On my mind ��

Electronic Mail, more "affectionately" known as e-mail, has taken the world by storm. What would we do without it? It is a godsend, for sure. Remember the days when we wrote letters/reports/ budgets on a typewriter, used liquid eraser when we'd made an error or two--and of course, sometimes used several sheets of carbon paper? Then we mailed the letter via "snail mail" which likely took several days or more to reach its destination. Then, we waited and waited for a reply which may have taken an additional week to ten days or more. Just sending an e-mail across our nation, as well as across the world, takes only a few seconds to reach its destination. Yes, indeed, e-mail is amazing and saves us so much time in communicating with others.

For sure, e-mail saves us much time in communicating with others in Photographic Society of America (PSA). It saves us time provided that the sender has a current e-mail address for the member with whom he is corresponding. And, frankly, this has been On My Mind for the past several months, and I'm sure on the minds of others as well--that we often do NOT have current e-mail addresses of many of our PSA members. I'm sure you recognize the message from the postmaster in cyberspace when he returns your message saying "Mail undeliverable, no such address" or some similar phrase. You probably might have contacted PSA Headquarters to determine if there is a current e-mail address for the party you are endeavoring to reach. Usually though, Headquarters' files have the same e-mail address as you had. Unfortunately at times, the frustration doesn't end here. We then might turn to the telephone to call the person we are attempting to reach and discover the phone number that we have is also incorrect.

Communicating by e-mail plays a vital role in our day-to-day business at all levels in the operation of our Society. If you are not sure whether PSA Headquarters has your current e-mail address as well as your current phone number, please contact the staff today and provide them with this valuable information. Why not do it anyway ... just to be sure! Their e-mail address is: [email protected].

While on the subject of e-mail, I'd like to refer you to the following website: http://www.albion.com/ netiquette/book which deals with a web book by Virginia Shea, published by Albion Books. Just briefly, look at Part 2, Chapter 3:

Core Rules of Netiquette:

* Rule 1: Remember the human

* Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online

* Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace

* Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth

* Rule 5: Make yourself look good online

* Rule 6: Share expert knowledge

* Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control

* Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy

* Rule 9: Don't abuse your power

* Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes

There are other informative guides in this web book using this wonderful tool called e-mail. Remember, too, that the recipient can't see the sender's body language, can't hear the inflections in the sender's voice, and is negatively affected when the sender has used all capital letters (which in e-mail language means you are yelling, and this is considered not using good e-mail manners). I thank you in advance in keeping Headquarters up-to-date with your important information.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group