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Subject:Re: Business Cards From:"Elaine R. Firestone" <elaine -at- CALVAL -dot- GSFC -dot- NASA -dot- GOV> Date:Tue, 11 Feb 1997 16:19:31 -0500
>Don Smith comments: "I would humbly suggest that you be cautious as to what
>you tell your boss (or company) that you 'won't' do."
>
To which Carolyn Haley replies:
>I agree. Every time I have said no to a company, regardless of the issue, I
>have been shown the door.
Well, I've never been shown the door, but I also haven't been refused
business cards either. Sometimes, it comes down to the fact that there's
more than one way to say the same thing. You can say, "No, I won't go to
XYZ place because you won't give me business cards and it makes me look
unprofessional." In which case you look like a whiney kid. Or, you can
say, "Gee, I'd really like to go and represent the company at XYZ, but
there's a big problem with this. The last time I went, I was asked by at
least [make up a number] people for my business card and I had to tell them
that my company doesn't issue them for technical writers (or whatever you
are). And frankly, these people were astounded! they had never heard of
such a thing."
By saying something like the second version, you quantify how many people
asked you for your card AND you plant the seeds of doubt in your
management's brain that maybe their policy is all washed up.
Hope this helps.
elaine
Elaine R. Firestone
elaine -at- calval -dot- gsfc -dot- nasa -dot- gov
elaine -at- seawifs -dot- gsfc -dot- nasa -dot- gov
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