Are you kidding me?

OK, about 2 or 3 months ago, our IS department sent out an email instructing everyone in the company to conform to a new "signature" on our emails. They sent us the template that we were to use, and this was something that was to be done company wide.

I felt that then new signature for the emails was rather bland and boring, so, I ignored the request and kept my signature the same on my emails. Here is what it looks like (if the format comes through correctly):

Firstname Lastname Title
firstname.lastname@company.com
COMPANY IT Solutions www.company.com

office
mobile
fax

So, everyone in the company changed to the new format (except me). Some people changed the font, some people changed the colors, and some people added a tag line to their's.

Yesterday, we received the following email from our CFO:

I’d like to remind everyone of our expectation regarding email signatures, as well as offer additional guidance regarding email communication. Email is an important method of business communication, and has a significant impact on the image of our company. To that end, please comply with the following guidelines.

1) Your signature block needs to conform to the specifications of the standard example – do not change the font, color, bolding or size of any portion of the signature block. If you have questions about the format, revisit the guidelines and sample signature block on the intranet at: (website given).
2) White is the only acceptable color to use as a background on email communication. While Microsoft Outlook provides a wide variety of borders, formats and backgrounds, none conform to the professional image we’d like to convey.
3) Personal quotes, known/famous quotes, taglines, etc. should not be used. (Note: The only acceptable form of tagline is the “IT Solutions” phrase included in the approved signature block.)
4) Use a standard font in all email communication (i.e., Arial, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Verdana, MS Reference Sans Serif, etc.). Avoid using script fonts.
5) IS will soon be adding a standard confidentiality statement to the bottom of emails (2-3 weeks). More information regarding this statement will be communicated when it is implemented.

If you have any specific questions regarding our email policy, please feel free to contact Marketing Manager directly at (phone number given) or myself at (phone number given).

Thank you for your cooperation.

Everyone's reaction in this office was "are you kidding me?" Of all the things wrong that need fixed or addressed, they sure pick some irrelevant issues to focus on.

OK, I can understand wanting some sort of standard, really I can. But in my opinion, they could have picked a better template. Or they could be a little more yielding to a bit of personalization. Conformity... robots... eeewww... I mean, come on. We are an IT solutions provider, you would think we could utilize some of the options available in our software.

So, I caved. :( I changed my signature. But I am not changing my font. It is not in his list of "standard fonts" but it is not a script font, so I am keeping it.