Bruce Karney Mountain View Jan 2, 2007 14:14 pm

Hi,

As we enter a New Year, I'd like to share 10 Tips for Asking Others to Share Knowledge on Listservs and Forums. If you follow these tips, I think you'll be more likely to get useful responses to your queries. Immediately after the list, I've included an example so that you can see what such a request would look like. The numbers in brackets tie back to the tip with the same number. The sample request is much longer than most postings to FSB or other listservs. However, it is my belief that taking the time to be quite clear about what you want - and to show that you've already done some research on your own before posting to the listserv - will make people more interested in your message and more likely to give you exactly the kind of information you really need.

The 10 Tips

1. Make the subject line very specific; use 5-10 words, not 2-3.

2. Identify yourself by name, role and organization.

3. Identify the problem you're trying to solve briefly and clearly.

4. Explain why solving the problem is important to you (and to the reader, if possible).

5. Explain exactly what kind of help you want.

6. Specify your deadline.

7. Tell what you already know.

8. Ask for suggestions about who else to ask and what else to do.

9. Tell what you will do to share what you learn more broadly.

10. Explain how those who help you will be rewarded or recognized.

Subject: Looking for Lost Members of Olympia High Class of 1977[1]

Hi, it's Jane Jones, a classmate of yours from good old OHS. I am also the Chair of our 30th Reunion Committee.[2] The Committee is trying to track down the "lost" members of our class so we can invite them to the reunion. Unfortunately, we have no address for more than half of our classmates. [3] I'm sure you'll all agree that the more people who attend a reunion, the more fun it will be for everybody. Wouldn't it be great if we could track down all our classmates so that we could invite everybody to the last reunion we'll have before we all turn 50? [4] What I'd like you to do is to review the list of lost and deceased alumni that is attached. If you have a current address, e-mail, or phone number for any person listed as lost, please send that information to me at the address given at the bottom of this message. [5] The reunion is on August 4 and we want to send out invitations on May 4. So, if you have information to share please send it by April 30 so we'll have time to update our database before the big mailing. [6] We've already got the mailing list we used for our reunion 5 years ago, plus a few updates. We've also sent e-mails to everyone listed on the Classmates.com web site. So, we now have what we think are good addresses for 215 classmates, but 325 are still "lost." Sadly, there are also 30 classmates who have passed away. [7] If you have any ideas about what else we should do to track down our lost alumni, we'd love to hear your suggestions. [8] We will send a letter or e-mail like this one to each lost person we find to validate the information and ask for their help in searching for other lost alumni. [9] Finally, for every person you help us find, you'll get one ticket in a raffle that will take place at the reunion. The prize will be a $100 gift certificate to Rainy Day Records, Olympia's best CD store, courtesy of our classmate John Doe. [10]

Sincerely, Jane
1234 Main Street,
Olympia, WA 98502,
(360) 555-1234,
e-mail [email protected]


Best Regards,
Bruce Karney

[email protected]
+1 650 450-0332 (mobile)
+1 650 964-3567 (home office)
+1 650 903-0954 (fax)
833 Bush St.,
Mountain View, CA 94041 USA