. It is very empowering to take charge of your inbox.

And to friends and members to whom I have also unsubscribed – nothing personal.  While I am always interested in what you are up to,  I just don’t have the time to read all the newsletters.  I wish you well, but I am in decluttering mode.

Everyone seems to have been in panic-mode to clean up their database, and that is a good thing. But actually you do have a two-year window in which to meet the new legal requirements.  So that’s what I am going to do… take my time and do it properly.