In 2000 I was in Switzerland at #USI, Unniversita della Svizzera Italiana, and, in a group, as part of a course (Marketing?) was assigned to the new #ALaRI Master's programme in #EmbeddedSystems. The programme was brand new, there were only 4 or 5 students that year, so it was a fun, tight little group. Saracceno and TJ are the only people whose names I remember.

Having just become aware of the wider scope of the internet, I was trying to persuade our marketing coordinator (can't remember the man's blessed name, he was either Svizzero Italiano or actually Italian) to use the power of existing ES discussion groups and have the existing students promote the program.
I wrote a friendly little marketing email, saying "Hey, here's a new programme" and sent it off to some discussion groups I found.

A little while later I got an angry missive that has stayed with me, someone wrote me back that I and "your entire spamming organization are firmly embedded in my kill file".

Remorse, regret, stinging rebuke.