[Sagamore Online] Email addresses & Groups for Sagamore Hills Elementary School

[Michelle Shevlin]

Thanks Dave.  Look forward to our meeting and further discussion.
If this direction streamlines, reduces confusion, reduces email and paper volume, increases 2 way communication which results in higher % participation/involvement with parents, I'm for it.
My personal corporate experience with clients is that in general, people felt more comfortable with a personal email and sometimes felt anxiety about a "black hole" with general emails. toll free numbers and general emails didn't take off.  But this was a consulting environment where relationships were key.  This environment is obviously different.  
Looking forward to the discussion and I so admire your work on this and dedication!
Michelle
<brilliant4 at yahoo.com>; Amy Gabriel <aimes at bellsouth.net>; David Klein <davidefklein at gmail.com>; Jen Judy-Ranero <jennjudy at hotmail.com>; Jennifer Somers <jenn at bimmia.com>; Kasia Martin <kasia4 at gmail.com>; "Kimber," <kimberbell77 at gmail.com>; Michelle Webb <michellewebbe at aol.com>; Monica Ellingson <monica.ellingson at gmail.com>; "Nancy Shober," <nancy.shober at comcast.net>; "Matthew Smith," <matthewsmith413 at gmail.com>; Michelle Shevlin <michelle.shevlin at yahoo.com>; Rachel Conrad <rec at dorough.com>; Rhonda Leake <rlleake7 at comcast.net>; "Shannon, Spillett" <mcgintyshannon at hotmail.com> 
 Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 1:49 PM
 Subject: Email addresses & Groups for Sagamore Hills Elementary School
 

 
I would like to promote email addresses and online groups for Sagamore—what do you think?

Introduction
 
 We sometimes struggle with promotion, inclusion, and succession; it's not obvious to outsiders how vibrant Sagamore is, new parents wonder how to plug-in, and existing knowledge doesn't find its way new volunteers.  Emailing Sagamore groups and email addresses instead of personal email addresses would be a minor change to our existing ways, yet could address some of those weaknesses; outsiders can see Sagamore in action (impress prospective parents), new parents can engage on their own time without formalities (more volunteering), and successors can easily search past activity (less effort).

How it works

Remember, all of this is up for discussion…
Sagamore email addresses will work as you're used to.  Addresses are established for positions, such as president at sagamorehillspta.org .  Your email interface—phone, web, desktop client—are configured to access that email account (in addition to your existing email) (I make house calls).  Using both your personal and Sagamore email accounts is easy.  Both the "From:" field and footer signature can be set to mention both your name and Sagamore position.  Now when you roll off your position, your successor has access to your past activity (in your Sagmore email account) and you won't continue to be solicited by the wider world regarding Sagamore business. Light duty use might just have a Sagamore email address forwarded to a personal account instead of using the Sagamore email directly.
Groups—most email should be sent to an appropriate Sagamore group instead of specific people (or at least always CC a group too).  Everyone decides how "plugged-in" to a group they want to be: completely ignore, browse past conversations on the web, subscribe to receive weekly or daily digests by email, or subscribe to receive every message.  Anyone can email a (non-announcement) group, but messages from non-subscribers are moderated (I can moderate more heavily if need be).

Email addresses
Here are some ideas for email addresses.  Should all Board positions have one?  Email addresses are good for permanent contacts, sensitive information, and record a position's activities for reference by future position holders.

President
president at sagamorehillspta.org - Both co-presidents can use the same email account.

Treasurer
[already exists] treasurer at sagamorehillspta.org - Since the Treasurer has relationships with banks, auditors, and probably other outside parties, it make sense those contacts use this email address.

Communications
[already exists] communications at sagamorehillspta.org - Have already used with our online hosting providers, promotional websites (Patch), and website notifications.

Fundraising
fundraising at sagamorehillspta.org - Would be the contact for all the fundraising programs we can work with (Amazon Smile, Publix, local sponsors, etc.).

Garden
[already exists] garden at sagamorehillspta.org - Since the garden coordinator makes many community contacts (Botanical Garden, universities, volunteer orgs) that we don't want lost when the garden coordinator changes, this email address provides a consistent Sagamore garden contact for the larger community.

Groups
It's hard to get groups right, balancing specificity with simplicity, volume with value.  Here are some ideas.  Existing groups can be deleted and new ones created.
I've been experimenting with groups for a while.

Sagamore announce
sagamore-announce at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Only moderators can post.  Basically serves a similar function to the existing Wildcat Update email list, but can serve any important information (or from any source).  Everyone should be subscribed.
Community announce
community-announce at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - A low volume one-way mailing list where folks in the wider community can subscribe and hear about Sagamore happenings that may interest them.  Invitations to grounds or garden days, fundraisers, good news, alumni events, art show, etc.  I have met neighbors who are very interested in such communications.

Sagamore
sagamore at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - The most general Sagamore discussion group, where all the action is.  Core folks will be subscribed and anyone else can follow along too.  Events that come and go throughout the year can coordinate here.
I wonder if this should be two groups: this less busy, occasionally reach out to parents discussion group, and a "all the Sagamore action" group ("sagamore-volunteer at groups", "sagamore-active at groups", ?).

Spanish
sagamore-spanish at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Where spanish speakers at Sagamore can support each other.

Board
board at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Where PTA Board chatter happens.  Not sure if it should exist, maybe the general Sagamore group is enough.

Each grade

graduatingyear at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Not sure about this one…
Each grade could have its own announcements group to which all parents in that grade are subscribed to allow grade specific announcements.
There could also be grade level discussion groups (many-to-many).
The group names would be based on graduation date—instead of grade—so that the same group continues to be relevant for each class's years at Sagamore.  Sagamore or high school graduation year (e.g. 2014-2015's second grade would be 2018 or 2025)?
I set one up when my now-second-grade daughter was in kindergarten and it currently has 94 subscribers. You can get a feel for its utility over the years by looking at its archive (or Google's view).

Room Parent
[already exists] roomparent at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Room parents are awesome, and their activity and wisdom should be out in the open for all to see.  This groups allows them to coordinate amongst themselves, and let interested parents easily lend a hand.  Again, it's great for room parents because they don't have to keep track of all the room parent email addresses (the just mail the group).

STEM
[already exists] stem at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - For those excited about STEM.
Maybe should also have an announcements group to keep community partners (business) engaged?  Maybe the "community-announce" group would do that?

Foundation
[already exists] foundation at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Currently allows folks to talk about establishing a Sagamore foundation.  Once a foundation is established, where work can take place.

Garden

[already exists] garden at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - The garden happens 365 days a year and can use the help of the entire Sagamore neighborhood.  The garden group allows anyone in the larger community with an interest in the garden to know what's going on and jump in to help.  When it's time to talk garden, email this group, to which the garden coordinator is always subscribed.
Maybe there should be a garden announcement group too?

Building & Grounds
[already exists] grounds at groups.sagamorehillspta.org - Some people like working on buildings and grounds.  People can talk about ideas and priorities, pass on opportunities for mulch or volunteer painters, etc.  Of course, the Building & Grounds leadership is necessarily subscribed and grounds day reminders would go to the "sagamore-announce" group.

Conclusion
Imagine if you could only email groups instead of individuals, would these groups suffice?  This is really an experiment, a suggestion—we can see what happens, adjust as we go, or scrap most of it.
Thanks for taking a look, and I'll see you at Jen's next week!


  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.9.0ne.org/archive/sagamore.online/attachments/20150506/f396f783/attachment-0001.html>