flattering BUT

Your Name: Kate
Your Email:  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Textiles
Message: Hello there! I have stumbled across your textile art that you do! I am very inspired by it, as I am an art student and taking textiles in my foundation year. I am looking for an tips or pointers in a direction of an area in textiles as it is something i am very interested in and enjoy doing very much! If you could help me at all it would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely Kate

I would imagine that some of you out there in Blogland get these requests as well. Some earnest textile student emails you privately and enthuses rhapsodic about your work, then asks if she/he can use you as an example in a project for her/his sixth form/foundation year project, or whatever it is. (To date, they have all been UK students.) They proceed to ask lots of questions and require detailed answers. You never hear back from them after complying and being generous with your time and ideas. NEVER.

Yes, it's flattering and i usually don't mind answering and sharing, but you know what? I'm not going to do your homework for you. If you know how to use the net, use some netiquette. Comment on the things you like, share some of your work/experiences/thoughts. You'll learn more that way. Do you hit on certain areas that interest you here? Or are you just looking at one thing and thinking "Oh she'll do"?

I've never been sent back a thank you saying i "made" her/his project, the other students were impressed, the teacher blown away by my talent, she/he won a scholarship. That's not what i'm looking for. Common courtesy dictates a response of some sort after the fact of presentation if you're using my work and thoughts. Is that too much to ask?

Now, i am not picking on this Kate. All of the requests from the 7 "students" have been polite, clear and forthright. BUT,when they swear up and down that i will see the finished project, i expect some follow-up. ZIP ZILCH ZERO is what has happened. I even found one on Facebook and she still didn't respond. I myself have emailed people, after going through their "online presence", and asked questions, especially now with the ARTeries column on MrXStitch. Even when they say no, politely or not, i follow up with a little note thanking them, and if i have used their input, i direct them to the appropriate link. COMMON COURTESY.

I don't hold back "trade secrets" here. I've constantly shared examples, methods and projects. It's not like i'm holding out on these requests. What would be the point of my online presence then? If you're not truly interested, then go buy "Textile Art for Dummies"----i'm sure Amazon has something that would help.

Miss/Mr Textile Student, i would love to help you. I suggest that you peruse the site, using the search button, read, explore, make yourself visible and go from there.
 
I hope you understand. Thank you for your kind words.

And don't tell me the dog ate your homework.

Update on Sun, November 1, 2009 at 11:47AM by arlee

In my experience, this is not an email scam, at least not in the ordinary sense. I received back several responses--without the end result as asked for--and did online searches for some of these people. They do exist, but in their own rarified world, as most students do.

Comments

[Bea]

Oh, have I heard this song before. It's rude and it seems to be pretty common. It's a sad thing. :)Bea

[arlee]

I just hope that someday one of them "mans up" and starts a true dialogue!

[Mary-Frances Main]

You know, I have to say I had a girl call and interview me and not only did she send me a copy of the finished project, she sent me a handwritten thank you card - and that's the ONLY time I've been asked!

So, maybe they're not all like that?

[Kirsten]

This happened to me too. I was asked to "tell all" about my work. They didn't ask a specific question so I didn't know where to start. When I emailed back asking what specific thing they wanted to know about, they didn't reply.

Now, I don't always reply to every single email, message or comment, so maybe I'm a bit guilty too, but it was strange that they would make that effort and then not follow through.

[guzzisue]

in city and guilds embroidery ( Part two) we had to write about 3 textile artist who we admired etc. I did mine pre compuer days but suspect that this is one of the areas that requests are rising from. I remember when I did it that there were articles in magazines from artists about the number of lletters and requestd for details about their work.. This may explain why the requests are from the UK but does not excuse the lack of manners and common decency in failing to reply.

[IreneR]

I wonder what makes some students so arrogant? My experience was related to office work (administation). I had introduced flexible working hours ( one of the first in Canada) and received endless requests from MBA students with a long list of questions. At first I tried to help but eventually I would respond that I was not prepared to write their thesis for them!..... No acknowledgement from anyone, of course!...They are in for a shock when they enter the real world and have to work to survive.

[jackie]

Tell me about it!
I have sent samples, fabrics, even small purses but not received a single solitary thank you from one of them.
Never again.

[sharonb]

One of the reasons I have such long 'about' pages on my website is so I can point these students to them - I tell them to do their own research as I am not going to write their paper for them. I know it sounds harsh but after spending much time answering these types of questions I decided I was going to be a bit tough. You are right I have had dozens and dozens over the years and I can not remember once a thank you message

[Anna Nowicki]

I too get lots of these requests and have only ever had one student actually follow through. I was delighted - she even invited me to the school exhibition - you can see my blog post here: http://annanowicki.blogspot.com/2009/06/brilliant-exhibition.html.

[Anna Nowicki]

following on - sorry pressed the send button too soon - otherwise I believe students should do their own research - we always did even as adult students. I have send out samples and notes and get nothing back most of the time. In future I think I will send a message saying 'try to work out how I did this/that - just like this student did' and show them the work Anna Pasco did which I put on my blog.

[Karin]

Yes, I too believe it is the City and Guilds - requirements that leads to all these requests. and I was a C&G student once....For myself I found http://homepage.mac.com/susiefreeman/susiefreeman_net/students.html
was wonderful... and I did get in touch with her during and after the task had been completed... it was in the cross-over days, half in and half out of the web... I sent her a sae and she invited me to buy some of her postcards.
Michael B-W was also a great guy!
Others didn't reply despite the stamped and addressed envelope... and I lived in Oman at the time... expensive loss.
Noone has asked me.... sniff!