How you can help me

Hi all,

The next two weeks are going to be really busy for me with traveling to Canberra on Thursday and back Saturday or Sunday and then a few things happening in the week of the 1st of September that I hope to be able to tell you about soon.  A couple of weeks later my husband and I are heading up to attend two days worth of lunches, assemblies, dinners and, of course, the Formal related to my son's completion of Year 12.

Bearing that in mind I figured now was a good time to pass on some tips that will make things easier for me. 

These are only small things, but lots of small things can add up to a lot of time during the day.

Email addresses 

First one is simple.  I have two email addresses - 

friendsofAHQ@gmail.com and djlmball@bigpond.net.au

Both email addresses reach me and only me. I am the only person who does the administration for Aussie Heroes barring the occasional help I get from one or two others.  Could you please just send your emails to ONE of those addresses and not both.  Like I said, just a small thing but a time saver for me.

Email Traffic

Now this one is a small one for you but a huge one for me.  I receive, on average over 200 emails a day.  By the time I go to bed each night I have usually answered every one of them.  My typing speed has increased immensely since starting AHQ let me assure you (if not my accuracy!)  

Include info in your replies please 

Some days I can send out thirty, forty or fifty emails in short order checking on little details with different individuals.  I can't remember what I have asked everyone one. 

It could be 

Stephanie have you sent this quilt, 

Susan are you making a laundry bag to go with that quilt, 

Mary Jane have you heard back from SGT Whatshiname

and almost anything else.  

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you do one thing to help  me can you do this.  When you reply to me can you either 

Reply back to me using the email I sent you so that I can scroll down and see what I asked you in the first place because I likely can't remember any more

or 

Because I know some of you don't know how to do that which is just fine, can you please out all the information into your reply so that I know what I asked you in the first place.  If need be you can cut and paste my questions into your reply.  A simple reply like "Yep!  All good here!" leaves me thinking.....huh?  What did I ask them?  

Refer to the Recipient by NAME

This one is key.  When you write to me about a recipient, regardless of how many times we have talked on the phone about "Mr Horse Quilt", or "the RAEME Guy", or "the Collingwood tragic" or whatever nickname we have given the recipient can you please include their full name or their PM keys.

I use the SEARCH FUNCTION to find a specific request on my list all the time BUT I need to know what to search on.

I am sure you can imagine that I have LOTS of people on the request list.  Lots of you have made multiple quilts.   Many of you have more than one quilt on the go at a time as well.  That means that I can't easily search on your name as I get too many options.   I need to be able to search on the recipient's name or the recipient's PM keys.  Of course that means that you need to spell the name right. Please please please can you help me out.    

Posting Confirmation and Photos

Now this one is a two part request, and for some of you, a slight change in the way you do things. When you send me an email to confirm that you have posted off a quilt or a laundry bag can you please send me the name of the recipient AND a photo of what you are sending.  I know many of you send me a photo once you finish the item and tell me when you intend to post it.  

The truth is that I do not believe you have posted it until you confirm it with me.  I have been caught before, on more than one occasion assuming that someone has posted a quilt when they intended to, only to find that "LIFE" got in the way and they never made it to the Post Office. Weeks have passed and I find out that the quilt is still sitting in the back of the car or the boot and the recipient has missed out.  NOT GOOD.

If you send me the photo earlier that is great but I file it in the Possible Dispatches File.  Once you tell me the quilt has been posted I move it to the Weekly Dispatches File for the relevant week AND I record on the request list that the quilt has been sent.  The photos are saved under the name of the quilter.  I can't look at a photo and remember who it was made for usually so when I go to the Possible Dispatches File I have to double check I have the correct picture.  It would save me time if you could please just re-send the photo when you confirm the item has made it in the mail.

Emails not Texts of PMs 

Not all of you will be able to help me with this one, but if possible, can you please email me rather than send me a text or a PM with information re requests. I don't want to bore you with long winded explanations why emails are better but it has to do with the fact that I can refer to them easily later and much more. If all you can do is PM me or text me then so bet it but if you have a choice - please email.

......................................................................................................

That is it for tonight - short and sweet.  We have had the short part and now the sweet part. Time to wish Debbie a very happy birthday! I hope you had a lovely day Debbie and were spoilt rotten.  

Till next time....................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!  

Jan-Maree  xx