[thelist] The Tao of asking questions on thelist

[Ross Lynch]

> However, they usually are soliciting
> people's ideas or experience as to
> approach.  So, no excuse.  In other
> words, I have been as frustrated, but I
> think my above-mentioned post
> structure is good.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. The
fact is that busy people don't really have time to
collect their thoughts on issues and sit for 15
minutes to write an email on their opinions. That, I
assume, is why it's easier to solicit answers on
clearly technical issues, maybe such as "what
function do I need to use to do X?"...

I think if you're going to look for peoples opinions
and thoughts on issues you have to make things
interesting. People like to disagree. So, offer your
own opinions and thoughts (nomatter how small they
may be) on the issue and people may be more inclined
to take the points you've made further or indeed
disagree entirely with them.

Additionally, for me personally, clear formatting is
essential to even reading the email. Things that bug
me on this front include people not wrapping their
text, HTML email, bad quoting style (including
irrelevant information), frequent bad grammar and
spelling, etc.

Regards,
 -Ross

____________________________________________________
ross lynch  | me at rosslynch.com  | +353 (0)87 9683368
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Nicht auf dem Teppich, Mann!