Chalk this up as another pet peeve of mine in this day and age — but a few times a week I get asked “Where are you located?” in an email. This question comes from all kinds of people: partner companies, visiting press folks, prospective employees, student interns… you get the idea.

Here’s my problem with this (inane) question: please don’t waste my time with something that is widely available with a few simple clicks of a mouse. On most company websites, you can easily find an “About Us” page. Simply navigate to the home page of the website, and scroll all of the way to the bottom of the page. 9 times out of 10 you will find a “About Us” page on the footer. From there, you can almost always find a “Contact” page.

Some of you reading this blog post might be thinking “but what if the address on the website is wrong?” Great question. For the record, I have no problem with someone emailing me and writing “I noticed that your website lists the address as 123 Main St, Suite 500 in Boston. Is that still the correct address?”

Please note that this advice does not apply if you are visiting a very large company or a company with multiple locations. If you can’t find the address in less than two minutes online, then go ahead and ask over email.

This post was inspired by the most recent person who emailed me this question — but don’t feel bad Robert. You’re just in a long line of others. And I’m guessing you won’t be the last.

•  October 14, 2009
•  communication
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