Español

The most effective ways to get in touch with people have evolved a lot over the past 20 years. Today, everybody seems to have his or her own preferred channels.

Here are my current ones. They’re not “rules,” just guidelines for how to get a faster response.

1. If It’s Not Horribly Urgent:

If it’s work-related: email me at aisacson at wola dot org. (Here is my public PGP key.)

If it’s not work-related—or if you’d rather not have a copy of your message on WOLA’s servers—send me a secure message at my ProtonMail account, adam at adamisacson.com.

Both accounts go into the same inbox on my e-mail apps. I usually check e-mail at least twice per day, and try to end each day with an empty inbox. That has become more difficult lately, though, as workloads, deadlines, and travel have increased. On several occasions in 2022 I found myself trying to catch up on a few weeks’ accumulated e-mails.

2. If You Need a Response as Soon as Humanly Possible:

  • Send a text, WhatsApp, or Signal message to +1 202 329-4985.

I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Less Effective Ways To Contact Me

Don’t just call out of the blue. Why?

  • There’s a 90+ percent chance I’m either in a meeting or writing on a deadline. The chance I’m just sitting at my desk having “office hours” is slim.
  • If I don’t recognize your caller ID, I’m going to let you go straight to voicemail anyway. I get at least 2-3 spam calls every day, and I’ll assume you’re one of them.
  • If you do call out of the blue and fail to leave a voicemail or follow up with a text, I will probably block your number, because I’ll assume you’re a spammer.

Don’t expect an instant response to voicemail. I may be in a situation (in a meeting, driving) where I can’t easily check it. And then I may forget about it until I see the notification on my phone. Text or e-mail work better.

Don’t even bother calling my office landline unless I’ve told you otherwise. I’m rarely sitting at my desk. And if I’m lucky enough to have a moment at my desk, I may have the phone in “do not disturb” mode because I’m writing on a deadline.

Don’t expect an immediate response from Facebook Messenger, Twitter DMs, Mastodon, or other social media message services. I don’t get enough messages through those channels to make them worth checking regularly.