Here’s how I prefer to talk to other humans, and why:
- I’m a big fan of chat/text message style communication. It is both asynchronous and informal, which is how I enjoy communicating
- For people closest to me, that means text, FB messenger (yuck), discord, or slack
- For work, that means MS Teams (also yuck) or Slack typically
- Second to that, I prefer email. I don’t like the idea of broadcasting my any of my emails directly on my blog because of how sophisticated spam bots are these days, but I have a Contact Form at the bottom of this page that if you leave your email I’ll likely respond using that modality
- My plan is to write here on this site pretty consistently, and most posts should have a comment section that will only require a GitHub account to comment
- I’m not as active as I’d like to be on Mastodon, but you can find me on there at https://tldr.cam/mastodon
- I try not to spend a lot of time on LinkedIn because so much content just absolutely sucks, but I do keep up with messages on there, and would be happy to connect if you aren’t selling something
- For one-off technical questions or feedback or “rubber ducking” sessions I keep standing office hours. If you request a slot, I ask that you put as much info as possible in the “Additional Notes” block. Requests from people I don’t know that also don’t have enough information in the additional notes slot will be declined.
- I am on Facebook, but I hate using it and don’t have it downloaded. I am really only on there to use messenger to stay in contact with my family and friends who aren’t available anywhere else, so if you send me a friend request I probably won’t see it.
- I have an Instagram that my wife made me years ago, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually had the password to it and I really don’t like pictures, so this is not a good spot to catch me either.
If you get something that seems like it might be someone impersonating me, please check Verify or let me know through my Contact Form.
Principals
I try to adhere to a few principals regarding my communication preferences:
Prefer Asynchronous Communication
I hate meetings. I try very hard to avoid them, but I understand their inherent utility. Whenever given the option of synchronous vs asynchronous communication, I’ll choose asynchronous 100% of the time. If I absolutely must engage in a meeting, my rules of thumb are: - I’m going to minimize the number of attendees invited to the meeting - I’ll either write notes during the meeting or record it if everyone is okay with that - If I can’t write up an agenda and a list of required objectives to send out beforehand , I will likely not create the meeting.
Finite Keystrokes
Everyone has a limited number of keystrokes they have left in the tank. It follows then that we should be optimizing for maximum effectiveness and minimum keystrokes. Therefore, I try to consider the best medium for what I intend to send. If it is something that I notice I’ve repeated to others, I’ll typically opt for creating some type of shared document or blog post rather than a closed email chain or 1:1 chat.
No Hello
In the same vein of finite keystrokes and aligning with the nohello idea, I promise not to be offended if you don’t send me a greeting to preface your ask. Please, just fire away. I’m not the type to be upset if others do end up sending a greeting, because the purpose is to give the asker permission to not send a greeting, not to blast them for doing so. So, go ahead and send away, greeting or otherwise.
Relevant Resources
I keep these links in my email signature: