A lot of the time, I’ll drop a line to someone - say in the press, or an author using the e-mail they provide on whatever web site they’re on. They’re mostly really good at writing back - one or two columnists in the Chicago papers and I communicate regularly, one sports columnist in fact has commented on things I’ve written on my personal Blog - which is kinda cool, because it means I have a fan base.
But this, now this is different. A friend of mine is in a band and works regularly with a couple fairly successful, well known musicians. The other day, one of these guys, who happens to live in my little town forwarded an e-mail to me regarding the “should radio stations pay royalties?” discussions.
It originated from another Chicago-area musical big-deal and the “CC” list was packed, I say packed with about 200 personal e-mail addresses to some very very, I say very big names. Not just artists, but music media, and corporate folks. Needless to say, I have saved this e-mail for all eternity. Also needless to say, I am sorely tempted to find something important and thoughtful to add to the debate and hit “Reply to All”, in the odd hope that (to use a phony example but to give you an idea what I mean when I say “very big name”) I get a meaningful and thoughtful reply from someone like “jbjovi@notmyemail.com”
But I probably won’t, because I’m not that witty or thoughtful usually. Also, it seems stalker-like a bit.
But this list is very cool and amazing, and no I won’t show you.
The proper course of action is OBVIOUS to me. Post the text of the message and let us teemings take a stab at formulating a witty insightful response. Then you can Reply All. Afterwards you can tell us what famous people thought of or response and we can giggle like smitten schoolgirls.
Why BCC: is such a foreign concept to so many people who should know better, I’ll never know. I am forever [del]bitching out[/del] <cough> politely educating <cough> people about BCC and asking them to please please please use it. Usually the person complies the next time, but after that they’re back to cramming TO: and CC: with 8 skillion addresses.
No, BCC is great, because it keeps my e-mail address from being sent all over the place to be used as spam/malware fodder. It also keep the recipients from having to scroll scroll scroll past a bunch of addresses.
There’s no great mental effort required, and if you have a three-digit IQ, you should be able to handle it. Here’s the rule:
Sending one e-mail to a bunch of people? Use BCC. Put your own address in the TO field.
The ONLY time I use CC, or make the recipients’ e-mail addresses visible to each other, is when they need to know who else received the message. E-mail to my mom and sister about an outing we’re planning? Check. E-mail to an author whose book I’m editing, with a CC to the publisher? Check. E-mail to a fellow e-mail list member who’s being a jerk offlist to ask them to knock it off, with a CC or BCC to the list owner? Check.
E-mail from Mr. S’s cousin, telling us that Great-Aunt Sophie on her husband’s side (who lives 400 miles away and who we’ve never heard of) is in the hospital again and we should drop her a card, with 67 addresses crammed into the TO field and 73 more in CC? Not cool.
E-mail from my yoga guy advising his mailing list that he has new classes coming up, with everyone’s address hanging out there for all to see? Not cool.
This isn’t difficult, and it’s basic netiquette. Not “politics or mind reading,” just consideration for other people. Look into it.
If I quote or refer to people in an email to other folks, I copy the people I mention. It gives them a chance to pitch in, if they want to back what I said, or if they think I’m misinterpreting what they said. It also demonstrates that I’m not talking behind their backs, so to speak.
I have the email address of a bestselling sf author of whose work I’m a big fan. We’ve corresponded occasionally, but I try not to pester him; I’d rather he keep writing his great books than kibitz with me! I also have the email address of a noted NYT correspondent, and used it to arrange for her to come speak here in June to a group of which I’m a member.
I have the snail mail (but not email) address of a famous historian who went to the same high school as I did. We correspond on rare occasions.