TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
For much longer than I care to recall, I've been getting double
and triple "spam" from MadCap, such that I'd just ignore it
for a few weeks, then do a mass delete.
I mean, how many times can you read about products you can't
use, or won't be buying, or about training in another
country, or some road show that'll never get closer than
500 miles away?
A couple of months ago, the postini filter began scooping
them up, and after that point, I never bothered to dig
any of them out of the daily spam summary... though,
of course, I always dig out the Techwr-l posts that get
so egregiously misrouted... :-)
When things were going sideways with my attempt to get
Flare 8, I worried that I might have inadvertently let
an e-mail with a download link and product key be lost
in spam hell.
But my e-mail to MadCap customer support brought a
reply saying that the license stuff had been sent
to some person I never heard of at head office.
I checked my inbox, and that Purchaser never forwarded
anything to me (spam filters don't trap in-house e-mail).
So, those of you who don't control the purchasing of
your own tools, in corporate environments, take heed.
Apparently I'm the cautionary tale, again. :-)
When somebody in your purchasing department departs,
and the GeeWhiz Authoring account gets handed over
to a new body, as part of a very thick, very unexplained
file, you won't hear about it. Only months or years later,
when you need something, will it become apparent that
there's a problem.
If I was a new kid in Purchasing and had been receiving
all that spam from a supplier(?), I'd have started ignoring
it long ago, too. And no doubt the purchasing people get
even more e-mail routed into spam filters than I do,
given what they do all day.
Now that I'm forced to think about this more, I think
that it's a related problem to the one that recently
landed in my lap about my own company's "spam".
Existing customers should have some side-door access
on the corporate website, so they don't have to rely
on noticing a single e-mail amidst the flood. At the
very least, the ones with maintenance plans should
have such access. Or, I might be over-thinking.
-k
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Janoff (non-Celgene) [mailto:sjanoff -at- celgene -dot- com]
> Sent: March-05-12 5:12 PM
> To: McLauchlan, Kevin; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Beta Tester's Review of MadCap Flare 8
>
> If you were the one with postini, might want to check that -- my notice
> got snagged there, and I didn't find out about the release until
> somebody else alerted me.
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: McLauchlan, Kevin [mailto:Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com]
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 2:00 PM
> To: Steve Janoff (non-Celgene); techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Cc: McLauchlan, Kevin
> Subject: RE: Beta Tester's Review of MadCap Flare 8
>
> ...
>
> Good to know, if I ever get Flare 8.
>
> Apparently, I might be on the slow end of the roll-out of download
> letters to holders of maintenance plans. And you can't get it by
> going to the MadCap site. All you get is a big "DOWNLOAD" button
> that just trolls for e-mail addresses, but doesn't actually send
> out e-mails (it's been two and a half hours, now, and nothing on
> my corporate address OR my Gmail).
>
> I sent a message to customersupport -at- madcapsoftware -dot- com, but today's
> window of opportunity (all three hours of it) is totally blown.
> Don't know when I'll get another few hours to install, configure,
> and start playing with new software.
>
The information contained in this electronic mail transmission
may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected
from disclosure. If you have received this communication in
error, please notify us immediately by replying to this
message and deleting it from your computer without copying
or disclosing it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help. Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need.
Try Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.