Inside the Inbox of… Matt Pinkney

In a series we’re calling ‘Inside the Inbox of…’ we’re asking industry leaders to let us delve into their most private of places… their emails!

Today we’re exploring the inbox of Matt Pinkney, Head of Content at the Australian Football League.

INBOX STATUS:

56 unread (I attempt to read everything I receive – part FOMO, part respect for the sender.)
13 drafts (90% of which are furious responses to various provocations, sent to the Drafts folder to cool down.)
21 flagged (too boring to read, too important to delete, too easy to put off for another day.)

1) Which email conversation has sparked your interest recently? 

One with gamification expert Zac Fitz-Walter who brings academic rigour to the question of rewarding desired customer behaviours through principles of gaming. Work meets my guilty pleasure. 

2) What’s the top priority in your inbox at the moment? 

A back and forth with the team about designing the newsroom of the future. It’s a massive challenge that needs to anticipate and respond to platforms and behaviours that we haven’t yet imagined.

3) Who are you emailing that inspires you?

I’ll probably sound like a wanker, but my team. They love their work and it’s apparent in the 24/7 emails about how to best present, polish, refine and improve our content.

4) What newsletters are you signed up to?

AFL newsletter, MOG and Pandora music services, Virgin and Qantas Frequent Flyers, Dr Jason Fox’s Leadership and Motivation missives, Zac Fitz-Walter’s Gamification bulletin, Hawthorn Football Club, Strava, Cell Bikes and a bunch of sales and marketing ones from organisations who I assume bought my address from someone I innocently dealt with.

5) Which kind of email gets instantly deleted?

LinkedIn requests from people trying to sell me things. It’s the modern Trojan Horse. 

6) Which kinds of email do you most love to receive?

Strava sends a beautiful email if you manage to become the fastest cyclist on some obscure stretch of suburban bike-path. I’ve always wanted to be a sporting hero and this is as close as I’ll get. Alternatively; ‘Your order has shipped!’

7) What do you think you’ll be discussing over email in six months time?

Ways to protect our brand and intellectual IP from the countless pirates of our content. It’s already widespread and bound to grow. The questions are; how do we prevent or mitigate it? And should we care?

8) How long does it usually take you to respond?

Too quickly when I’m angry, too slowly if I’m bored.

9) When do you stop replying to emails?

When I go to bed and when I go on holidays (although this is a discipline that I’m famously bad at).

10) Finally, you have a chance to change the world with just one email – who’s that getting sent to and why?

Such a hard one. I tried Googling it and found a poignant Robin Williams quote: ‘’No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.’’ So the email would be an invitation to talk for any friends or family who felt they’d run out of options.