I received and email from Amy S. Quinn suggesting that I would be interested in a posting about Wal-Mart’s in-store clinics—I wasn’t. I assumed she was a flack of some kind and that she sent it because I’ve written several not very complimentary posts Wal-Mart.Here’s the email

Hi Miki,
We just posted an article (title and link deleted)
I thought I’d bring it to your attention just in case you think your readers would find it interesting.
Either way, thanks for your time!
Amy S Quinn

I googled Amy and the results certainly confirmed the flack/spam connection.

Who is Amy S. Quinn?

Is she an enterprising virtual assistant who helps promote stuff? Is she the leading edge of a new PR approach? Is she the blogging fairy, inspiring new posts for bloggers in totally diverse fields?

What do you think? Have you received an email from Amy?

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Kelly, my editor here at b5media and author of Tax Girl, pointed me in the direction of an interesting post at Law.com.Written by Harry A. Valetk, a new media and privacy attorney in New York City, it focuses on where to draw the lines regarding employer attitudes towards employees off hours use of social media.

“A 2007 Pew Internet & American Life Project study found that 60 percent of Web users aren’t concerned with how much information is available about them online. And only 4 percent had a bad experience because of embarrassing or inaccurate information posted about them online.

But what happens when these intimate details spill over into the workplace? Should our legal, off-duty, off-network online activities jeopardize our jobs? In our reputation-based economy, what are the appropriate boundaries between work and our private lives?”

He goes on to discuss current instances of the overlap, legal attitudes and what may happen down the road.

“…some states have strong protections for employees engaging in legal recreational activities off the clock,” while “California’s Labor Code protects legal off-site conduct during nonworking hours.”

There are already laws that protect from all kinds of employment discrimination, yet the discrimination persists.

I’ve written in the past (here, here and here) about the fact that what is posted in cyberspace stays in cyberspace forever—once it’s posted it never goes away.

As difficult as it is to prove that a person wasn’t hired because of skin color or age, how much more difficult will it be to prove that he wasn’t hired because the manager saw something online of which he disapproved?

Do you Google your candidates? How much does what you find influence you?

Your comments—priceless

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Over at Mapping Company Success Friday I wrote No reading = poor writing with a sample email that would be a lot funnier if my bank manager hadn’t told me that she received a similar one from an applicant.

I didn’t know it at the time, but the same day Diversity, Inc. posted R Yr Biznes E-mails Hrting Yr Career? citing an email that said, “I am chking 2 see if we have someone available to assist u with this r u on deadline if so what might that be?”

Believe it or not, it was sent by a professional accountant in response to an interview request and it sure doesn’t inspire me with confidence.

Emails are like clothes, they make a statement about you, how you see the world, and your attitude towards other people.

If common sense was still common things would be great, but since it isn’t they offer four email rules to keep you from disaster.

No.1 – Keep It Short But Clear

No. 2 – Adhere to the Culture

No. 3 – Avoid Religious References

No. 4 – Always PROOFREAD (and use spellcheck)

Simple, painless and almost foolproof.

What about business emails drives you nuts?

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It’s not my fault that this post is so late. After all that talk about procrastination I thought it was about time that I knocked a few of the repeater items off the list for awhile—stuff like vacuuming, dusting, etc. Egad, I actually fixed my pants—not because I mentioned it yesterday, but because it got cold.These were supposed to be food for Sunday thought, so you’ll have to find some other time to mull on them.

• When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as thought you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. –Harriet Beecher Stowe

• A woman is like a tea bag—you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water. –Eleanor Roosevelt

What is the favorite quote that keeps you going?

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