Contrary Valley

Search The Enron Emails

Robert Ambrogi points us to a site (Inboxer.com) where you can view thousands of internal emails sent by Enron staff.  He says that these emails "offe[r] the public a window into one of the most notorious corporate scandals of our times."  Of course Inboxer has a marketing angle, but this should be pretty interesting.

Enron Email is provided by InBoxer as a demonstration of its InBoxer Anti-Risk Appliance corporate compliance software. The site is even running a contest to find the most outrageous e-mails in three categories. 

As anyone who has ever worked in "corporate America" knows (or should know if they haven't been sleeping under their desks,) emails are forever.  There are a whole lot of reasons why you should think twice before pushing that "send" button, and they don't all have to do with trying to get away with something.  Basic email etiquette is just a good idea.   

Are You a Realist or an Idealist?

I have been thinking a lot lately about how to make my business a success (who isn't?) There are so many resources out there and all around us: books, colleagues, coaches, blogs etc. But a person can have all the tools in the world and still not make it. It's a scary thought. I try to be realistic at all times, while a voice in the back of my mind says that a certain amount of naive optimism or idealism is a necessity. I keep thinking about a quote from the objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand, it comes from her book "The Virtue of Selfishness" at page 28:

The irrational is the impossible, it is that which contradicts the facts of reality; facts cannot be altered by a wish, but they can destroy the wisher.

Study - 7% of American Workers Drink On the Job

"Just over seven percent of American workers drink during with [sic] workday, mostly at lunch, and even more, nine percent, have nursed a hangover in the workplace, according to a study."

Read the rest of the article here.

Stay Out of Trouble When You Blog

Presto Vivace Blog, the voice of the Presto Vivace PR firm, has reprinted (with permission) a very helpful article about intellectual property issues, by a technology attorney by the name of Mark Grossman. 

One of his main points is that "[i]t’s absolutely clear that the law will hold you legally responsible for defamatory online statements. Statements made online can and will get you sued."