A shaky Start
In April 1997 I received the following letter from the RSPCA's Director of Communications. I was absolutely flabbergasted. I had been expecting the RSPCA to call at some point with respect to the site, but this curt, officious letter was far removed form what I had been expecting:
So I got out my best notepaper and composed a veritable epistle. In my reply I told the grey suits how disappointed I was that nobody had even had the common decency to acknowledge the presence of a site on the web that was furthering their cause at no cost to them in time or money. I also felt it was time they got down to the business of having a web site designed for them which would do the cause justice. In fairness to the RSPCA, John Rolls telephoned me some while after receiving my epistle (it really was a work of art!) and I was assured that the matter of a web site was in hand, and that maybe they had been a little short-sighted in the tone of their letter.
My point is that it is sometimes very easy to lose sight of one's objective when on a sizeable salary in a comfy office at company headquarters, and I think the point struck a nerve. It's the volunteers that are the real heroes of the RSPCA and I take every opportunity to heap them with praise. Well done!
Anyway, no hard feelings. Mr. Rolls conceded that our unofficial page was fulfilling a useful role in the absence of an official site and the tone of their letter had been officious and insensitive, and we agreed that the unauthorized use of their copyrighted material was inappropriate and it would be (and has been) removed. All's well that ends well.
