Of course, with sports comes the sport’s fans need to complain about officiating.  We heard it throughout the NBA and NHL playoffs.  The World Cup has been a heyday for officiating complaints, most recently with the last USA goal being disallowed, but let’s not forget the umpire who missed the call that broke up a perfect game and I’m sure hundreds of other examples.

Complaining about officiating in sports is considered a part of the game.  As an official, I have had more losses blamed on me than I care to count.  The final score may have been 8-0 and the shots on goal were 45-6, but somehow it was my fault they lost.  I’d like to explain that logic to you, but I have yet to figure it out myself.

Email marketing, on the other hand, is different.  Everything done with marketing efforts is, essentially, under the marketer’s own control.  Time is taken to prepare messages that will engage readers, getting them to open the email, click the links, buy the product, download the information, or whatever the objective is of our message.  Special care is given to segment out the perfect list so that efforts are not diminished by recipients who will not be interested.  An Email Service Provider may also be used so that the resources of many working to achieve maximum deliverability can be harnessed.

The only third party involved is the ESP.  Even using a third-party to send messages, the ultimate control over deliverability is in the hands of the marketer.  Despite the efforts of a team of deliverability experts working tirelessly to maximize the likelihood of our message reaching the inbox of recipients, the marketer still controls the key influences.  The easiest way to get into a junk folder or bounced from the server is to not take care with each mailing that is sent.  All those things above, if done incorrectly (or not at all), have the potential to ruin a sender’s reputation.  A marketer’s reputation is their lifeblood. Control your message and your list, and you will likely end up in the inbox.

There are senders out there, however, who don’t do this.  They continually send to bad email addresses or create messages that will be picked up by spam filters.  They may use an ESP, but they still find their messages bouncing or ending up in the junk folder.  They call the ESP and see what they can do to fix their deliverability.  But, there is likely nothing that can be done.  The ESP may be able to fix it for a short while, but, unless sending practices are changed, they quickly find themselves back where they started.  They may even try changing ESPs.  This again, will work for a short time, but they end up in the same situation.  It isn’t until they change their sending practices, message creation, list maintenance, delivery schedule, etc., that they will start to see improved results.

If only officiating were more like email marketing.  If only teams could do so the game was more in their control.  I could suggest things like practice or playing a complete game (rather than going down 2-0 in the first half), but this will fall on deaf ears.  I’m not suggesting that the blame is never on the officials.  The umpire who made the wrong call to break up the perfect game made a mistake.  He apologized to the pitcher, the team, the fans and anyone else who asked for an apology.  He got an ovation the next game at that stadium.  I am suggesting that typically, the official’s judgment is not what wins or loses a game.  Like email marketing, it is the efforts of the players in the game that ultimately decide the fate of the game.

A little about me.

I am the Product Manager at a software company which writes enterprise systems for associations.  I have been working there for longer than I’d care to admit.  I started working there when I met the President of the company at a job fair as they were closing down their booth.  It was a fluke that I went over to them as I knew nothing about them.  I went up and asked if they had anything that combined technology and accounting and was hired less than a week later.  Twelve years later and I’m still there.  My fascination with technology is what got me my job and that desire to learn more has not lessened over the years.  I spend a good portion of my day (probably better if I don’t admit just how much) scanning the web for information about new and emerging technologies.

I am also in the process of going back to get my Masters in Information System Technology.  This is a program which I have found extremely interesting.  I actually find myself looking forward to going to class. It is actually my current class which has, in part, inspired me to start this site.  The class is a study in emerging technologies.  Every week, several people in the class will give a presentation on Technology in the News.  These are extremely interesting and will be the subject of many of my posts.

In my spare time, I am a hockey official, a football official, and a scuba diver.  I also deal craps at private parties.  I also have some friends who are trying to get me to pick golf back up.  I went about 18 months without picking up the clubs, but there is a charity event coming up and we are putting together a foursome.  At least it’s for a good cause.  This pretty much takes up the rest of my time.  It will also probably take up the rest of my posts.  I’ll try to keep them interesting, even to those who may not be fans of the sports.  I promise not to clutter the internet with the same stuff everyone else is posting.  If I do, it will most likely be in response to something that is cluttering up the web.  Most will be on hockey, scuba or craps which are topics that not as many people talk about.  I tend to see things from the official’s point of view (which is completely opposite of most fans).

Scuba is something that one day I wish I was doing full time.  There is almost never a week which goes by in which I don’t daydream of living on an island, diving every day, and it really wouldn’t matter what was being done at night.  Until then, I will just have to be satisfied with my few vacations a year to go diving.  Hopefully, I will have some pictures and comments to share.  For some reason, underwater pictures are pretty universally liked.

Craps, for those of you who have never played, is by far the most exciting game in a casino.  Don’t know where the table is, just wait and listen.  The shouts will come and direct you there.  I’ve taught several hundred people how to play at this point, and one day, if I run out of things to blog about, perhaps I’ll write a quick tutorial for everyone.  The reason most people have never played is that people think it’s too complicated.  A few minutes with me and you’ll learn how easy the game is.

Well, that’s enough for now.  Have a wonderful evening and I’ll see you all soon.