How do Spammers grab addresses? Basically, spammers will start sending you junk email as soon as:

You list your email address on a public web page (your website, forums, etc.)
You subscribe to various newsletters and you confirm to their agreement without closely reading it (e.g., you do not uncheck the box to receive promotional emails)
You receive an email from someone who you don't know and you open the message.

When you work with meeting and event professionals, you expect them do a lot of communicating with you, often via email, as you plan the big show.  There are a host of documents, agendas, menus, speaker bios, hotel rates, scripts and contracts to be shared, let alone the simple, run of the mill emails.

Recently, we visited a new prospect who was interested in our services. We spent a few minutes with the controller discussing the issues and opportunities he was facing with their computer network. We identified and discussed a number of issues: network speed, age of equipment, problems with emails, printers/scanners not working, the server going down on occasion and finally the poor support they received from the existing outside IT support firm.

What would happen to your business if the lawn or leaves weren't picked up wasn’t cut this week?   Would business continue?  Would employees be able to access key applications, files and documents?    Most would answer YES.
What would happen to your organization if the office area was not cleaned and vacuumed according to the usual schedule? Would business continue?   Would customers be able to reach you and order products and services?   Most would answer YES.
What would have happened to your business last winter if the parking lot was not plowed after that four inch snowstorm? Would your business continue?   Would your employees be able to conduct sales activities that bring your new customers?  Most would answer YES.
What would happen to your firm if the kitchen area was suddenly out of coffee, tea or water?   Would your business continue? Would your employees be able to produce the products and services to meet the demands of your customers?   Most would answer YES.
What would happen to your office if the business periodicals and other magazines that regularly arrive in the mail did not appear for a period of time? Would your business continue?  Would your team be able to formulate business plans or schedule new appointments?  Most would answer YES.
What would happen to your organization if you lost all your key business data, files and applications?  What would happen to your firm if a virus caused your network to crash?   What would happen if your computers were down for an extended period of time?   What would happen if your Server was suddenly flooded with water or ruined in a fire?  Would the business of your business continue?  Most would answer NO. 

There are many business leaders, owners and managers who would answer YES to the first five questions and NO the sixth question.

Should an organization’s email “break” a couple of times a week?   When it breaks, should the IT provider point their finger at the web provider?   Between the times the email goes down and it is back up again, should emails be lost?     The answer to all of these questions is of course: NO!  

Providing solutions to such email problems is the first thing we’ve done for one of our newest clients: Dessau International.