I PM'd someone once (cold-call), and I got a pretty polite, but stern reply back. Basically, the other person's point of view was that my question would have been better for the community if it were open and in the forums, rather than within a PM that he checks infrequently. Although this individual was the key person to answer the question, I understood his point. PM'ing people only benefits you, but not the others in the community. Furthermore, it's a burden to the individual that you are PM'ing - he is the only one that can reply back, whereas as a forum post, some newbie may have the answer that you are looking for, and they can to reply to it. Just a few thoughts based upon my experience in this area. YMMV, of course. I realize that we're completely off topic from the original post...