December 2007

I recently Google’d myself. (Every time I read that it makes me giggle because it sounds dirty.)

Boy, it’s amazing what dirt you can turn up on yourself courtesy of the World Wide Web.
Of course, if you type in my name … the first thing that pops up will be this blog entry. That’s due solely to PForm’s behind-the-scenes Search Engine Optimization dudes – who are worth every penny!

But – come to find out – there are about a bazillion other Michael Mackies out there - each of ‘em with amazingly different stories. (Albeit none of ‘em have hair as good as mine.)

A couple of months ago the Direct Mail blog focused on utilizing PURLs as a response method on direct mail pieces. To recap, PURLs are simply personalized URLs (www.briansumner.com, for example). The thinking is that people will be more inclined to check out a website with their name as part of the URL, thus turning into a lead. We asked the readers what they thought of this idea and their response was … nothing. Not one single person had an opinion (or not single person read it).

There are some strange debates that find their way into the confines of the Proofing office. Recently, a rather heated discussion sprang to life after our rule to include a hyphen in “e-mail” was questioned by an outsider. Thus, the debate began about whether the hyphen should remain: e-mail vs. email. To most normal people, hyphens fit snugly into that category of just below ‘obscure meaninglessness’ Much like the protective seal on a can of peanut butter – the hyphen serves it’s purpose best in those brief moments where it can be disposed of, or at least ignored, and then forgotten.

PlattForm People