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Subject:Re: Dilbert Cartoon (and traps for reviewers) From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 20 Mar 1995 21:12:58 PST
There shouldn't be any need to set traps for your reviewers -- you can
tell who's paying attention and who isn't without subterfuge. Thorough
reviewers always have comments, and slackers don't. (This is not a
sure thing in very short works, such as brochures, but is pretty reliable
with things longer than, say, eight pages.)
I don't put inappropriate stuff in documents because I never know
when a review copy is going to be xeroxed. Remember, a review copy is
always newer than whatever the reviewer has already, and it doesn't
take long for copies to diffuse through the organization, and even
to customer sites, without your knowledge.
Never, ever, put anything unprofessional into a draft. Not on purpose,
anyway. No insults, no bad language, no jokes. If you put notes and
questions in the draft itself, keep your language moderate. This goes
double for workgroup environments, where the person in the next cube
might helpfully print out a copy for a salesman to take overseas with
him, while you're at lunch and can't defend yourself.
