The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 11/90 – Last Lecture

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 11 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I gave the last lecture to my class.

    Almost There, Day 228 of 365 by DieselDemon from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    Almost There, Day 228 of 365 by DieselDemon from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    For the last 10 weeks, I’ve been teaching a media business aw class at the Art Institute of Phoenix. Tonight with my last lecture. Their final is next week.

    My goal for this class was to help these professional artists develop a working knowledge of copyright, trademark, contracts, and the legalities of running a business. I hope they will be able to have intelligent conversations with their clients and employers about their rights and to know when to call a lawyer for help.

    Looking back on this semester, many students told me they were dreading this class because they feared it would be boring and they were pleased to learn that those fears were unwarranted. Many of them remarked that they learned a lot from being in the class and that it should be a required course for all art students. (I agree!) According to my students, several of their classmates were disappointed to learn that I will not be returning to teach this course again. (I have too many obligations that prohibit me from making the commitment necessary to be an adjunct professor. However, I hope to be invited back to the school as a guest speaker in the future.)

    One of my students told me tonight that another student in the school who wasn’t in my class asked for a copy of her notes. Another student added that her employer asked for her class notes. I really enjoy a being in an instructor-type role and hearing that the knowledge I impart to my students/audience is being passed on to even more people.

    At the end of class tonight, one of my students gave me a thumbs up as he headed out the door. It gives me a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that I’ve helped these 13 students be more effective in their professional lives.

    In case you missed it: Day 10 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Tweaking my Terms of Service for Good!

  • Day 10/90 – Tweaking my Terms of Service for Good

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 10 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I updated my sites’ terms of service! (I swear it’s not as boring as it sounds.)

    Walter Ball!!
    Walter Ball!

    I write a monthly column for a site called Attorney at Work that helps lawyers run their firms and market themselves more effectively. I love this gig.

    Previously, I wrote a post about how I feel when others copy my content. I’ve never said “no” when anyone has asked to use one of my posts for an event or to distribute it to their organization; however, it peeves me when people use my work without asking permission and without adding any original thoughts to the conversation. Unfortunately, too many people think this is permissible as long as they provide in attribution and a link to the original post. Whenever someone does this with one of my posts for Attorney at Work, I get a notification.

    I’ll admit, I was pretty annoyed when I saw that someone stole one of my posts today. I grabbed my Walter Ball and played with it furiously while ranting to a coworker. I notified my editors of the situation and asked if they wanted me to call him out. Luckily for him (and me), they are much more tactful than I am. They addressed the situation appropriately and mentioned that they should revise the provision on their site about requesting a license to use or reprint posts. I suggested they add a provision that says failure to request permission in advance is an expression of the person’s willingness to donate $100 to the charity of my editors’ choosing when they discover what the person did. They liked that idea.

    I like that idea.

    I’ve had terms of service on this site and my law firm’s site for years. Here is what part of it used to say:

    I am Not Interested in Unsolicited Emails that Pitch Content or Services
    Do not contact me to pitch your SEO, other marketing, or lead generation services.
    I’m not interested in a new website design.
    I’m not interested in letting you pay me to embed a link on an existing post.
    I’m not interested in your infographic.
    No, you cannot write guest posts for my site.

    Contacting me for any of the above reasons is an expression of your willingness to pay me $100 for annoying me.

    Any time anyone sends me in unsolicited email hocking their marketing services or asking to write a guest post, I have a canned response I send that informs them of my terms of service and provides my mailing address for sending payment.

    After today’s experience, I decided to change it:

    I am Not Interested in Unsolicited Emails that Pitch Content or Services
    Do not contact me to pitch your SEO, other marketing, or lead generation services.
    I’m not interested in a new website design.
    I’m not interested in letting you pay me to embed a link on an existing post.
    I’m not interested in your infographic.
    No, you cannot write guest posts for my site.

    Contacting me for any of the above reasons is an expression of your willingness to pay $10 to the charity of my choosing.

    I’ve been telling people to send me $100 for annoying me for years, and so far no one’s paid it. I figured it would be better to ask for less. Hopefully some people will actually do it. It’ll be for a good cause.

    In case you missed it: Day 9 of the 90 Days of Awesome – WordTasting Tour!

  • Day 8/90 – I Almost Met The Namby Pamby

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 8 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I almost met The Namby Pamby!

    Yeah...I wrote this.
    Yeah…I wrote this.

    Ok, so it’s not as awesome as it would have been to actually meet him, but sometimes trying to make something happen is pretty awesome even if it doesn’t work out.

    I’ve known of The Namby Pamby since law school. He’s my favorite Cheez-It loving lawyer. Behind his alter ego, he tells the truth of what it’s like to be an associate at a big law firm (or so he claims). I can usually count on him to make me laugh.

    One of my favorite things about The Namby Pamby is I don’t know who he is. A few years ago, I asked him to write the afterword for The Legal Side of Blogging for Lawyers. I was surprised and overjoyed when he responded within minutes with an astounding “Yes.” He wrote the essay under his pseudonym that allows him to speak candidly about his experiences, except for the details he has to change to protect his identity. My agreement with him includes a provision that says in the event I learn his true identity, I’m obligated to keep it a secret.

    Just my luck The Namby Pamby had a meeting in Phoenix today. Unfortunately, he had to prep for his meeting the evening before and catch his flight home right after so we didn’t get to meet for drinks as we hoped.

    Someday we’ll be in the same city and we’ll finally get to meet face-to-face.

    In case you missed it: Day 7 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Sleeping In!