How did we blow each other off before email? When I started as a working journalist, even as an intern 1992 for PrimeTime Live, we dialed and dialed the phone, hoping to catch the target answering our call by mistake, if they were indeed dodging us. I knew what time of day to call to get someone, or once caller id came out, I would dial from a phone with a blocked name. If I got through the call could be hostile at worst or awkward at best but it built great phone skills and taught me to dance as fast as I could!
In this day of email, more than 15 years later, I am working with philanthropists who despite their best intentions are harder to reach than a news magazine bad guy. One thing has changed the game significantly and that is email. We say the tough things electronically, we say everything and nothing depending on the recipient. We read into jotted lines what we most want to see ... sometimes I really miss that ambush call.
