(Archived) Unwelcoming Attitudes on the Forums

[<actus 10]

Note: I have mostly been reading the MAC forums so this comment may not have wider relevance.

 

I'm a relatively new Evernote user. I love it. There are some features I find somewhat annoying and feel could be improved but the positives massively outweigh the negatives IMO.

 

I've been reading quite a few forum posts over the past few weeks about mostly around suggested new features or improvements that users would like to see. Many threads seem to follow a similar pattern:

 

A new user posts a comment about a feature they'd like to see in the future. The one or more people who have several thousand posts on the forums immediately weighs in and says: 

- they can't see any point to the suggestion

- they can't see why Evernote would waste time implementing the suggestion

- the suggestion has been made before

- Evernote is not meant to do the thing the new user wants it to do (and if you want that feature you should just go and find a different program that offers that feature)

 

End result: the discussion stops abruptly and and frequently the user that started the post stops posting completely.

 

I guess there will be plenty who disagree with this post - and that's fine - I'm just telling you how it has felt to me as a new reader of the threads.

 

 

 

 

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Hi. Thanks for the feedback.

 

I post a lot in the Mac forums, and I have several thousand posts, so maybe I am one of the targets here? I checked out my most recent post in the forum (http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/37022-request-view-shared-notebooks-offline/?p=200492), and it didn't seem to fit that pattern.

 

I acknowledged the request was a good one, because it addressed a problem I also see, and I added another related request of my own to it before concluding with a solution to the problem (in this case, Business instead of Premium). I'd like to think it was not unwelcoming (I even started the post saying "welcome"), but I'll try to be more conscious of how what I write might not foster conversations. 

 

[EDIT:] I also just realized that I misunderstood the original poster's problem. Whoops!

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

- they can't see any point to the suggestion

 

What's wrong with that? You may think lack of highlighting renders the app totally unusable & I may not. This is a message board. If you post something, you need to expect & allow others to post differing opinions.

 

- they can't see why Evernote would waste time implementing the suggestion

 

Please address specifics. I'm pretty sure this rarely happens if ever. But your generic comment is not helpful

 

- the suggestion has been made before

feature)

 

Again, what's wrong with this reply?  In fact, another POV on this is that often people post feature requests without even bothering to use the search function.  Had they used the search function, they would have found a lot of threads already discussing that feature request & replies that they may have found helpful.  Quite often I've posted lengthy, details replies about something, as have other, long time, knowledgeable users.  We volunteer our time here to do that & help other users out.  So it's a bit annoying when someone new comes to the board & simply posts w/o searching.  I'm not going to spend my time reposting that stuff, so I will simply post a link to my original post or say, "yeah, this has been discussed before - please use the search function'. 

 

- Evernote is not meant to do the thing the new user wants it to do (and if you want that feature you should just go and find a different program that offers that feature)

 

Or this one...??? It's truthful. 

I'm sorry you find the board "unwelcoming". But it's a message board where ideas are exchanged.  You can't post something & then tell others with differing opinions to not post their opinions.  Personally, when I see a post like this one, it seems to me the user is reading too much into what's been posted (IE the "can't see why Evernote would waste time implementing the suggestion" line).  If you read the posts & leave any knee jerk reactions at the door (this is a *business* forum after all), then you may be able to accept the posts for what they are meant to be...helpful & informative.

 

[*susan* 10]

<actus, I understand where you are coming from.  I am the administrator of one of the largest weight loss forums on the internet.  I see it everyday where new posters join and often feel "attacked" by older members of the forum.  Often, new members are also new to forums in general, so they are unaware of the idea of using the search function.  So, they frequently get "chastised" by older members for not using it.  Or, sometimes, you are just in a hurry, and want a quick answer to your question.  The other problem is, older members tend to feel like they have seen every post a million times and they are tired of seeing it and answering the same question over and over again.  And, often older members feel they are being helpful by suggesting the search, or that they have already answered this question, but in doing so, without their even realizing it, their annoyance with the OP really does shine through in their response.  This frequently results in new members feeling unwelcome,

 

Usually I remind the older members of my forum that they were once new, and to try and remember how that felt.  If they find a question annoying, or feel it has been answered a million times before, they are not required to respond to a post, they are more than welcome to just pass it by, let other members who are willing to help and are not annoyed by the question answer it while they move on to other threads.  And, you know what, I am okay with new posters coming and asking the same questions other posters have asked before.  There may be a slight twist that makes their question slightly different than the way it was asked before.  And, it keeps the forums active.  If everyone quit asking questions because they fear it has been asked before or may offend someone, then our forum would simply become a knowledge base instead of an interactive forum that continues to grow and help people.

[Martin Packer 162]

One point on the "it's been posted before" thing: Done right it's actually USEFUL to the Original Poster (OP) to know it's been asked for before, for a number of reasons. These come to mind:

 

1) It corroborates their view a little.

 

2) It gives other aspects of a likely solution - which taken together might make something Evernote would prioritise.

 

3) It gives them a chance to go "+1" on an existing post.

 

 

As I say "done right".

[Martin Packer 162]

And while we should be welcoming (and I think most of us try to be) in 27 years of newsgroups - both inside my company and out - a certain thickness of skin is helpful. Not much but enough.

[*susan* 10]

Martin, I agree, it has to be "done right".  Unfortunately, it frequently is done with more of a snarky, know-it-all attitude, or at least, that is how it comes across.  On the internet, people need to read what they post before hitting the send button to make sure the message and tone they are attempting to convey is truly coming across in the manner they wish it to.

[C6REW 416]

Hi actus,

Very interesting feedback and debate.

Yes the same question gets asked all the time and yes it can be frustrating.

But I don't think I have ever seen a rude or poor response that was not preceded by someone being offensive in their question.

Typically we see the question that goes like this all the time:

Why doesn't Evernote make the coffee when I tell it to? Unless it can get to grips with this most basic function I'm out of here!

Tongue in cheek, but you get the idea and yes we see this type of negative attitude all the time.

When the question is asked politely because the person has a positive attitude and really wants a feature, they are treated with the same respect.

Forums are so difficult for new members. Even old hands need to understand that the lack of being physically present when discussing something means the nuances, expressions and vibes we pick up are completely missing. This means questions as well as responses need to be thought about.

Best regards

Chris

[jefito 5,589]

OK, first let's set some context: the forum rules of conduct -- we all read it, right? It's here if you need a refresher: http://discussion.evernote.com/index.php?app=core&module=help&do=01&HID=13. These are the rules. They're tight enough so that forum discussion can be controlled in a constructive, topical fashion, but loose enough so that a user's personality can show through. Since snarkiness seems to be an issue (I would put some of it as perceived snarkiness, an entirely different thing), please note that snarkiness is explicitly allowed ("We don’t mind snark and gibes, but don’t get hateful. Put another way: the golden rule applies here.")

Anyways, some specific thoughts:
 

I've been reading quite a few forum posts over the past few weeks about mostly around suggested new features or improvements that users would like to see. Many threads seem to follow a similar pattern:
 
A new user posts a comment about a feature they'd like to see in the future. The one or more people who have several thousand posts on the forums immediately weighs in and says:

- they can't see any point to the suggestion
- they can't see why Evernote would waste time implementing the suggestion
- the suggestion has been made before
- Evernote is not meant to do the thing the new user wants it to do (and if you want that feature you should just go and find a different program that offers that feature)
 
End result: the discussion stops abruptly and and frequently the user that started the post stops posting completely.

Sorry, but this is not really helpful. You're making some kind of accusation without being specific about who you are referring to, and generalizing on number of posts a person has made and on types of responses you don't care for. I have lots of posts, and sometimes suggest such things. Are you referring to me? Then kindly point out the specific posts where this happens, or respond directly in those posts, why you think that they're inappropriate, and I'd be happy to address them. Sometimes it's just a misunderstanding that can be cleared up in a post or two, on the spot. For this type of blanket statement, there is no clearing up, since it's unclear to start with.

Moreover, some of these responses are perfectly valid. For example "the suggestion has been made before" is a data point, not a value judgement on the person making the suggestion. Martin points out some of the things that it could mean; I'll add one: "Evernote is aware of this feature request or issue". We can give the bare assertion that "the suggestion has been made before" some context (I try to, usually) by explaining that Evernote reads every post, but cannot fulfill every request.

The other response that seems reasonable in some cases is "Evernote is not meant to do the thing the new user wants it to do (and if you want that feature you should just go and find a different program that offers that feature)". Actually I would never say that specifically. I do tend to say something like "Evernote is not meant does not do the thing the new user wants it to do (and if you want require that feature you should just go and try to find a different program that offers that feature meets your requirements)". See the difference? This is reasonable because I've found that it's best to try to deal with Evernote as it is rather than what users A, B, and C want it to be (which may be in conflict with each other), and we don't usually know what is on Evernote's feature roadmap. If that doesn't work for you, and there's no guarantee that Evernote will ever address that issue, then why beat your head on the wall?
 

I guess there will be plenty who disagree with this post - and that's fine - I'm just telling you how it has felt to me as a new reader of the threads.

I am not here to try to guess what might or might not offend you; it's not always possible anyways. If you feel offended by something that some other user says to you, then you need to say something, and your first recourse is just to say so at the point where you feel offended. Me, I've apologized for misunderstanding someone, or being inappropriately snarky before, and I've meant it (I've also been misunderstood, a different matter). Your second recourse (and this is, and should be, pretty rare) is to report the post that you think is abusive or over the top, whether it be from another user, a moderator, or an Evernote employee. It will be seen to by Evernote staff and/or moderators, and taken seriously, and almost always will get a response.

[<actus 10]

Hi,

 

Just to be clear I am certainly not personally offended or anything like that and I certainly don't mind seeing robust debate (or being told I'm wrong).

 

The point that I was trying to make is this:

 

With some of the responses that I mentioned are not really part of a debate at all (in that often they hardly engage with the point the new poster was raising). All they do is serve to close down the debate before it gets started. 

 

Re: "I can't see the point of the suggestion". There is a difference between two long time users saying something like this to each other (no big deal) and a user with 9000+ posts saying it to a new user (pretty harsh IMO). If you have some good reason why Evernote would be worse if the users suggestion was implemented, by all means go ahead and say it. If you just feel like it is a feature you wouldn't use well you could say "I don't see the point of this post" or you could say "probably not a feature I'd use much myself but if it were to be implemented the issues could be x y and z". One of the options is welcoming and opens the debate, the other not so much....

 

Re: "The idea has been discussed before". In this case it would be good to link to the previous discussion. To use the search effectively you need to be across the right terms to describe things so it is easy for new users to miss certain relevant posts - I certainly didn't find the information I was looking for on my first or my second foray into the forums. 

 

Snark I personally don't mind - and I won't be put off saying what I think by any amount of it - but I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of new users to the forums who won't feel that way. And again, there is a big difference regarding who is snarking who. Two long time users snarking each other is no big deal. Having users with 9000+ posts telling brand new users that their posts "are not helpful" is not a great way to encourage new users or new ideas. 

 

From Jefito: "You're making some kind of accusation without being specific about who you are referring to". Well I was trying to raise the issue without stepping on the toes of any individuals in particular (obviously I've failed in that). I was just stating feeling I got from reading a bunch of different threads from a bunch of different new users over the last three or four weeks.

 

Finally @ GrumpyMonkey - you were certainly not a "target" of the post. I've read plenty of posts from you and from what I've read you always seem to engage with the point the original poster raised and do so in a way that is polite and encouraging to new users. Kudos to you.

[<actus 10]

@ C6REW

 

Yeah, that is probably fair point about the way new users sometimes phrase their ideas for a new feature in a rather combative tone.... I guess that just encourages someone to shoot them down rather than engage with their posts....

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Re: "I can't see the point of the suggestion". There is a difference between two long time users saying something like this to each other (no big deal) and a user with 9000+ posts saying it to a new user (pretty harsh IMO).

I think there is only one user with this many posts

 

Finally @ GrumpyMonkey - you were certainly not a "target" of the post. I've read plenty of posts from you and from what I've read you always seem to engage with the point the original poster raised and do so in a way that is polite and encouraging to new users. Kudos to you.

Glad to hear that. Thank you. And, to your points about how to frame the responses, I appreciate the suggestions!

[jefito 5,589]

With some of the responses that I mentioned are not really part of a debate at all (in that often they hardly engage with the point the new poster was raising). All they do is serve to close down the debate before it gets started.

Flip side is that plenty of debate may have already happened, and it might be useful for the user to read that before trying to start up the same debate again. I understand that that's not always possible, since...

 

Re: "The idea has been discussed before". In this case it would be good to link to the previous discussion. To use the search effectively you need to be across the right terms to describe things so it is easy for new users to miss certain relevant posts - I certainly didn't find the information I was looking for on my first or my second foray into the forums.

I wouldn't find just saying "The idea has been discussed before" helpful; I would rarely leave it at that. You're absolutely right -- linking to prior discussions is the preferred method. Sometimes I don't have a link handy, but search can easily find such discussions; I'll post the search terms that work, and encourage the other user to discover how to use forum (or Google) search to find the relevant topics. Sometimes search isn't helpful, or the topic isn't suited to searching. That will beget a comment like "You might try searching the forum for related discussion. Evernote staff do read all posts, so this will be taken as a feature request, even if they don't reply".

By the way, on the topic of searching. I usually hope and expect that a poster will try to find previous conversations about their idea before posting themselves. That's standard forum etiquette for almost all forums I've participated in. But forum search isn't as robust as I'd like, so I don't harp on that any more.

 

Snark I personally don't mind - and I won't be put off saying what I think by any amount of it - but I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of new users to the forums who won't feel that way. And again, there is a big difference regarding who is snarking who. Two long time users snarking each other is no big deal. Having users with 9000+ posts telling brand new users that their posts "are not helpful" is not a great way to encourage new users or new ideas.

Discussion about forum decorum is actually topical and welcome. I used the term 'unhelpful' about your post here mostly because I don't think making vague points about generalized quotes from a partially identified group of 'offenders' in a topic that's far away from any actual offense is probably not going to get the message across as effectively as a direct message at the time and topic where it occurs. If, for example, your kid has a penchant for putting peanut butter in your sneakers, the best response is probably not to pronounce at Thanksgiving dinner "I wish that some people wouldn't put peanut butter where it's not supposed to be". It's probably better to catch the kid in the act, and tell them not to do it right then and there.

Also, in light of the above comments about linking, linking to specific examples might have made your post more helpful in my eyes. Without specific examples, the sample responses that you object to were not as credible as they might have been because you generalized them. In any case, I'd probably back away from a blanket label of your post as being 'unhelpful'; there is worthwhile discussion to be had around the topic, even if I disagree with some of it. So, 'somewhat unhelpful', maybe (in the vein of 'mostly harmless' for those Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans watching)?

 

From Jefito: "You're making some kind of accusation without being specific about who you are referring to". Well I was trying to raise the issue without stepping on the toes of any individuals in particular (obviously I've failed in that). I was just stating feeling I got from reading a bunch of different threads from a bunch of different new users over the last three or four weeks.

There are only so many of us who fit the criteria that you mentioned; you couldn't have helped to filter down the list to a very small group. Frankly, when someone refers to the behavior of the 'Evangelists' as a group when only one of us is at fault, I kinda go nutty. If it's me, I want to hear about it: I might be wrong, and need to apologize, or I might have been misunderstood, and I need to clarify. Or whatever. Blanket statements don't give me that chance; let me make my own mistakes, and I'll own them.

 

Finally @ GrumpyMonkey - you were certainly not a "target" of the post. I've read plenty of posts from you and from what I've read you always seem to engage with the point the original poster raised and do so in a way that is polite and encouraging to new users. Kudos to you.

I like GM a lot; he's unfailingly polite and welcoming and informative, and adds a lot of value to the forums. Kudos indeed. But in the context of this conversation, surely you can see what you just did there...

[Metrodon 2,184]

I'm really not sure what value this thread is offering, this subject has been discussed on here before and can be easily found with a quick search.

 

(see what I did there? it's true though)

[jefito 5,589]

I'm really not sure what value this thread is offering, this subject has been discussed on here before and can be easily found with a quick search.

 

(see what I did there? it's true though)

You need to change your title from "Bankrobber" to "Rockthrower".

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

With some of the responses that I mentioned are not really part of a debate at all (in that often they hardly engage with the point the new poster was raising). All they do is serve to close down the debate before it gets started.

 

I guess that's personal interpretation. Additionally, if the topic has been discussed before in other threads, it's preferable to keep the discussion in a single thread rather than have 50 threads on the same topic. We've even been known to merge newly created threads into existing ones because of this.  Sometimes there's just not that much more to discuss.  Highlighting, sub-notebooks & due dates are things that initially spring to mind.  They've been discussed a lot over the years & I doubt there's really anything new that someone could add to the discussion.

 

Re: "I can't see the point of the suggestion". There is a difference between two long time users saying something like this to each other (no big deal) and a user with 9000+ posts saying it to a new user (pretty harsh IMO).

 

Again, IMO, personal interpretation. It's not unusual for someone to day they don't see the point of the suggestion b/c they don't understand what the user is trying to accomplish. Sometimes a post is vague or unclear b/c the poster was unclear/vague or sometimes it's b/c English is not the poster's first language.  If we know what the user is trying to accomplish, there may be another (and possibly even better) way to do what they want to do.

 

Re: "The idea has been discussed before". In this case it would be good to link to the previous discussion. To use the search effectively you need to be across the right terms to describe things so it is easy for new users to miss certain relevant posts - I certainly didn't find the information I was looking for on my first or my second foray into the forums.

 

Since you seem to be targeting me, if you check my posts, there are countless times I've included a link. There are also countless times I've told the user to "please search the board on topic A and/or topic B". Again, I volunteer here. I may not be at my desktop where it's easier to find particular threads/posts. Or I may be in the middle of making dinner & have only a few minutes to spare or get a call from work that I need to address.

 

Snark I personally don't mind - and I won't be put off saying what I think by any amount of it - but I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of new users to the forums who won't feel that way. And again, there is a big difference regarding who is snarking who. Two long time users snarking each other is no big deal. Having users with 9000+ posts telling brand new users that their posts "are not helpful" is not a great way to encourage new users or new ideas.

 

I'm sorry you find my posts offensive/unwelcoming. But I think you'd be hard pressed to find a snarky comment I've made without someone else being snarky first.

 

Also, each post has a 'report' button.  If you find a post offensive, feel free to use it.

 

 

I'm really not sure what value this thread is offering, this subject has been discussed on here before and can be easily found with a quick search.

 

(see what I did there? it's true though)

 

[Martin Packer 162]

@metrodon To quote @jefito and the late great Douglas Adams this thread is "mostly harmless". :-)

[skellam 114]

In my years of forum posting, I have found it's best to have a welcoming attitude to new users since it promotes goodwill and interaction that leads to greater usefulness of the forum for all.

When someone asks a question that I've seen a thousand times before and I want to express my desire that they would learn how to conduct a search before asking such questions. I just use this shorthand to provide a demonstration. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=why+can%27t+I+highlight+in+Evernote%3F. New users usually (but not always) really appreciate this.

;-)

[<actus 10]

"But in the context of this conversation, surely you can see what you just did there...But in the context of this conversation, surely you can see what you just did there..."

 

@ jefito - Apologies. I actually didn't mean to imply that your posts were unhelpful or impolite, but I see in rereading that I did. And bonus points to you for the Hitchhiker's Guide quote.

 

PS. Who would have thought the Hitchhiker's Guide would actually be invented (including all of its predicted imperfections) in the form of Wikipedia so soon after Adams thought it up?  

[jefito 5,589]

"But in the context of this conversation, surely you can see what you just did there..."

 

@ jefito - Apologies. I actually didn't mean to imply that your posts were unhelpful or impolite, but I see in rereading that I did. And bonus points to you for the Hitchhiker's Guide quote.

 

PS. Who would have thought the Hitchhiker's Guide would actually be invented (including all of its predicted imperfections) in the form of Wikipedia so soon after Adams thought it up?  

Fair enough, and accepted. I offered up the H2G quote as possibly a bit of leavening for any lingering disagreements. I accept where the impetus for the thread comes from, and I think I've said all that I need to on any quibbles.

 

The question is can we get all of Wikipedia onto a small netbook/tablet sized device so we can carry it around all the time? Does it have offline notebooks?

[Metrodon 2,184]

And can I ***** highlight the ***** out of it?

[jefito 5,589]

And can I ***** highlight the ***** out of it?

Highlight the ***** away: http://enml-editor.ping13.net/ 

 

Actually, per Jackolicious: "Highlighting is on the way" (for iOS, I guess). Cue the standard Due Date wheezers (though the current Android beta has reminders now).

[Metrodon 2,184]

Jack is the OS X  (rather than iOS) guy so I'm assuming we'll be getting it "soon" - doesn't particularly bother me as I haven't bothered to highlight anything since about 1992.
 
{I do like a heated debate though, Evernote is so **** because it doesn't have this and I'd go premium in a flash if it had this and it would immediately get 9 squadrazillion more premium account users if it had this.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

{I do like a heated debate though, Evernote is so **** because it doesn't have this and I'd go premium in a flash if it had this and it would immediately get 9 squadrazillion more premium account users if it had this.

 

I will meet your highlighting & raise you with sub-notebooks.  I know if Evernote had this, everyone in my company, everyone in my family & all my Facebook friends would go premium.  I can't even imagine why this is not already included.

 

/sarcasm

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Jack is the OS X  (rather than iOS) guy so I'm assuming we'll be getting it "soon" - doesn't particularly bother me as I haven't bothered to highlight anything since about 1992.

 

{I do like a heated debate though, Evernote is so **** because it doesn't have this and I'd go premium in a flash if it had this and it would immediately get 9 squadrazillion more premium account users if it had this.

Jack isn't normally one to tip his hand like this unless it is actually ready, so I am thinking we'll see an update any minute. Highlighting isn't something I use, but I know it is the bee's knees for a lot of people.

[jefito 5,589]

You're right about Jack. Sorry Jack!!

 

I figure a bit of a push is on for both long wished-for features but that's still not gonna stop Google Keep from eating Evernote's lunch, right?

[Metrodon 2,184]

I'm looking forward to Google crawling my private notes in Keep (presents my Mistress wants me to buy her etc) so that it can target it's ads more effectively at me.

 

It's going to be a golden age.

[C6REW 416]

You're all mad!

Chris

[C6REW 416]

But I can't wait for sub notebooks!

Mee again

[Horlics 2]

I agree with the original post and I am willing to be more specific.  I find the evangelists on this board the least helpful 'expert' users I've come across. They're dismissive and often combative.  I'm not going to debate this and won't be commenting further on this subject.

 

I don't use this board much, we need a 'no evangelist input please' button on posts, then maybe I would.

[C6REW 416]

I agree with the original post and I am willing to be more specific.  I find the evangelists on this board the least helpful 'expert' users I've come across. They're dismissive and often combative.  I'm not going to debate this and won't be commenting further on this subject.

 

I don't use this board much, we need a 'no evangelist input please' button on posts, then maybe I would.

 

Hi Horlics,

 

So you wish to be more specific, but don't seem to want to do that?

 

Regards

 

Chri

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I agree with the original post and I am willing to be more specific.  I find the evangelists on this board the least helpful 'expert' users I've come across. They're dismissive and often combative.  I'm not going to debate this and won't be commenting further on this subject.

 

I don't use this board much, we need a 'no evangelist input please' button on posts, then maybe I would.

You have five posts on this board. If you find us the "least helpful", I suggest you put your money where your mouth is and start posting helpful replies.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I agree with the original post and I am willing to be more specific. I find the evangelists on this board the least helpful 'expert' users I've come across. They're dismissive and often combative. I'm not going to debate this and won't be commenting further on this subject.

I don't use this board much, we need a 'no evangelist input please' button on posts, then maybe I would.

Hi. Thanks for the input. I'll try to be a little more helpful, but could you point out something I've bungled so that I could get a better idea of what you mean?

As for a no Evangelist button, please go into your settings and you can ignore posts by users you specify.

[jefito 5,589]

I agree with the original post and I am willing to be more specific.  I find the evangelists on this board the least helpful 'expert' users I've come across. They're dismissive and often combative.  I'm not going to debate this and won't be commenting further on this subject.

 

I don't use this board much, we need a 'no evangelist input please' button on posts, then maybe I would.

In other words, you're going to toss your own unspecific shot at a generalized group of users, and then run away. Well, OK, it's your forum, too, but forgive me if I don't find your post on the helpful end of the scale either. On the actual helpful side, openings for Evangelists are always available as far as I know; all you need to do is show an interest and some aptitude for Evernote (some folks do it without the actual title, for whatever reason). One thing, though: you don't need to be an expert on all things Evernote (I don't claim to be), but each of the current Evangelists has been around for awhile, and yes, all of them are often able to help other users. In general, though, the experts are the ones who are Evernote employees, but a lot of the time, issues and questions can be handled by other users without needing an official Evernote response. That's the idea, anyways.

 

It's not clear to me that you can actually "Ignore" Evangelists, since we are also moderators. That used to be the case, but you're welcome to try it. If that doesn't work for you, then you should request it.