USPA Solo Challenge

[MakeItHappen 15]

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Jan is absolutely correct,

of course

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#4 - ConstantContact is a well respected company in the e-mail marketing world and link tracking is an industry accepted practice in the 21st century. E-mails are set to be delivered to the highest level a client allows - if your setting is such that you only allow text e-mails, you will receive a text-only version. All contact lists are cleared after use, and the only data used is first name, last name, company (for the DZO Streamline), and e-mail address - all of which is highly unusual for a marketing project. Most companies store lists for some time to track long-term clicks and views. You could actually argue that this is what USPA should be doing. In any case, we never sell member (or non-member, in the case of the Solo Challenge) e-mail addresses to anyone, for any reason, and chose ConstantContact because they are well respected in the marketing/communications industry for maintaining very high privacy standards.

Re "if your setting is such that you only allow text e-mails, you will receive a text-only version"
Are the links directly to USPA's web site or the tracker urls?
Tracker urls usually get broken up with line breaks because they are so long, filled with encrypted user-identifiable info.

FMI see
Email tracking
Email Bugs


I think the phrase "link tracking is an industry accepted practice" is accepted by the people and companies doing the tracking, ie the industry.
The sad news is that most people, the recipients of these emails, have no clue that so much information can be gathered from them.
If they knew what was going on behind the scenes they may not particularly like it.

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[MakeItHappen 15]

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Wait till you hear about the 'USPA Gold Seal Instructors'

Er.....what?


Sarcasm, hypothetical foreshadowing, under the radar rumors, or fact?

That is supposed to be some program modeled from GOLD SEAL FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[diablopilot 2]

This is a bad idea. With the current state of instruction in the industry, the LAST thing that needs to be done is driving a wedge between the "favorites" and the "unwashed masses".

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[LloydDobbler 2]

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Jan is absolutely correct,

of course

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#4 - ConstantContact is a well respected company in the e-mail marketing world and link tracking is an industry accepted practice in the 21st century. E-mails are set to be delivered to the highest level a client allows - if your setting is such that you only allow text e-mails, you will receive a text-only version. All contact lists are cleared after use, and the only data used is first name, last name, company (for the DZO Streamline), and e-mail address - all of which is highly unusual for a marketing project. Most companies store lists for some time to track long-term clicks and views. You could actually argue that this is what USPA should be doing. In any case, we never sell member (or non-member, in the case of the Solo Challenge) e-mail addresses to anyone, for any reason, and chose ConstantContact because they are well respected in the marketing/communications industry for maintaining very high privacy standards.

Re "if your setting is such that you only allow text e-mails, you will receive a text-only version"
Are the links directly to USPA's web site or the tracker urls?
Tracker urls usually get broken up with line breaks because they are so long, filled with encrypted user-identifiable info.

FMI see
Email tracking
Email Bugs


I think the phrase "link tracking is an industry accepted practice" is accepted by the people and companies doing the tracking, ie the industry.
The sad news is that most people, the recipients of these emails, have no clue that so much information can be gathered from them.
If they knew what was going on behind the scenes they may not particularly like it.

.

Jan, I was gonna send this as a PM, but since you don't accept PM's, I'll just throw it out there:

Although I'm pretty certain you know a lot about coding, I think you're reaching on this one.

If they're using tracking via click-commands/tracker URLs, or via hiding a pixel, that's common practice. For almost every website and email campaign (at least those that are worth a dime). Including dropzone.com - it uses Google Analytics to track page views, paths through the site, etc. Your depiction of tracker URLs as "filled with encrypted user-identifiable info" and stating that "most people, the recipients of these emails, have no clue that so much information can be gathered from them" is a misrepresentation, at best.

You seem to be under the impression - or wishing to create the impression - that a tracker URL goes snooping around someone's computer for identifying info. That couldn't be further from the case. Analytics is a cornerstone of the web, and after Ed's explanation, I see no reason to think that they're being used in any devious way. In fact, knowing ConstantContact, I can assure you they're not. ConstantContact is a legitimate, highly-regarded email marketing service...they monitor for complaints, subscribe to all feedback loops, and maintain a strict no spam policy that ensures that senders meet CAN-SPAM regulations.

I know you have a beef with All Things USPA - I share a number of your concerns - but I'm starting to find your methods quite unprofessional. To get on DZ.com and wage a war with the other USPA leadership - by spreading incorrect/incomplete info and trying to get readers on your side, instead of addressing it with the person directly, then taking it public if it's not resolved - is exactly the sort of political BS that I keep hearing is "business-as-usual" on the USPA Board. And IIRC, you're one of the ones who I've heard speak out against the "business-as-usual."

I hope that it's ignorance of current email marketing best practices that's leading to your statements, instead of malicious intent. To imply that most people would see any sort of analytics as a gross invasion of their privacy is really grasping at straws.

Like I said, I don't like a lot of the USPA way of doing things, either. But I'm beginning to think that you have a bone to pick, and don't seem to be particularly forthcoming about it. You seem to want to try and discredit this program no matter what you have to say to do it.

I hope I'm wrong on that one, as I often value your insights, and mutual friends think very highly of you. But this whole thread is starting to seem like your own personal attempt to throw a monkey-wrench into a new USPA program, instead of finding a way to work with the rest of USPA leadership to help give it a better shape.

Or maybe I could just be misreading your tone, since those often don't carry well on message boards...

Again, apologies for making this public without directing it to you first (pot, meet kettle, right?) - but after following this thread for a while, I thought it needed to be brought up.

Signatures are the new black.