E-mail Books

This reference is one of a kind, and very complete, of course. I think it could be a little more useful in the way it organizes things, though. By name is the most obvious of course, but there are other ways.

All in all, this is a handy book if you need the information.

If you've read Ms. Cassidy's two previous books on IS process improvement and IS strategic planning you'll recognize her straightforward, structured approach to planning for e-Business.

This book lays out a roadmap in eight steps:
(1) planning
(2) assessing the current environment and situation
(3) developing a business case framed as a value proposition
(4) defining the opportunities and competitive posture
(5) determining all factors and impacts (application architecture, technical architecture, business process, information systems, people and organizational and cost/benefit)
(6) design (including user interface, security and other important factors)
(7) deliver (develop, test, release and support)
(8) discuss (elicit feedback, analyze and rectify/improve)

The steps is an effective e-business life cycle, and the level of detail into which this book goes will provide ample material for developing a high level plan of action that takes all of the important issues and factors into account.

We bought this for my mother-in-law who did not want her bread machine replaced on the kitchen counter with any "computer thing". She LOVES it! She gets our notes and those from a few friends. She doesn't have to worry about "how", it just works. She can load the paper and the machine even talked her through an ink cartridge change when it ran out. Pictures print out easily and good enough to hang on the fridge. For anyone with limitations or with no computer savvy, this is a great idea to keep them in touch.

Using a computer that's connected to the Internet seems to be to be a lot like living in the old west must have been. That is rather like a law of the jungle with the Sheriff out of town a lot.
There are people out there who would like to send your computer troublesome software like viruses, spyware, adware, all kinds of malware. For some reason they seem to think that just your being there is an open invitation for them to try to compromise your system.

The author is a principle software engineer for Symantec, the company that produces the Norton security software. In this book he describes the various types of attacks you are likely to get and tells you how to protect yourself from virtually all types. He includes with the book a trial version of Norton's Internet Secutiry 2006 and tells you how to get the best out of it.

The interesting thing about computer security is that if it is working perfectly you never know that its there. You simply use your computer without interruption, without popups, without mysterious -- well, you get the picture.

This book draws from experience with performing arts venues with large audiences. But the lessons are applicable to any size of arts venue that wants to save publication and postage costs and increase its ticket sales.
By "patrons" he refers to the audience of individual consumers rather than corporate sponsors.
It's a slim volume at 85 pages, with no padding or hype, just usable tips.

Chapter 2 reports on a survey on 50,000 venue-goers in the USA. It sets the tone for the book - a focus on practical facts and no hype. It reassures arts organisers that they have a very receptive audience, compared to any other commercial organisation.

Chapter 3 on the CAN-SPAM law in the USA is equally applicable to European readers and contains much good sense.

Chapter 4 is a good introduction to the management and internal marketing needed to start the email campaign.
But it does show you that America is a continent. The fictitious example is a 100-seater theatre putting on 4 shows a year - with a huge mail list of 10,000!

Chapter 5 is the core - 20 ideas you can use. Really. If you set up a suggestion box and offered people $1 for each good idea, you'd be delighted if you ended up with this list - except that buying the book gets you $5 change! It stresses the fun aspect and personal touch, which is the only way to gain the trust essential to get people to disclose their addresses. He provides stimulating ideas for working with the community and other businesses, even those thought of as "competitive".

This book is worth it. If you're wondering why you can't divert more people to email, to save on ever-increasing postage charges, or reach a wider audience, read it.

Patrick O'Beirne, www.ArtKube.com

This is a really awesome book, especially for high school and college students! It has great inspirational quotes, poems, short short stories. I am a college student, and have used this book with several of my leadership positions. The content is great as a meeting opener or devotions. I would highly recommend this to all students!

Ollie North and pals erroneously thought that DELETE meant DELETE when using the White House email system. Editor Tom Blanton andthe National Security Archive people explain how the George Bush people tried to bury the evidence - then they present VERBATIM the evidence. Blanton reprints in the book about 240 of the 4,000 extant messages pried loose, and another 260 on diskette. You have to be combination History Wonk and Voyeur to truly appreciate these messages. In light of the litigation to recover Clinton White House email, this is a fascinating look at how the system works. Oh, and Ollie North comes across as knowing and controlling exactly what was going on - the Reagan-Bush administration's role in obfuscating the truth is patently obvious in reading these emails. Ain't Federal Immunity grand?

I loved this book. Not only did it give me great tips for my email marketing campaigns, the research and case histories gave me all the proof I needed to convince a member of my board directors that email is the way for a small arts group like
mine to really stand out in a competitive marketplace.

But, no matter what you're marketing, this book is a great tool to get the basis about why e-mail marketing works so well.

Kathleen Drohan
Marketing Director
Brooklyn Philharmonic

This book is a refreshing reminder that God can use any means, even email, to speak/encourage the saints and glorify His name. How fantastic to learn from the trials and triumphs of fellow believers who have demonstrated courage and transparancy by sharing their life testimonies with us.

If you want your grammar and writing lessons sane, sober, serious, skip this book because the jokes, plays on words and plain old fun will drive you crazy.

But if you need light, useful advice about writing in cyberspace, or quick reminders about using numbers correctly, office etiquette, or brush-ups on grammar and writing, and have a laugh in the process, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

O'Conner's books (Woe Is I, Words Fail Me, and now, You Send Me) remind me of an editor I work with who is a pun a minute. She can't stop herself and every conversation with her takes such twists and turns that the less articulate are left several sentences behind. If I didn't know that editor, I'd think that O'Conner and Kellerman had to have spent hours creating her more painful plays on words for some of their chapter and section titles:
Grammar a la Modem
Lurk Before You Leap
Go Configure
Clone Rangers
Myth Information
A Click and a Promise
Help for the Whomless

And on and on and on. I suspect it just spills out of them, fed by their obvious exuberance for their work.

But all of these little plays are wrapped around very helpful bits of logical suggestions and advice delivered in a conversational style. While ostensibly meant to deal with the horrific onslaught of wretched writing that shows up in
our e-mail, much of the book's advice can be applied to other writing. The team also reminds us of the need for accuracy in numbers and other facts, pointing out the difficulties so many people have with noticing what should be obvious exaggerations or faulty understanding of numbers.

O'Conner and her husband-coauthor divide this book into three sections:

The Virtual Mensch, which examines protocol issues--when to use e-mail, the need for subject lines, choice of e-mail names, keeping the reader in mind and more.

Alpha Mail, which focuses more closely on better writing (with such advice as divide long sentences into shorter ones, break the message into paragraphs); eliminating cliches, which includes a list of cliches followed by an authors' comment, e.g., acid test (Give it an F), diamond in the rough (cubic zirconium),
draw a blank (so fill it in), easier said than done (Then say it); the need for the writer to re-read an e-mail before sending it, and other topics.
Words of Passage, which takes the authors right back to their real issue,
language. Among other topics, they take us through easy lessons on it/its/it's/
and who/whom, subject-verb agreement and punctuation.

This book is a handy addition to the bookshelf of any editor or writer interested in how the language is or should be used.