Naive?

Sometimes you just start your day as normal. You work through the sea of overnight emails (living at the opposite end of the world to just about everywhere else is fun!), and before you know it you’ve learned something new and unexpected.

It’s not necessarily good, but it’s useful to know. Here’s today’s lesson.

Many of my readers may know that I have started an online community
for Australian and New Zealand business intelligence, information
management, data warehousing, performance management and analytics
experts. It’s called the Business Intelligence CORTEX. Data is my thing and I want to be in contact with other data enthusiasts – and so the CORTEX was born.

There are many existing international organizations (such as the
TDWI, etc.) but for me at the end of the world (did I say that
already?) these groups didn’t (and don’t) focus on the local issues and
organizations like the CORTEX does.

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What I didn’t expect was to be offered for sale the complete
membership lists of these international organizations. If you go to NextMark and other places like it, not only can you buy the TDWI membership list, but also those of:

• Intelligent Enterprise
• Data Warehousing / Business Intelligence Management 
• CIO Magazine SQL Server Magazine
• Information Management
• Oracle Magazine
• BI This Week E-Newsletter

and many others.

I was surprised. Naive, right? For some strange reason I thought that my little corner of the world would be too ‘long tail‘ for the online marketers to worry about. I guess not. 

Take a look at the TDWI list here to see what our details are worth. 

I happily register with sites online if they have content that
catches my eye. Usually I will leave the opt-out/in options at their
defaults. For example, downloading a TDWI paper includes a form
collecting your information with the statement: “Your e-mail
address is used to communicate with you about the above requested
information and related TDWI products and services.” 

The key words are “related TDWI products and services.” To me, that means ‘not open to anyone with a couple of cents who wants to buy my details’.

I was wrong.

Time for my first coffee of the day and to sit for 5 minutes to contemplate the blue of the Pacific Ocean before I face the rest of the day.

Have a good one yourself.