Salsa Scoop
E-mail Deliverability Webinar
With
much anticipation I logged onto the N-TEN webinar "Is Paying for Email
Delivery Inevitable?" Since I missed the battle royale version of this
discussion in Seattle I was sure not to miss web based replay. The web
makes everything better. My favorite part is the first 10 minutes - the
10 minutes of disembodied voices asking if they can see the chat and
the cacophony of engaging mute.
After the 10 minutes of our technological superiority over the apes
the games began. The first speaker, incorrectly introduced as the CTO
of the largest sender of non-profit email, was actually the CTO of a
competitor. We keep the real CTO of the largest sender of non-profit
email chained away in a closet. Really. So CTO the lesser warned of
armageddon and Goodmail was the savior. OK, next please. Next up was
Richard from Goodmail. Turns out Richard and I have something in
common: he worked on E-World (Apple's version of AOL circa 1995) and I
have an E-World t-shirt.
Richard, clearly a very bright man, laid out the case for Goodmail.
Everything sounded hunky dory - then I had a moment of clarity and
typed my question to the N-TEN moderators.
"People, especially, non-profits send email because of the minimal
cost. Adding any cost to this, even a nominal fee, will reduce its
usage by those that are unable to pay. Is this widening of the digital
divide a good thing?"
One moderator got back to me and said not to worry as Danny from
EFF would address this. Odd, I thought. I hadn't asked Danny anything.
Instead I sent my questions while Richard spoke. Thinking the moderator
confused, I sent in my next question.
"If one of the reasons for Goodmail is to generate trust with the
consumer, won't not having this certified goodness affect the trust of
my brand? What if I already have a well established and trusted brand -
without the blue ribbon of approval aren't I effectively destroying my
brand?"
The moderator again, reassured me and told me that Danny would also
address this. This Danny guy is swell. I want a Danny. Sorry, you'll
have to address your questions for me to Danny. Undeterred by the guard
at the gate, I typed my next, conspiracy-laced question.
"How long before the fee to send email is trickled on the average
consumer? After all Bill Gates has publicly stated that people - you
and me - should pay to send email."
The CO for a third time, told me to take my meds and that my celly
Danny, oh Danny boy, would answer all of my questions. How I longed for
Danny. Until I heard what he had to say. And, well he was exciting as
fluoride treatment. I sat there, mouth agape and his words were like a
mixture of Styrofoam and cold goo. Something about how Goodmail is a
solution to a real problem but Danny has concerns that it might stifle
innovation in the spam blocking software industry. Well, he's got my
vote. Heck he can have two.
Richard, if you're out there, can you sign my t-shirt and answer the above questions? Also, can you answer this one:
Read more...
03:30 PM May 24, 2006 -
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Goodmail Merry Goes Round and Round and Round
With
much anticipation I logged onto the N-TEN webinar "Is Paying for Email
Delivery Inevitable?" Since I missed the battle royale version of this
discussion in Seattle I was sure not to miss the web based replay. The web
makes everything better. My favorite part of the webinar is the first 10 minutes - the
10 minutes of disembodied voices asking if they can see the chat and
the cacophony of engaging mute.
After the 10 minutes of our technological superiority over the apes
the games began. The first speaker, incorrectly introduced as the CTO
of the largest sender of non-profit email, was actually the CTO of a
competitor. We keep the real CTO of the largest sender of non-profit
email chained away in a closet. Really. So CTO the lesser warned of
armageddon and Goodmail was the savior. OK, next please. Next up was
Richard from Goodmail. Turns out Richard and I have something in
common: he worked on E-World (Apple's version of AOL circa 1995) and I
have an E-World t-shirt.
Richard, clearly a very bright man, laid out the case for Goodmail.
Everything sounded hunky dory - then I had a moment of clarity and
typed my question to the N-TEN moderators.
"People, especially, non-profits send email because of the minimal
cost. Adding any cost to this, even a nominal fee, will reduce its
usage by those that are unable to pay. Is this widening of the digital
divide a good thing?"
One moderator got back to me and said not to worry as Danny from
EFF would address this. Odd, I thought. I hadn't asked Danny anything.
Instead I sent my questions while Richard spoke. Thinking the moderator
confused, I sent in my next question.
"If one of the reasons for Goodmail is to generate trust with the
consumer, won't not having this certified goodness affect the trust of
my brand? What if I already have a well established and trusted brand -
without the blue ribbon of approval aren't I effectively destroying my
brand?"
The moderator again, reassured me and told me that Danny would also
address this. This Danny guy is swell. I want a Danny. Sorry, you'll
have to address your questions for me to Danny. Undeterred by the guard
at the gate, I typed my next, conspiracy-laced question.
"How long before the fee to send email is trickled on the average
consumer? After all Bill Gates has publicly stated that people - you
and me - should pay to send email."
The CO for a third time, told me to take my meds and that my celly
Danny, oh Danny boy, would answer all of my questions. How I longed for
Danny. Until I heard what he had to say. And, well he was exciting as
fluoride treatment. I sat there, mouth agape and his words were like a
mixture of Styrofoam and cold goo. Something about how Goodmail is a
solution to a real problem but Danny has concerns that it might stifle
innovation in the spam blocking software industry. Well, he's got my
vote. Heck he can have two.
Richard, if you're out there, can you sign my t-shirt and answer the above questions? Also, can you answer this one:
Read more...
03:30 PM May 24, 2006 -
0 comments
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A Deliverability Parable: School District Loses Telecom Bid to Spam Filter
Haven't we all heard the story before? School requires public bids submitted by e-mail only, e-mail spam filter kills best bid, school spends extra $250,000, school enjoys lawsuit and embarrassing publicity.
Have we mentioned that deliverability is a real bear?
It's only getting worse.
If it can happen to a business communication, you know it can happen to "Please Donate to Save The World". There are a lot of reasons e-mail might not reach its final destination. Keeping abreast of the red flags a popular application like SpamAssassin uses to judge messages is well worth doing if newslettering is in your job description. Really, take a look. You might be surprised what pisses off a spam filter.
Read more...
03:00 PM May 23, 2006 -
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Making Your Nonprofit Blog Rock
TechSoup just kicked out a review of blog best practices and best applications for nonprofits considering (or already knee deep in) blogging, many culled from nonprofit tech bloggers.
Blog, blog, blog.
We'll be stealing a few of themselves.
Read more...
11:30 AM May 23, 2006 -
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Join us in our Cushy New Office
We're hiring. Read more...
03:00 PM May 22, 2006 -
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