Signature Lines

[ecofem]

Ok. Completely petty rant to follow... feel free to skip. >

I just got an e-mail with the following signature (names and places have been changed to protect the guilty)...

Ronald McDonald BA BA MSC CETA
Senior Planner
Some County
Planning and Zoning Department
123 First Street
A Rainy State, FL 22222

tel (666) 666-6666
fax (666) 666-6666

Why... oh why... would somebody feel it necessary to put all of those letters after their name?

 

[Mastiff]

It makes their penis feel longer?

Hell, I don't even use a middle initial...

 

[Chet]

That's rediculous.

We recently dealy with a woman that always put "PHD CANDIDATE" after her name.

BFD. It's not like you finished, lady.

 

[ecofem]

I suspected it had something to do with the penis-thing (sexist reason)....

or maybe it's just because this person is an ass (universal reason).

 

[H]

This is my undergrad psych major side talking, but that can have two interpretations:

1. They worked hard for the degrees and are proud of them.

2. But generally it is a front for people with feelings of inadequacy and they have something to prove or justify.

My favorite is when people frame “certificates of attendance” from 2-day seminars and put them on their wall because they lack education degrees. This cracks me up.

Not that you need education degrees to be respected by me, but don’t pretend with false “certificates”, that shows weakness.

 

[SkeLeton]

his ego demands to have that included in the signature.. He wants to brag about it, period.

 

[Mastiff]

My favorite is when people frame “certificates of attendance” from 2-day seminars and put them on their wall because they lack education degrees. This cracks me up.

Not that you need education degrees to be respected by me, but don’t pretend with false “certificates”, that shows weakness.

Oddly...

At my last job, I hung my framed degree behind my desk, along with a couple other honor society things (and my APA membership). But at THIS job, when I looked around, I felt I would look like some nose in the air jackass if I did the same. But! I did hang my certs from EMI concerning floodplain management and another course related to my work. When people come in for FP info, I want them to know I've at least had some training...

 

[ecofem]

I would distinguish between some sort of professional training and "Employee Safety Course" or "WordPerfect 1.5" training certificates.... I guess.

Although, I'm not a certificate-framing kind of girl at all.

BTW. Does anybody know wtf a CETA is?

 

[donk]

Hanging on my office wall,

University Degree
CIP Membership Certificate
Sport Management Award ( to prove that the time I waste actually does accomplish something)
Thank you certificate from local business group ( to use as a tool when someone says I don't care about the community and have it in for everyone in town)

The first 2 only went up recently as I just got around to framing them.

The only letters after my name are MCIP

I don't use my middle initial as I highly doubt I will be mistaken for another person.

 

[H]

Yes, I certainly can see how some certificates are more important to display than others, but I don’t even hang my college degrees on my wall, so it is all about personality, I prefer to kept people guessing.

Also, if you hang your “floodplain” certitificate, but not your “growth management” certificate, wouldn’t one assume that you might not know anything about “growth management”? And if you hang them ALL, you will look crazy.

There fore I hang nothing…..but my head

 

[nerudite]

Initials behind names (and actually stating your title) are bigger up here than it is in the States. Degrees and affiliation are all the rage. Most everyone has their dimplomas or other professional certificates on the walls of their office. Nobody ever makes it into my office, since there are three boardrooms available, so I have never bothered with all that showy stuff. But then in 13 years in the biz, my credentials were only requested once... by a snotty PhD in Psychology when I was still working in Davis. I turned down a variance on a deck, and I think he copped a 'tude to show how he was better than me.

I have AICP in my sig line, but that is just because people pay attention to that stuff here. MCIP is a big deal, so I display my AICP due to the reciprocity to put me on equal footing.

 

[BKM]

I don't really think I even know where my diplomas are right now. I really DO have a MURP from UVA, honest!

I think a "City Manager's Comendation" certificate from nine years ago is on the floor in my office, somewhere.

 

[H]

added rant (to my earlier post):

And come on, “Certificate of Attendance”??!! What the heck does that mean anyway, that you signed the sign in sheet!? You could of stood in the hall the entire time drinking coffee and received the same certificate as the person in the front row taking notes.

That’s why I see no weight in certificates.

 

[Mastiff]

There fore I hang nothing….

Since you only have 150-some posts, I'm going to let that hanging curve go without a swing...

 

[jordanb]

Showing up is 60% of life. -- Woody Allen

 

[Repo Man]

All of my diplomas, from 8th grade through masters, are in a plastic storage bin in my closet. I have thought about framing them (especially when I see $2 frames at walgreens) but have never gotten around to it.

One place I worked, a lady had a wall full of those certificates for 2 day training seminars.

I don't think any of them were from a college or tech school, just a bunch of...

"This Certifies that _____ ______ has sucessfully completed 'Power Point Tips and Tricks II' "

 

[jmf]

If I am writing something planning related, I use MCIP after my name. Otherwise, I don't use BA, MURP, MCIP.

I almost always use both my middle initials. It is just something I have always done. My full name is too long to put on most documents but I refuse to use only one since one name comes from each side of my family. My paternal grandfather always used to call me by my first two names which would tick me off since it seemed like he was dismissing my mother's side of the family. I expect to some people it seems snobby or pretentious but I'm not, so who cares what they think.

 

[Cardinal]

I do have my CEcD certificate hanging on the wall of my office, but I only use the initials on my business card. My membership certificates for APA, WAPA, WDAC, IEDC, and ULI also hang on the wall, mainly because I want to show my organization's commitment to professional practice. My diplomas are in a file somewhere at home.

Mr. Michael D. Stumpf, HS Grad, BS, MS, CEcD, AICP Candidate (2004), 1LT USAR
Director, Community Development Authority

 

[Seabishop]

My middle initial is a must because I have a relative who I've never met with the same uncommon name in the same city of 75,000. I've heard he's "in real estate" among other things, so as a planner I don't want to be confused with him in case he's into anything fishy.

Sincerely,
Seabishop, CCC (Cyburbia Clube Candidate)

 

[nerudite]

Showing up is 60% of life. -- Woody Allen

Yeah, but I think he was talking about court.

 

[Wannaplan?]

Anybody here a CPSI - a certified playground safety inspector?

 

[Chet]

Anybody here a CPSI - a certified playground safety inspector?

No but I think Prudence is a Certified Muff Diver. At least that's what his t-shirt says.

 

[ecofem]

O.K. I had to look on the web to see wtf a CETA is. It can be one of the following:

Controlled Environment Testing Association...

Construction Education and Training Authority...

Canadian Embryo Transfer Association...

California Educational Theater Association...

Certified Electronics Technicians' Association...


I will be able to sleep at night now.

 

[prudence]

No but I think Prudence is a Certified Muff Diver. At least that's what his t-shirt says.

No M*ff to Tuff...We dive after five.

 

[Jeff]

I tend to use Esq. alot anymore....kind of a slap in the face to the lawyers who commandeered that...

You know Esquire only means you are a gentlman...nothing else...chicks dig esquires

 

[Mastiff]

I tend to use Esq. alot anymore....kind of a slap in the face to the lawyers who commandeered that...

I use it on letters when I want people to THINK I'm a lawyer...

 

[NHPlanner]

I'll admit to using AICP in correspondence and on business cards.....

I also have the following habging in my office:

AICP Certificate
BUPD Diploma
BS (Environmental Design) Diploma
Outstanding Thesis Award Plaque
NNECAPA Award Plaque
NH Planners Assn. Membership Cert.
Commendation Certificate from the Town Council for Open Space Taskforce
Pictures of my wife and daughter.

The last one is my most important and favorite.

 

[H]

Since you only have 150-some posts, I'm going to let that hanging curve go without a swing...

Gracias, I should be more careful next time

 

[pandersen]

Degree's y'all

Me:
I got myself "learned-up" reel good!
I got me a B.A;
I got me a M.Sc.;
I got me a M.C.I.P., but the only thing I hang on my office wall is a calednar, a meetin' schedule and some mappin'.

Sure I'll cope to usin' my "high falootin' credentials on my signaue line in business e-mail correspondence, but all my card says is that I'm a plain ole "Community Planner"

When I write formal business correspondence, I just close with my position title.

Credentials are for resumes.

 

[Downtown]

You know Esquire only means you are a gentlman...nothing else...chicks dig esquires

Especially Bill S. Preston Esquire

 

[boiker]

Especially Bill S. Preston Esquire

and ted "theodore" Logan, Esquire!

EXCELLENT!!!!

(rightous air guitar riff)