RE: New team member

Hi Norm,

In reviewing your email for a separate purpose, I wanted to make a comment:

> In the real world, people never read the FAQ, they never read the docs and they always come here and ask - sometimes the same questions over and over and over

I think about that often, and I think it's human nature. Some people want to connect in this manner, and no matter how many times they are shown the FAQ or how to type "how to use Google" they will just always prefer emailing others.  I only say that because:

> don't forget how many times Bert has directed people to the write-ups on "why is Toad running so slowly after I upgraded Oracle to 10g"

So if we have the right content, and available online, we'll at least always be able to point people to it.
 
That's my only remark, made mostly for my own clarification

1) discover the most needed content
2) put it online
3) accept that we'll always be manually pointing people to it, and not necessarily take that as a sign that we're failing

There are discussions in Quest regarding ToadWorld as well as the future of Help. It all seems to be merging. So many companies are seeking the best way. 

Mark


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Norman Dunbar
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 4:10 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [toad] New team member

Morning Mark, Donna,

On 01/02/12 20:25, Mark Lerch wrote:
> I suppose directly after she sent her mobile number to the entire world
Oops! I think that ranks alongside my own famous "cd somewhere" followed 
by "rm -Rf *" when "somewhere" was spelt incorrectly. Major oops!

> is as good a time as any to introduce our newest team member to you,
> Donna Buskirk. (Don't go looking, I've already deleted the messages from
> the Quest & Yahoo archives).
Welcome to the dark side Donna.

> Donna is our new Content Developer and has taken over Melanie's
> responsibilities.
Did someone leave a door open and Melanie got out? ;-)

<SNIP>

> On the other hand, many of you say that you get a lot out of our Help
> system. And this does vary, according to demographics and country. We
> only have so many resources to go around, and we do have some legal
> obligations to continue to produce the older style docs. Is there a more
> effective way to release 'Content' and 'Knowledge' so that it helps
> people more? Are videos more accessible than linear Help system pages?
Help pages are great, they are part of the application and local to the 
install. Videos are also great - a picture and a thousand words etc - 
but usually they are large and hosted non-locally. So if I'm having a 
problem, I like to be as self contained as possible as I'm not always 
able to Google or access the internet for advice. (Unless I use my 
"smart" phone of course - assuming I get a 3G signal of course!)

> Is it worth trying to unbury content out in AskToad, ToadWorld, the
> Yahoo Groups, the Quest Support/KnowledgeBase and so on, or are people
> in this age much more likely to seek stream of consciousness solutions
> which are more timely and relevant?
In an ideal world, yes. In the real world, people never read the FAQ, 
they never read the docs and they always come here and ask - sometimes 
the same questions over and over and over .... remember when the Free 
Toad exe file changed it's name? That was fun!

And don't forget how many times Bert has directed people to the 
write-ups on "why is Toad running so slowly after I upgraded Oracle to 10g".

And the "I installed 64 bit Oracle client and Toad says it can't find my 
oci.dll file".

Ok, I've probably laboured the point here, I'll stop now!


> Are there newer, more effective ways
> to develop and get you the Help you need, in a more efficient manner?
Every one who buys a copy of Toad gets a full set of developers 
delivered with the CD?

Although I suspect cloning technology isn't all that great yet. But 
always remember, clones are people two! ;-)


> What can the new media offer, and is there potential in giving users
> easier ways to provide more direct Content to the Toad Community?
New media can offer a lot. It's usually better explained in words and 
actions while watching and seeing, rather than reading and understanding 
what the words mean - not what they may say!

Unfortunately you have to deal with old world people. See above for a 
list of what can go wrong!

> These and more are the questions we've tasked Donna with exploring in
> the months and years ahead. We think she's up to the challenge.
Good luck Donna!


-- 
Cheers,
Norm. [TeamT]


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