Is it just me, or do some people say things in email message that they wouldn’t dream of saying to your face?

I remember when email was just evolving. I read a note on etiquette and one of the things that the author said was that “at some point all people will send an email that they will regret”.  How many times do you reply to message that raise your hair… only to delete the response. Some email messages have me actually leave my desk and take a walk.

One thing I have noted is that when people are frustrated or feeling lost in a process they might shoot off a note that is borderline rude. It is clear that they haven’t really thought it through. More often than not, the email message is “out of character”. You know, when you think to yourself “that doesn’t sound like Mrs. X”. What is the best way to deal with it?  Ironically I think the answer is to rely on an old technology. Pick up the phone and call.

It seems apparent that people are more apt to write things in email that they quite frankly wouldn’t say to your face. Am I wrong about this?

I always remember that note about “one day regretting an email that I have sent”. I always ask myself, would I say that to a person if they were in the room with me?  If the answer is no… the email gets deleted.

The workplace has to be respectful. The respect is recipricol and has to apply equally between service provider and service receiver.  Some times written corrospondence shouldn’t replace a good old fashioned telephone call.

Tell me your thoughts on this… I would love to see your comment added below.

Cheers -
David A. West

The advent of video production as an offering of our company, and the addition of Raphael Boivin on our team – I took the leap into Mac. The old PC was having a tough time rendering video.

I have been using the Mac now for about a month and I have to admit, I like it quite a bit. So much that I regret not having made the move years ago. I have to admit that my frustration with PC was not so much a stability issue. I could live with, and did live with, an occasional blue screen error. What I had a tough time living with was Microsoft releasing new operating systems to the general public that potentially deprecate hardware as well as software.

In fairness to Microsoft, I don’t think that the issue is necessarily their operating system, but more an issue of compatibility of the operating system to the wide variety of hardware available. It has to be like a dog chasing it’s tail – hard to catch it.

One thing is certain, the Mac advertising is working. There appears to be more and more people shifting to Mac. Having said that, I don’t think the shift can be measured in terms of multitudes yet… a few people are switching. We will have to wait to see if a momentum gathers.

I would be remiss not to comment on Microsofts attempts to deflect all of the excellent Mac ads with their new campaign… “I’m a PC”.  Sorry, but it’s really not working for me. It was creative when Mac started the Mac vs. PC ads.  What Microsoft is doing in terms of showing “every day” PC users hanging out of their car windows proclaiming that they are a PC is just not creative.  They really should take a stand that it’s not an operating system issue… it’s a hardware issue. Perhaps we will see “Microsoft” computers along side the Dell’s and Macs of the World.

So, I mentioned that I might like to slowly switch our company to an all Mac platform and phase out the PC’s. I was met by some humorous objections. In fact, Dave F. Even created a set of characters representing his view on the switch to Mac. He has declared that he is a PC.

Incidentally, PC is an acronym for “Personal Computer”. The PC I chose runs MacOSx – not Windows Vista.

Cheers -

David A. West

Or just finding normal?

I wonder if we haven’t been screaming along so fast in the past several years that what we have come to enjoy as “normal” is actually 2x the speed of normal.  All of the talk of recession, sliding markets and a lower dollar has investors worried – with good cause.  It is very clear that something is wrong in the World.

I do believe that Calgary has been moving at great speeds that are not necessarily normal. A slow down may be necessary to find normal again. Having said that, like any business owner, I am concerned that the slow down will impact my business.

Has all of this impacted your business? Are sales down? What plans are you making to protect your business in a down economy?

Cheers

David A. West