Hi Doug and all dear PDML friends! I really enjoyed reading this history of PDML! Thanks, Doug, for taking over PDML. It’s greatly appreciated. Your generosity led to a lot of great friendships, photography camaraderie, travel, improvement of skills, a PDML exhibition, sharing of photo knowledge, teasing, storytelling, humor, and everything else life dishes out! What a fun group! I know I’ve been a bit MIA lately, but PDML is still a favorite part of my life.
I hope to be more active in 2021! Wishing the very best to all on the list! Happy New Year!’ Stay safe and well! Big cheers, Christine Aguila > On Jan 1, 2021, at 4:26 PM, Doug Brewer <d...@dougbrewerphoto.com> wrote: > > sort of. > > During the Christmas season of 2000, while I worked on a museum project for a > local university, I got a call from Don Nelson, a friend and Pentax sales guy > some of you will remember from GFM. He told me that Pentax USA, which carried > the PAML and PDML on its website, was looking to get out of the email list > game because of potential liability issues arising from unsanctioned and > borderline dangerously irresponsible technical and repair advice getting > posted to the PDML. > > Don then asked if I knew anyone who could take it over. I thought about a few > members I knew at the time, even reached out to one or two, who pretty much > laughed, and I reported back to Don that there didn't seem to be much > interest. He said ok. > > A couple days later, a nice woman from the marketing department at Pentax > called to tell me she had heard from Don that I would like to be considered > for the role of List Guy. After a long pause, followed by some muttering and > me repeating "wait, what?" a few times, the nice woman in marketing assured > me that Don said I was very interested. > > That was Don, as those of you who knew him would agree. > > I told the nice woman that I was not a list guy by any stretch of the > imagination. I wasn't a software guy, didn't know anything about how to run > an email list, was in all things comprehensively incompetent and liked it > that way, and so on. > > The nice woman in marketing was unimpressed, so it was decided. I > begrudgingly agreed that I would download some list software packages and see > if I could make any sense of them. After that, I said, I'd get back to her in > a week or so with my decision. The nice woman in marketing rang off. > > That afternoon I found and downloaded some software, installed it, and poked > around for a few minutes until I had to do something with my actual job. The > only thing I had really discerned from my brief time with the software was > that I was out of my depth and needed some serious hours with it before I > could even begin to think about whether or not I would take over the PDML. > > Some time that night the PDML broke. > > The next day, the nice woman in marketing called to tell me that the guy who > worked at the advertising agency that handled the Pentax USA website and was > the only one there who knew the list software and how it interfaced with the > website was off on Christmas vacation and the server was down and hey, she > would email me a list of everyone who was subscribed to the PDML. Good luck > and godspeed, it was now my baby. > > I still can't tell you how I got it going, but here we are, and I'm grateful > for it. > > Happy New Year, kids. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
