Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigHickman
Ah, how I love a barely veiled call out.
First, you seem to have misquoted something there: (The proper quote, taken from my outbox. At least keep things in context, if you're going to do this.)
The attempt was to encourage a discussion in open channel, rather than expecting a personalized explanation in private. The entire point of a forum is open discussion and archive information. Effectively a forum is a knowledge base. When you request clarification that would lead to normal conversation, it is not only polite, but very prudent to do it in open channel. After all, private messages are for private issues.
Now, since most of CD already thinks I'm an $@#$@#$@# (And I don't blame them, as it is quite hard to carry tonal inflection across the intertubes), I may as well move on to the issue of proper communication: In my field of work as well as the majority of the professional sector, it is impossible to carry out business without impeccable communication. A single misspelling reveals a lack of focus on detail, something that employer do not look favorably upon. My terse tone was a failed attempt at conveying this lesson (and an important one indeed, as it lost me a fairly decent contract due to a single spelling error...), apparently. I have always been raised on tough teaching, and I suppose it's a weakness of mine that I emulate that myself.
On to the claimed "refusal to reply." Keeping up on seventeen forums, six email accounts, and three IM accounts is a bit of an overload. Apologies for missing one post (I see now that you posted your question back in the forum, I'll head over there to answer it next), but there has simply been too much to keep up on.
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I do agree that proper context makes a difference, as the original post made your tone seem much more discourteous than it actually was, so I appreciate seeing the quote directly as it was. However, I must disagree about your statements on PMs. Many new users to CD use private messages as a way to ask questions of clarification, as they do not want to appear to be asking a "stupid question" (if those exist). If I was confused on something a person had said, I would probably private message them myself, especially if others seemed to understand perfectly well what the person had articulated. Furthermore, how does one decide if a matter is fit for communication in a forum or rather more fit in a private message? Are there guidelines for this? Perhaps this is what led to the original posters confusion, and why he felt the need to make a thread on the topic instead of PMing you again.
I couldn't agree with you more regarding communication. It is indeed very important to effectively communicate ones ideas and thoughts completely and concisely for others to take you seriously. It's a shame that a single misspelling error on your part lost you a contract, because all people DO make mistakes. However, if everyone based communication off of spelling or grammar errors in every instance, I shouldn't even be responding to
your post right now. If we based communication off of this, people reading the thread might disregard what you have to say because you forgot to tack on a simple 's' on 'employers'. Is this right? Are your arguments null and void because you didn't catch this? Do I think you have a lack of focus in regards to CD? No. Of course not. Your message came across crystal clear, even with these minor errors.
I also would like to point out that CD is NOT a place of business. It's exactly what you said--a forum. A place to have open discussion. Where are the rules that say this discussion must have proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., to be effective? If a person gets "reprimanded" (and I use that in the loosest sense of the word) for asking a question, I feel as if discussion can't be very open.
Just my .02. Again I'd like to thank you though, for posting the original message.
