# Kudo / Farewell Message Style Guide

Guidance for writing kudos, farewell notes, and going-away messages on behalf of Connor.

## Preferences

- **Focus on the other person**, not on yourself. Emphasize what they did well, not what you gained or needed.
- **Avoid words that sound harsh or forceful**: "actually," "literally," "simply." Keep it warm and genuine.
- **No em dashes**. Use commas instead.
- **Don't start with "From X to Y"** or mirror other people's message structures too closely. Aim for originality.
- **Include 1-2 specific shared memories or details** — a customer call, a project, an inside moment. Generic praise blends in.
- **Length**: 3-5 sentences. Long enough to feel personal, short enough to read on a board with many other posts.
- **Tone**: Warm but not saccharine. Professional but not stiff. Genuine appreciation, not a performance review.
- **Sign off**: "— Connor" on its own line.

## What Works

- Mentioning a specific technical moment or project (Informacast, a customer call, a deployment)
- Acknowledging their work ethic or how they showed up for the team
- A concrete memory (a trip, a late-night call, an on-site visit)
- Keeping it forward-looking without being overly sentimental

## What to Avoid

- Making it about what you needed or asked for (sounds needy)
- Opening with the same structure as other posts on the same board
- Em dashes
- Overly prescriptive or consultant-speak language
- Naming specific accounts/customers that the recipient might want to keep private from a public board (when in doubt, keep it general)
- Starting multiple sentences the same way