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Email: using email in your cultural business (screen 10 of 20)
Email style formatting
Originally email messages were sent only as plain text, which meant that you couldn't reliably set the styles of either characters or paragraphs within your messages. Most email is now sent as HTML, which allows the same styling as word processing software.
Email emoticons
The immediacy and informality of email communication can mean that recipients sometimes misinterpret you. Irony, for example
can be misunderstood. As a result, email users have developed 
'emoticons'(1)
or smileys(2)
to express the implied tone of the sentence or message, to abbreviate
frequently used sayings, or which are descriptive of the email user.
For example :-) means 'that's meant to be funny' and ;-) is a wink, IMHO means 'in my humble/honest opinion'. Capitalisation of a word indicates SHOUTING, and should be avoided.
Email flame wars
When you send a nasty email to someone this is called flaming, and should be avoided unless you want to be flamed yourself.
Another convention or netiquette(3) (etiquette on the Net environment), if you are replying to email, is to quote some of the original mail back to the sender with your reply. It reminds them of what they wrote. Some email software does this automatically.
Email encourages informality
Using email also tends to encourage informality - punctuation, capitalisation, and spelling are ignored by many people. It's important to remember though, that email is still a written communication - in that sense it's permanent and formal - and may be going to a colleague, boss, supplier or customer, or could be sent on to people you don't know.
It is a good rule of thumb in a work environment never to send an email that you wouldn't be prepared to send on a piece of letterhead or to have added to an organisation's file.
Because of email's speed it can also mean less time to reflect, rethink, modify and rewrite. Before you respond to an email - particularly if it is about a sensitive issue - it is worth saving it as a draft and looking at it again before you send it. With an email, there is no getting it back from the mailroom!
Email is not necessarily private
It's also worth noting that email is not necessarily private - it is all too easy for an email to be forwarded on to many others - and you may wish that it hadn't been! Privacy laws may protect your personal email - if it's sent to jsmith@company.isp.au - but they may not if it's sent to a generic address such as info@company.isp.au. It's also worth keeping in mind whether you keep personal emails on your computer and how you file them.
Many companies, as a matter of course, monitor email flows through their servers and electronically look for particular words or phrases in your emails.
Does email increase or decrease productivity?
Of course, if your organisation can afford a permanent connection to the Internet you are notified the moment any email message arrives for you. This makes the email system even more efficient. It means you can respond to queries and questions from clients and colleagues immediately - and heavy use of email in an organisation leads to an expectation that response to an email will be immediate.
However, some organisations are finding that this sort of approach to email is inefficient as staff respond to emails as they happen rather than prioritising them as they would ordinary mail. Receiving email every few minutes as it arrives is disruptive and can interfere with ordinary work flow.
In some organisations staff are limited to accessing their emails once or twice a day - as they would be with snail mail.
It is worth keeping the issues of time management and work flow in mind when you establish email accounts for your staff.
Using your email address as a marketing tool
If you have an email address, include it on all your printed materials such as letterheads, business cards, brochures, catalogues or advertisements. Include your email on your organisation's website as a 'mailto' - like this editor@culture.gov.au - to make it easy for your website users to contact you or your organisation.
Respond to emails
If you promote your email address, ensure that someone in your organisation is responsible for responding to the emails which result. Not responding to an email is a lost opportunity to promote your organisation and encourage more business.
Finding and using email addresses in your cultural business
Emails you receive from others are good sources of email addresses. You may also find lists of email addresses or directories of staff on organisational websites. Take care when you are using email to promote your events and activities - with the implementation of the Spam Act 2003 it is now illegal in Australia to send unsolicited electronic messages, or spam.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Spam and e-Security(4) provides practical information about the Spam Act 2003 and guidance on steps that may be taken to assist in complying with it.
As you might imagine, there are lists of email addresses on the Internet. Generally you need to register your email address to be listed, and you should do this as soon as you have it.
International email address directories include Bigfoot(5),
Yahoo!
People Search(6), and WhoWhere?(7).
With most of these directories all you need do is type in the name of
the person you are looking for, and as much of their location as you
know.
One way to find someone's email address via the Internet is to locate
a website for the institution or organisation where they work and check
for a menu option that is likely to include e-mail information. Australian
Directories(8) has a list of organisations that provide some sort
of electronic directory service.
Email distribution and discussion lists
What you can do is develop a distribution
or discussion list(9) for your business which users of your site
choose to join and which allows you to keep them up-to-date with your
organisation's activities, offers them special deals and which develops
a sense of being part of your organisation. You can use free online
services for this if you don't have the expertise in-house. Yahoo!Groups(10)
provides a free list management facility.
Permanent email addresses
If you don't run your own server then your organisation's email addresses are dependent on your ISP, and if you change ISPs, then your email addresses change too. Like changing a phone number changing email addresses is not good for business.
If you are in business you may want the flexibility to change ISPs
in order to get the best deal or most appropriate access plan for your
Internet usage pattern. One way of maintaining the same email address
is to use some sort of redirection service where you always have the
same email address but the mail is redirected to whatever ISP you are
using. US company Pobox(11)
operate such a redirection service for $US15 per year. Mail.com's(12)
mail service will also provide a similar service.
There is a range of other email
forwarding services(13) available.
Ask yourself this...
- What would email do for my organisation?
- What services could I provide by email?
- Would my audience/clients want to use my email service?
- Would others want to use my email service?
- Do I expect to use email services of other cultural organisations?
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References
- Emoticons http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/emoticons.html
- Smiley Central http://www.smileycentral.com/
- Netiquette and Ethics, University of California http://technology.berkeley.edu/policy/netiq.html
- Spam and e-Security
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310294 - Bigfoot http://www.bigfoot.com/
- Yahoo! People Search http://people.yahoo.com/
- WhoWhere http://www.whowhere.com/
- Australian Directories http://www.mrp.net/phone.html
- Guide 3 screen 14 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g3/s14.htm
- Yahoo!Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/
- Pobox http://www.pobox.com/
- Mail.com http://www.mail.com/
- Email forwarding services http://www.emailaddresses.com/email_forward.htm
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