About all the noise in relation to saying thank you: When I was the publicity director of a small state science charity I managed to get more publicity, not only than the charity had gotten before, but also than many colleges here could get. In fact, one of them forced a member of their publicity staff to sign onto my committee to learn how I did it. (She was upfront about it, and never did put any time into our efforts.) Part of it was designing releases to match the concerns of specific papers and stations, and other tricks, but most of it was that EACH time we got ANY exposure I sent a little thank you note (Sometimes I only had time to write a short sentence such as "Thanks so much for doing this for the kids of New Jersey; you help them more than you know!" and signing my first name. The result was that places which did not express gratitude would get a few column inches here and there while the charity I worked with (on a volunteer basis) would get several pages regularly, and quite often would receive some front page space. Oh, if you are wondering what happened to the woman: She thought the notes took too much time and did not last long at the college, which instead asked me to write a short description of how I got so much coverage. Yes, I DID donate my time and let them know my techniques (Which were nothing fancy compared to what pros like Katie use.) You KNOW I mentioned saying thank you MANY times. Having the curtesy to express gratitude gives those who are helping you a warm feeling about their work or donation and it keeps you pleasantly in their minds for when they have a bit of space, time, or money to spare. You don't need to be fancy, just considerate. Sukie [Posted in FML issue 1782]