While the List is only available to subscribers (and frankly, anyone
can automatically subscribe, so that's really nothing special), the
List Archives are available to anyone who finds them (or in your case,
Googles them). As a fairly prolific contributor, I've found that some
of my postings have come back to bite me in the past when I have been
critical of vendors of mentioned problems where I was working (and had
signed the email with my work information).

For those of you who have watched my postings over the years, you're
probably subconsciously aware of the changes in the way that I identify
myself on the List. You will rarely, if ever, see me post from my work
email address or identify myself with my firm's name.

My approach is, has been, and continues to be that my postings are
coming from me personally. They don't reflect my employer's opinions or
the opinions or direction of any other organization (a particular issue
when I was an ARMA -- and now Educational Foundation Board member).

Now that may not be enough to keep you out of hot water with your boss
at times, but for me, it has been a clear line in the sand. When you
see my Yahoo! address, I'm going to be speaking for myself and
commenting based upon my 20 years of experience in this field.

Sooner or later, everyone gets burned by Internet email or a posting
somewhere on the Internet. That's one of the reasons why I encourage
new associates in our firm to have a Yahoo! or MSN or Hotmail or AOL
address for personal email. You can Google just about anything. I've
suggested to new associates that they Google their email address or
even the domain name part of their previous employer's email address
(the part starting from "@"). You can suddenly find out about some of
your co-workers' interests in that way because people have used their
work email to post something to the Internet -- and sometimes you find
out things that you'd rather not know.

The fact that what you post here is available for searching on the
Internet should not shock you. Write your emails as if you expected
them to be published on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

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