[thelist] WYSIGs lacking, why?

Ben Henick persist1 at io.com
Thu Jul 25 14:19:08 CDT 2002

On Thu, 25 Jul 2002, aardvark wrote:

> i'll see your schilling and raise you two pence... (yes, it's a pun)
> <div class="twoPence">
> To Hell With Bad Editors
> http://evolt.org/Bad_Editors
> </div>
> oh, and let me close your <div> -- </div>... aren't i nice?

D'oh!  Didn't get to sleep until 5am this morning, woke up an hour ago
(right before sending that message).

I'm surprised that the ALA doc didn't validate.  I shall take it up with
Zeldman next week.

Glad to see you raise the bet, Adrian.  ;-)

<tip type="Writing proposal memoranda" author="Ben Henick">

Much as we wish it weren't so, memos leading up to a proposal need to be
written in much the same way as Web copy - that is to say, in a top down

It's one thing to circulate your ideas amongst your crew of experienced
developers, who've proven time and again that they Know Their S--t.

What if there are members of the audience who don't?

1.  Summarize the point of the memo in everyday language.

2.  Describe the parts of the proposed system, again in everyday language.

3.  Let fly with all of the technical details of your idea.

4.  Conclude in two paragraphs of everyday language, ensuring that your
    conclusion draws a straight line between the points raised and
    their suitability to the solution that's being sought.

Generally, you need to be careful.  One of my recent proposals made it
into the hands of someone whose knowledge leaves a great deal to be
desired, thus my CYA was well-justified.

But the response?

"Verbose?  This boy got GAME."

Needless to say... I was offended and sypathetic all at once.


Ben Henick
Web Author At-Large              Managing Editor
persist1 at io.com                  bmh at digital-web.com
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?"
"We will disguise ourselves as a cow."

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