You know what I'm talking about, my friends. COVID-19 messages from the companies you have some type of relationship with.

There's a set of organizations where messages on COVID-19 are either mission-critical or welcomed. Included in that group are hospitals and health care organizations, companies communicating with workforces, government entities, schools, places for food and a few others. Gotta hear from those mission critical folks, and for the most part, they are doing an outstanding job.

Then there's everyone else. Here's a running list of who I didn't need to hear from related to COVID-19:

--Any clothing retailer, either online or bricks and mortar. Shopping for your gear isn't at the top of my list. Just because I ordered an Alkaline Trio t-shirt from you in 2015 doesn't mean I need to know where you're at on all of this. Express is closing at the mall? Got it, thanks. 

--Any tech or information provider I pay. Last time I checked, your tech worked. Not super critical I hear from you. Ping me if it goes down and tell me what the plan is then. Note that I will be thinking that still having internet access is awesome at least 4 times a day. But, if you're offering additional services (New York Times dropping paywall for some content, energy and tech companies not cutting people off due to unpaid bills, etc.), you can email me as much as you want, even if I don't benefit or need it. Good job by you!

--Cole-Haan. I know, they're a retailer (shoes), but I had to list them here for special consideration, as they sent me a note last night that they "Are With Us". Check, good to know. Are the 11.5's still available in the grey ZeroGrand? Damn, never mind.

--Anyone selling something that's not mission critical. Of course, that's in the eye of the beholder, so if you have a solution that can help someone right now, do your thing. But that guilt ploy note (the 7th in a series) I got from the LinkedIn Learning guy late yesterday noting that "learning and development must not be at the top of my list right now" felt a bit off, right?  Probably stand down on the raw lead generation troops for a week as a best practice.

I get it, you feel the need to tell people you're connected and understand - but if you're on the outer ring of what really matters right now, just be responsive when we have a question. I guarantee your Net Promoter Score will be more impacted by that than the 5-paragraph email you just sent that says your company - a fine provider of mid-range men's shirts- is tracking the situation.

As for the hospitals, government entities and retailers of essentials (food, etc) - god bless you and thanks for all you're doing and everything to come!