The Dead Contact Society

My Outlook contact database is a one way street. I add new contacts all the time, but no one ever seems to leave the list. It's seldom that I have the time to review my contacts, separating defunct from active. Look at my Millers, for example. I've got 12 listings for Miller in my contact database. Four are for the same guy over a period of the last decade or so. Two are for a person that got a new job, but I never removed the old address. Then there's a Rock, Jenny, Anne and Sharon that I know, but I'm not so sure my data for them is current. And finally there are two Millers where I can't put a face to a name. Cleaning my database ranks significantly above cleaning my closets (but below getting my teeth cleaned) on my Tasks to Procrastinate" list.

Of course I don't have to be married to MS Outlook. There are alternatives like Plaxo. When you register for Plaxo you can send a note to everyone in your Outlook contact database asking them to update their information and let you know via Plaxo. While they're updating their information, you can also ask them to join Plaxo. If they join you've got the perfect symbiotic relationship. You'll be notified every time a fellow- Plaxo user makes a move or a job change. 

Some people I know, many whose tech opinion I respect tremendously, swear by Plaxo. Me, I'm happy enough to answer a colleague's Plaxo-spawned requests for my information, but I don't really want to join a website that sends out a slew of email to my friends and colleagues as part of my membership. Some of the harsher critics even call this Plaxo spam.  

The Random Generator

Besides, opening your Outlook and wandering through your entries sets off a rush of memories. That got me thinking about how cool it would be if each time we opened our contact database in Outlook we got a randomly generated contact to look at.  This contact, chosen at random by a software algorithm,would beg for action. You could delete it forever or give the person a shout out (email or call) to see how what they've been doing. Five minutes a day would clean your contact list as it rekindled your memories.

When all is said and done, it's much more fun to clean up your contacts by contacting them, then by leaving it to services like Plaxo. Agreed?