Raining Tomorrow
The intersection of geek and chic.
The intersection of geek and chic.
Thanks, Cheers, Best Regards, Over and Out; picking a signature line is an art. Some prefer short and sweet, others throw the entire kitchen sink in with theirs. There is no right or wrong way, but signature lines are your last chance to throw some character into your email.
A signature is like dessert. On a hot day you are looking for something cool and refreshing to finish your meal, the same is true with an email. You are looking for something to give that personal connection, the expression of gratitude, or the warm chuckle. A good signature line is like a big ice cream cone on a hot day. On the flip side of that, a bad signature line is like a glass of milk on that same day. Ron Burgandy said it best in the iconic line, “Milk was a bad choice”. I use the dairy examples because no matter which way you have it, the beginning is very cool and refreshing. It’s the finish that everyone dreads or loves. After ice cream you will sit back thankful to Eskimo’s for creating this lovely treat. After a glass of milk you are cursing the farm, the farmer, and the udder it came from.
So you may be asking yourself, “Well how in the world do I avoid the liquid death trap?” Lucky for you, I have put together 3 easy steps to consider and thoughts around why.
1. Don’t be overwhelming
2. Stick to your heritage
3. Be fun
These considerations will of course not help people enjoy a poorly written email about your child’s first day at school, or create a friend out of someone you just reamed in the body of text, but they will help you look highly intelligent and witty.
Like always,
- Boom Goes the Dynamite
BOOM or boom? The mind is a beautiful thing, and how it interprets a word based on the capitalization is a fascinating concept.
In a recent conversation with a colleague over our messaging system, she typed “OK.” This was something that kind of shocked me, because I felt like we were having a good conversation. I started thinking, Did I say something upsetting? Is she upset with someone else? Or did she just have a frustrating moment?. When I asked if everything was alright, she was confused. She said that she was just typing in AP style.
This brings up an interesting concept… Should correct writing styles such as AP and MLA be utilized when we are conversing using electronic tools?
Well, as I explained to my colleague there are typically 3 levels of intensity when you are having an electronic conversation: ok, Ok, and OK. I picture this progression like the approach my mom would use as I was growing up (I was a very hard-headed child, and still am). She would start by asking me to do something, and when I almost certainly didn’t obey she would raise her voice. This was the predecessor of one of two things… Either a vein would burst or she was going to swat me with the wooden spoon (100% of the time it was the spoon).
In the land of electronic communication I have come to the conclusion that writing styles go out the window and how you type becomes more of a feeling. If you aren’t able to use senses to determine the mood of an individual’s electronic message, they should use visual clues to express their mood.
I am going to leave the call open ended. What are your thoughts?
-Boom Goes the Dynamite
While I was at SXSW, I met the lead developer on this project. He was a really nice guy, and although couldn’t give a lot of insight into the project, explained that this system could easily be created with a camera you can purchase at Wal-Mart.
