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Subject:RE: Anyone know anything about The Help Factory? From:"Sharon Burton-Hardin" <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 12 Dec 2002 10:39:15 -0800
Hello. I'm sorry but that was rude.
I asked who ran the company and what anyone knew about them. As I stated in
a previous email, I never disparaged the idea, I did not think it was the
best idea and wondered about the tool (and found out) and the ROI, but I did
not and do not disparage the idea. It is a sucky economy and if someone can
make that work, then go for it! (Truthfully? I imagined it might be a eHelp
spinoff.)
I absolutely am allowed to ask who is running a company and what, if
anything, anyone knows about them. I know of most of the technical writing
outsource companies in the US and am pretty familiar with many
internationally. I am allowed to ask about a new player on the field. I may
want to sub something to these people one day, you never know. It is always
good to know who is playing at any point in the game.
I was not and am not out of line and did not step over the line of
integrity. The one thing I take VERY seriously is that line and I am VERY
unhappy that you would make inferences that I am over it. That is NOT OK
with me.
I never put anyone under the microscope. If others decided to take the
thread in that area, that is up to them. You will notice that when that
happened and people started to speculate about scams, etc, I backed out of
the discussion. I am not responsible where the thread went after I asked
reasonable questions.
My website is managed and hosted by Pageweavers (a well respected and
excellent web design and hosting company), as is clearly stated in both my
reg info on whois and on my website. Want to know more? Fine, he is my older
brother so I not only get the hosting for free, I get pretty good support as
well on a private line that you would not get to call. He lives in
Sacramento and I live in So Cal, thus the different area codes.
Anything else you want to know about me and how my company runs? Want to
know where my other siblings live and what they do for a living? Then ASK
but do NOT suggest that I am over the integrity line and DO NOT hold me
responsible for where a discussion goes. I may or may not agree with where
it went but I have no control over where it went. Do NOT hold me
responsible. I do NOT moderate here.
Now, I am going to breath and calm down. I am yelling. Again.
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-71429 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-71429 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of
kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 9:52 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Anyone know anything about The Help Factory?
Dave noted:
> Hmm. To quote:
> "I imagine that whomever is running that little scam outfit has a
> number of copies." (First use of the term "scam" in the thread.)
>
> To suggest a bit of caution because of what you see as a lack of
> contact information and other reasons, is "freedom of speech". To
> call something a "scam" crosses the line -- possibly into libel. It's
> a fine, but distinct, line.
And to do so on the digital equivalent of your own company's stationery
showed even poorer judgment. The Help Factory could hold Kingland Systems
responsible. Smooth move, Kelly.
BTW - to be impressed with somebody's ability to find web registration
info shows a certain technical naiveté. The information is out there. But
what does it tell you? It simply lets you know who manages the SITE, not
the company. Nothing very conclusive, as a search of the registry for
Sharon's company's site will reveal - the guy listed there isn't even in
the same area code as Anthrobytes.
The bottom line is that NOBODY's tech-writing business should be dissected
in this way on this forum. It's not appropriate. This is our collective
line of work - to single out one person's business for scrutiny is in bad
taste, and ethically questionable. Sharon, who started this thread, runs
her own company, and should know better. Yet she felt no reluctance to put
a potential competitor's business under the public microscope. That ain't
cool in my book. Kelly's the worst offender in this thread, but Sharon
shouldn't have started it in the first place. Would she like us to all
state our speculative opinions on her company, even if we'd never used its
services? That's what's happened here, and it's inexcusable.
Oh by the way: no offense, of course. Just stating my opinion.
Like Kelly says, "...what is wrong with questioning or criticizing
something?"
Keith Cronin
Prejudice is never easy unless it can pass itself off for reason.
- William Hazlitt
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