Local man Alex Heard told reporters Thursday that he was thoroughly confused after receiving a compliment from an acquaintance despite the fact that he could in no way advance this individuals career or assist him professionally whatsoever. I think Mike [Dawes] knows that I dont have any pull at my office, so Im not sure what his angle is here, said Heard, adding that he was at a complete loss to come up with another ulterior motive Dawes may have had for his praise. We actually work in completely different fields, and hes never expressed any interest in doing my type of work before, so it just doesnt make any sense that hed say something like that. I mean, who knows? Maybe he meant it. At press time, Heard had returned home to find a LinkedIn invitation from Dawes waiting in his inbox. 