Re: Outlook Toolbar in Access

Jim,

You're a class act and I hope you never lower yourself to the level of the
likes of Arno R, John Marshall and Randy Harris!! Thanks for your response.

You have a point about my wording being misleading. I will think about that.
To clarify, I AM NOT referring to my answering over 1000 NG posts. If I
counted however, I have probably answered over 1000 NG posts. What I am
trying to convey in my signature line is that over 1000 people have come to
me for help after not getting the help they need from the newsgroups (not
just CDMA). I hit the 1000 mark after more than four years of providing help
and now I am getting between 5 and 10 new requests for help a week. In the
past seven weeks, I have gotten over 50 new requests for help. I had to get
help myself to complete those requests and it was from a frequent responder
to the newsgroups. I am back to where I complete all requests myself. I am
however seeing an increase in repeat requests for help and if this
continues, I ill need help myself again. The reasons they come to me are
varied; they were looking for fee-based help when they posted and just
needed to know who to go to, urgency to get their database up and running,
lack of skills to implement the solution given in the newsgroup, did not
have the time to spend waiting for a response or posting over and over until
they got a complete answer, etc. Very few ever had anything negative to say
about the newsgroups until recently and now I get many notes expressing
disgust with the actions of Arno R and his hoods.

Regarding giving out confidence ---
As you have probably noticed in many of the answers I have given in the
newsgroups, I not only try to give the HOW of doing something but I also try
to give the WHY. I particularly do this when people come to me with requests
for help. Along with their basic problem I get a lot of questions on how to
do things. As long as it does not get out of hand, I try to answer all
questions in one way or another. I don't charge for this time and the
customer gets more than he paid for. I like Access and I like helping where
I can. Quite a few of the 1000+ customers I have helped have gone on to
create other databases after the one they came to me about because they
learned from me while working with me.

Re: the alias thing ---
My reason for doing this is the same reason why other consultants are using
an alias. Yes there are other consultants using an alias!! I know first hand
in talking with some of them. But all you need do is read the posts
carefully and you will see posts by an alias name and in the posts you will
see something like "... my client did this..." or "... my client wants
that...". The reason to use an alias is to avoid someone making a statement
like ".... you asked XYZ. The answer is so simple that you must not be very
qualified to be giving help to people...". Lyle Fairfield said recently in
one of his responses that even after ten years of Access programming, he is
still learning things basic to Access. Now, I think Lyle is one of the most
knowledgable regulars in the newsgroups and I have a respect for what he
knows. It would not detract from my respect for his knowledge if he asked a
basic question about Access and signed his real name to the post. You hit
the nail on the head saying every post is an opportunity to think about new
and interesting problems, to get better at solving them and to learn more
about Access. This is an ideal but since many people don't see it that way,
other consultants and myself use aliases. Look down through the names of the
posters to the newsgroups and see just how many are real names. For example,
Salad is an outstanding contributor to the newsgroups. I don't know who he
is or what he does, do you?

Steve
PC Data***


<jimfortune@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1133485722.219509.4190@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> PC Data*** wrote:
>> Why don't you take Salad's advise and grow up and get a life and quit
>> sending emails to my office.
>>
>> "If you have anything to contribute to the group, contribute. Your war
>> with Data*** is simply pissing and moaning in the wind for the sake of
>> nothing. Grow up and get a life."
>>
>> Salad
>>
>> --
>> PC Data***
>> Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word Applications
>> resource@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> www.pcdata***.com
>>
>> Over 1000 Access users have come to me for help. My fees are very
>> reasonable.
>
> Your wording is slightly misleading but possibly still correct. You're
> claiming to have answered over 1000 NG posts. That's fine. Perhaps
> state it that way. If so, they're available for the public to see and
> judge. I don't object to you reminding everyone about all the answers
> you've posted. I probably can't pass Trevor's interview test so I may
> also need some ads someday :-).
>
> The whole alias thing doesn't seem to make sense but that doesn't
> matter to me. Why not just state that you think that you know the
> answer to a problem but are looking for even better ways to solve it?
> Has the NG disregarded one of your questions because they thought you
> should be able to solve it yourself? You're obviously not worried that
> the NG will be upset with you if you ask too many questions.
> Regardless of the source of questions, we get the opportunity to think
> about new and interesting problems, get better at solving them, learn
> more about Access, encounter interesting people, help people out and
> maybe even get to show off a little.
>
> My goal in posting to this NG is not to become the world's best Access
> programmer. My goals are to allow others to understand how I approach
> problems, give them confidence that I can solve their problems, and
> help some people out for free. Maybe your 1000 answers will give
> potential customers that confidence. I also find the whole idea of
> troubleshooting (communicating what a problem is, finding ways to
> isolate the trouble and creating usable solutions) an amazing process.
> I don't expect ever to know as much about Access as many in this NG and
> I concentrate on 'using' Access to solve problems although sometimes
> knowledge about Access itself is required to solve a specific problem
> efficiently. If your people skills alienate a customer, send them to
> this NG. Our fees are very reasonable.
>
> James A. Fortune
>
> Last night at a restaurant:
>
> Jim, you're still using your silverware on that BBQ 1/2 chicken. Are
> you afraid of getting your hands messy?
>
> No. I'll get to that. I'm putting it off for as long as possible.
> You can't attack Saddam by air only.
>
> So you're still bombing your chicken?
>
> Yes. It's like trying to clean dishes by pouring water and soap over
> them. The ground troops get messy.
>


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