ROTI Email Etiquette Guidelines
- Subject of Email
To assist everyone in
deleting unwanted email and in finding email they have saved, please use the
following subject heading prefixes followed by specific subject information:
- ROTARY - Email of general interest to Rotarians. - Example - ROTARY :
Rotary International Newsbasket #NNN
- ROTI - Email of general interest to ROTI Fellowship members - Example -
ROTI : ROTI Breadbasket now online.
- BANTER - Light-hearted chatting for entertainment only - Example - BANTER :
Joke of the week
- PERSONAL - Use as an introduction leading to private mailing on personal
matters Example - PERSONAL : Can someone help me with this problem in my Rotary
Club. Please do not use a listserver for ongoing personal conversations which
could be done privately. Don't make everyone on the listserver read and delete
your private email unnecessarily.
- Content of Email
- Remember ROTI is a Rotary Fellowship of Rotarians
- We are here to enjoy each others fellowship and promote the Object of Rotary
- The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.
- High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the
worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's
occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
- The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal,
business, and community life.
- The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through
a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of
service.
- Apply the Rotary
Four Way Test
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
- Consider the audience - thousands of Rotarians from around the world with
different native languages, cultures, religions, and customs. Many of these
Rotarians are using their second or third languages. Differences in expression
and interpretation are inevitable.
- Respect the rights of others to hold different opinions
- Be tolerant, understanding, and polite as if meeting face to face at Rotary
- It is fine to express a different view as your own, but please do it
without personally attacking those with different views.
- If an email offends you or makes you uncomfortable, it may simply be due to
the limitations of text-only email. During face to face communication, often
over 50% of the message is through body language, facial expression, and tone as
opposed to just the words spoken.
- You may want to send the originator of the message a private email
expressing your interpretation and ask for further clarification of their
intended message. If a posting makes one angry, it is often better to wait for
a day before replying. Remember, one can't unsay something one has uttered too
hastily.
- Follow the Ten Commandments of Email and
the The Core Rules of
Netiquette.
- When replying to messages on a listserver:
- Please place your message at the top rather than at the end.
- Please don't send "Me too" and "I agree" confirmation
messages which don't really add to the discussion. If a vote is required,
everyone will be notified.
- Please remove non pertinent information that everyone has already seen
repeatedly.
- Attachments
- Be sure the attachment you are sending does not contain a virus.
- The most common method of contracting a computer
virus is by executing an unknown program received via email attachment or
disk.
- Emails without attachments do not normally pose a virus threat.
- Be sure the attachment you are sending does not violate a copyright.
- Be sure the attachment you are sending can be successfully received and
used by the person you are planning to send it to.
- Verify that the receiver's email provider handles attachments. Generally
it is not a good idea to send attachments to listserver or newsgroup addresses.
They often reject them.
- Verify that the receiver has the necessary software to be able to use it.
- If the attachment is large, verify that the receiver has the disk space and
is willing to wait for the file download required to receive the attachment.
- Sending email
- Addresses of ROTI List Service and ROTI member email addresses:
- Ten Commandments of Email
- Include a clear and specific subject line.
- Edit any quoted text down to the minimum.
- Do not curse, flame, spam, or SHOUT
- Do not send in HTML.
- Do not send attachments to listservers or newsgroups.
- Do not forward any chain letter.
- Sign with your name and email address.
- Read your message before sending it.
- Ponder how the recipient might react to your message.
- Do not send a message that you would find hateful to receive.
This page last updated
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Webmaster
