My Apologies
Apr 21 2009
I wanted to take a moment to both clarify and apologize to Ken Magill for a post I ran a little over a week ago. I had started to write the post in order to illustrate how I have been personally frustrated with with ESPs and their email marketing acquisition efforts. It led to a post that was taken by Ken and others as a personal attack. I can tell you that this was not the point or direction of the post. But it was taken in this light. For that I apologize to those of you that read this blog and those of you that know, read and respect Ken.
My frustration stems from many people in this space personally condemning list rental, third party email sponsorships and publicly writing or speaking about how they think that it is not a good practice. What killed me and continues to kill me is that they say these things and then their company uses this practice in order to drive new customers. The practice of taking a stand and then having the organization you represent do the opposite makes me wonder why people even open their mouths.
Now here I was opening mine and what came of it was not a cleverly positioned stance, but a poorly illustrated example that used an email that happened to be one from Ken’s company from an ESP. The timing of the email was what caused me to use it.
So I hope that you understand that my intent was not to create any anger, place any blame, nor say that the email I used as an example was improperly done in any way. It was just the straw that broke the camel’s back and made me write the post.
I hope that you can understand this and that Ken you read this to understand in writing what we did not have the opportunity to do by phone. As we have both learned in this process, sometimes the phone is a mightier tool than email, an article or a blog post. Please accept my apology.
Posted by Dylan Boyd at 8:18 AM
Published in eROI News on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
(5 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)
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Here it is, your March Email Marketing Calendar.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:54 am
BRAVO! Good work…
April 21st, 2009 at 10:53 am
Dylan, Just wanted to post something I’ve been meaning to for awhile: I admire your unique energy and style. I applaud your willingness to take chances and to speak your mind – always asking questions and posing new ideas here in our little email corner of the world.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Dylan – just wanted to let you know that I appreciate how you push the standard boundaries and keep us thinking, so we as an industry can keep improving….well done..
April 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Apology humbly accepted, Dylan.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:59 am
Dylan –
I commend you for dedicating an entire blog post to an apology. I strongly believe that you and Ken both bring a tremendous amount of knowledge, experience, and insight into the world of email marketing. What you both write is critical to the space – to keep us all honest, to make us think, the push the envelope. However, when it turns more into personal attacks I believe the message strays from the intent and it becomes harder to muddle through the noise.
Keep poking, prodding, and living on the edge. Pretty sure I still owe you a 6-pack for AdAge bet.
See you at OMS.
dj
–
DJ Waldow
Director of Best Practices & Deliverability at Bronto
@djwaldow
May 6th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Way to go Dylan! I respected your original post and agree whole-heartedly with your point. In hindsight, I can see how it may have caused offence, but I don’t believe that this was your intent. For you to accept responsibility and offer an apology in such a public and open way speaks volumes about your dedication and professionalism. Our industry needs more like you. Keep up the good work!