Lame Email Controversy / Obeses Ruin Everything: Part 1

So for like the past decade or so I've been the on-and-off Communications person for the Brown Class of 2004.

As such, I was tasked with sending out an email to get people excited for Campus Dance/5-year reunion by urging them to upload pictures to a communal photo album to give them a sense of unity and to remind them of how much they love Brown and of course to get them to donate millions of dollars to the school...

Well...knowing how people in general abhor standard form emails begging for alumni money, I thought why not write something a little more personalized and fun and informal...after all, these are my peers.

I threw something together in like ten minutes of the top of my head. Added a few "OMG"s and shot it off to the class.

Got a ton of responses from long lost friends and acquaintances I haven't seen in a while saying how excited they were for reunion etc etc etc.

Then a day later I get an email from the Director of Alumni Relations saying they had received a complaint from someone who was deeply offended by my email.

Lame!

Below is the letter I got from AR:

from Diana Pigwell [DianaPigwell@brown.edu]
to dkwan@gmail.com
date Thu, May 21, 2009 at 11:39 AM
subject 2004 reunion BRAVO email blast

Hi Dennis,

I was hoping to call you but find I have no phone number on record for you. I find talking in person is always easier to discuss and find solutions to touchy situations.

I wanted to let you know that one of your classmates has contacted us and was upset by the recent email blast you sent. The classmate sent an anonymous email to Alumni Relations and expressed disappointment in the email content and apparently thought the email was from our office and wanted an apology from Alumni Relations.

I have not responded to the email yet but would like to let the person know the email was not written by the office but rather by a classmates who is very excited about the upcoming reunion and has a sense of humor that might not “jive” with other but that no offence was intended. Before doing that I wanted to give you the heads up and if you have any other suggestions you would like me to share with your classmate and if you would like to address the concern by sending another email to your class.

Some suggested text ideas :

I hope everyone is packing their bags and returning for what is destined to be a record breaking attendance for the 5th reunion. The weather forecast is great and Campus Dance tables, stages and bars are begin set up right now.

As class of 2004 Communications Chair I have learned that I might have missed the mark with my humor with some of you on my last email. I did not mean to offend anyone just excited to get back to campus and enjoy !!! Get yourself in gear and do the same.

I know we each have our own style and maybe you can adjust accordingly knowing there is some sensitively out there.

Thanks Dennis I will look forward to hearing from you and I hope I might meet you in person this weekend

Diana Pigwell
Director of Alumni Relations
Brown University

Hmmmph.

Want to read the original email I sent? (Which IMO was hardly offensive?)

Here it is:

-------------------------------------

from DKwan@brown.edu
to Brown2004 listserve
date Thu, May 20, 2009 at 11:02 AM
subject REUNIONTIME COMETH!!!!

Class of '04!!!!

Can you believe our 5-year reunion is like 4 DAYS AWAY???

Who got fat? Who had a baby?

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry.

Alumni Relations would like me to ask you to join our Class of '04 Facebook Group if you haven't already and upload your favorite past reunion photos directly to the group (Alumni Relations used to do their own web galleries but have now succumbed to Facebook's impending world domination).

Also please post lots of obnoxious messages on the wall. Love that.

The link to our Class of '04 Facebook page is:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200149432&ref=ts

Make sure to include your favorite embarrassing drunkface pictures of your former best friends / mortal enemies and of course remember to TAG them! Haha. Just kidding! (Not really. Do it.)

Also, if you haven't yet donated to the annual fund, PLEASE DONATE ALREADY. We need your money to break all kinds of class donation records this year.

www.gifts.brown.edu

See you soon! I'll be at the free drink table!

-DK
'04 Communcations Chair (I think)
www.dkheadshots.com

------------------------------------

Whaddaya think?

Clearly whoever wrote the "anonymous email" is an obese, right?

Or maybe she had a baby.

Or maybe she had a baby obese.

Oh god. Just what the world needs.