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Summary:
Last week I attempted to use the notesfile 'system' to
help provide a solution to a problem I was handed. I,
in fact made several mistakes and wound up posting the
message in .0 in many notesfiles where that request
was inappropriate.
Since then I've been kept busy responding to various
moderators coming at me at various flame settings
for the posting. I have (and still am) writing each
one. My apologies to each.
I knew the message would be useless in a short
period of time (less than two weeks) so I did put in
a log to track the conferences posted. I reasoned that
I could then go back and delete the message next week.
(I still intend to do so for the few notesfiles that
haven't had the message deleted.) The log idea was good
but it didn't work either. So, I am pursuing the deletion
process manually.
The idea of the automated posting was arguably good
(efficient(?)). The mistakes made in setting up the
target notesfile list and in over editing the entry were
not good. For those errors, once again, I apologize.
What happended:
Perhaps sharing this will help someone else avoid the problem.
I'd also like to add a few words to explain exactly what went
wrong so there's no confusion.
The entry was severely edited to fit on one screen for quick
'next unseen' - unfortunately, the purpose of the request,
business at Digital, was rather wordy and not as exact as
I liked. The lines were cut but, no substitution of text
was made.
Discovered Rule 1- State the purpose clearly. If an indirect
description is necessary, be as open and
extensive as possible at the expense of
brevity. Indicate business, related, personal.
I did find a short list of conferences where the entry was
appropriate. I even had several people check the targeted
conferences for correctness. I pared down the list multiple
times. I checked the process using a local conference to be
sure the autoposting worked correctly.
Then I executed the com file - with the WRONG list of notesfiles!
While that was happening, I pursued other activities in the
work place and didn't monitor the process. (mistake)
Discovered Rule 2- Murphy was right. Provide for checking and
stopping automated processes automatically.
In any event, monitor the process.
I am aware that notes conferences are not bulletin boards.
That's one thing that really hurts. The mistake caused me
to come across as someone who should know better and still
does wrong. Ouch! The price of oversight can really be expensive.
When the mail messages from noters and moderators started
coming I knew something was wrong!
What I am doing, is to track down those conferences where the
reply still exists, delete it and, where there are replies,
post this explanation. I am responding to each and every noter
and mod that asks with an individual reply.
I recognize and use the informational value of the notes
conferences on a regular basis. I am quite aware of the
controversies about broadcast postings in the past.
That was never my intent although that was the result.
Discovered Rule 3- "Asking forgiveness is easier than getting
permission." Well, 'asking forgiveness' may
be easier but, 'earning forgiveness' is a lot
more work.
"Do it right the FIRST time."
Now there's one to remember!
John Baird
SISE::BAIRD
P.S.
Just as aside to all this:
As to how many notesfiles got posted, I'm still discovering them.
My best guess after working this past weekend and today is about
300. Moderators have deleted about 50 of the entries and I'm working
on the rest.
Some folks raised the question of 'ballot stuffing' well, that
isn't and wasn't the objective. If it had been the objective,
it would have failed since there were only about 8 positive
responses. This, however, was the objective of the request
(6 was the target).
So if you're tempted to try this as an exercise - believe me,
the results sure don't come close to the effort!
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