tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post1118679776168875424..comments2023-05-15T08:51:12.031-04:00Comments on Love and Disdain: Business cards for profs?Dr. Kosharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07777054788430587906noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-32296881043351440232012-08-15T01:24:32.005-04:002012-08-15T01:24:32.005-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Waseemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13616982150624710742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-72180617446867872112011-09-18T19:49:33.597-04:002011-09-18T19:49:33.597-04:00I'm coming late to this, but I never had busin...I'm coming late to this, but I never had business cards until I got my t-t job, where they supplied them. That said, I've been given people's cards, and I've given mine back in return on those occasions - and also, it's easier to just hand somebody a card than to take the extra few minutes to write email addresses in programs. Basically, I've never taken to the whole "let me give you my card" shtick, but sometimes they are useful. I basically jam a bunch in the back of my nametag in case I need them, and if a situation arises where somebody asks for my info, or if somebody gives me their card, I'm set. And if I don't use them, I don't use them. That said, I've never looked down on somebody for not having them, and nobody ever cares if I don't have one to give back. I think the card is a convenience - but like most conveniences, not actually necessary.Dr. Crazyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-21300334318798891982011-09-18T18:48:08.896-04:002011-09-18T18:48:08.896-04:00Thanks, everyone! Much to my surprise, it turns o...Thanks, everyone! Much to my surprise, it turns out that my department will pay for business cards for me. Knowing that, I'd feel silly not getting them. I can always stuff a handful in my wallet before I head out to a conference. I think the best option for me is to have them, but never offer one until someone has asked for a card or given me one of their own already. Like Flavia says, there's something smarmy about a young academic who seems too eager to press a business card into your hand. And, like Historiann points out, I have hopes of talking to a few editors who might want something more professional than just an email address.Dr. Kosharyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777054788430587906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-3162029871046872052011-09-18T15:20:25.243-04:002011-09-18T15:20:25.243-04:00I never got cards, because I decided pretty early ...I never got cards, because I decided pretty early on to leave my first TT job. I got another job, and since I was going to be up for tenure "early" (b/c of prior credit from my first job), I figured why get 500 cards printed up with Assistant Prof. on them when I'll be promoted to Associate soon enough. Then I kind of forgot about it. Now, I'm thinking that I'm more than half-way to Prof., so why get 500 cards with "Associate Prof." printed up on them?<br /><br />But I guess the real reason I keep forgetting about cards is that like Flavia, they just don't really come up or get tossed around very much. They make sense for editors, though.Historiannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10615954696251174822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-19948302019197034512011-09-16T00:51:37.241-04:002011-09-16T00:51:37.241-04:00My college bought them for us...in addition to the...My college bought them for us...in addition to the uses you mention, they're handy when advising and you want to give the student a way to contact you if another question arises. Or at the major fairs when representing the department.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-63566321302151816532011-09-14T01:31:11.966-04:002011-09-14T01:31:11.966-04:00Oops. "THEIR cards," obvs.Oops. "THEIR cards," obvs.Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-79537837675787905822011-09-14T01:30:12.414-04:002011-09-14T01:30:12.414-04:00This probably differs by discipline, so take my pe...This probably differs by discipline, so take my perspective with the requisite amount of salt--but I've literally never used my own business cards (provided by my institution), never thought of having them before I was offered them, and have virtually never been given one by another academic.<br /><br />I've gotten cards from editors, but they've never asked for mine. And the only people who have ever given me there cards were two young (and slightly smarmy) grad students or junior professors.<br /><br />I actually really, really like paper products (I write handwritten notes all the time; have used the same personal stationery for more than a decade; use letterhead at every opportunity), but although I thought I'd love having business cards, it just doesn't seem like part of the culture in my field.Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-38310068428833517862011-09-14T00:44:25.685-04:002011-09-14T00:44:25.685-04:00@Hap: Wish me luck. I'm not sure that there&#...@Hap: Wish me luck. I'm not sure that there's any money budgeted for that sort of thing for lowly VAPs, here at Ghosttown U.<br /><br />@Fie: I know what you mean about not going through the whole box. How often do we ever exchange cards, as academics? Still, I have occasionally run into situations at conferences where someone will hand me a card and ask for one in return, and I've got nothing. That's annoying.<br /><br />@Sis: I'm slated to go to two big conferences this fall, so it's not an idle question. It's entirely possible that I would hand out about five cards — but that still presumes that I have them to hand out. I guess what I wish I knew is whether that really matters or not. Do such things really make a big impression? Do other academics actually care, or are they secretly embarrassed that they paid $50 for embossed business cards, and hope that someone else also paid such vanity costs?<br /><br />If anything, I wonder if the one area studies conference on my itinerary, where people from many disciplines interact, might benefit from an exchange of business cards. We pseudologists all know how to find each other, but maybe not so much the people in other disciplines who are only dimly aware of pseudology's existence.Dr. Kosharyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777054788430587906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-67492048279790383422011-09-13T23:12:10.184-04:002011-09-13T23:12:10.184-04:00I guess they are useful at conferences (like Fie, ...I guess they are useful at conferences (like Fie, it's kinda more expected that academics in my field *don't* have them, but then again, we're all artsy and anti-corporate like that in our own minds) --- how many conferences will you do this fall? It seems to me like you'd end up handing out about 5 over the course of a year if you spend most of your time workin' away at the Postdoc farm.<br /><br />If you really want 'em, you could order the 250 free cards that certain online printing places offer as incentives to get your business --- they won't be of spectacular quality, but they should do in a pinch.Sisyphushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-37804778127123812512011-09-13T23:02:22.530-04:002011-09-13T23:02:22.530-04:00Hm. I never had business cards. Never. But I got a...Hm. I never had business cards. Never. But I got a job. Then again, I think we're in different job markets. I'm at a SLAC that doesn't expect me to write a book for tenure. But you have a book manuscript going, and it sounds like you're going to be applying to R1s. So I don't know. I suppose it never hurts to have them, but then, I'm not 100% convinced of their necessity. <br /><br />P.S. My department did just order me business cards, but since this is a permanent position, that seems appropriate and not like a waste of time, money, and effort. And they should be good for six years, until I'm up for tenure. Even so, I doubt I go through a whole box in that long-ish time period.Fie upon this quiet life!https://www.blogger.com/profile/12047096700049201873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404056807161357402.post-55234139640379974692011-09-13T22:22:10.978-04:002011-09-13T22:22:10.978-04:00Your department should spring for cards for you. M...Your department should spring for cards for you. Mine did, and it's already proved very useful. I'm sure at conferences this will be especially important. If nothing else, it's a signifier of that certain je ne sais quoi of academe. I always felt like a huge loser when I didn't have a card to offer in return, and it feels awesome to have my own now. (I have 250 of 'em!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com