Getting a club email set up

Why have a club email?

Having a club email helps you communicate internally and externally. It also gives your club an extra legitimacy boost.

How can I set up an email?

Gmail works great! Follow this guide.

Make sure to either regularly check the email that you set up, or make sure that it forwards all emails to an email (like your personal email) that you do check regularly.

Email lists

Email mailing lists are usually the most important direct communication method.

A regular newsletter with club activities, opportunities, external events (like an OPTIC tournament), and other resources can help members keep up to date and engaged with your group. Try to keep newsletters relatively short (up to five items of news) and place your most important content at the top of the email.

When you’re sending emails to a bunch of people, you can put your own email in the To: line, then put your email list in the BCC: line. Note that although your university may also provide its own system for mass emails, you can also check out this tutorial on how to use Mail Merge on Gmail.

You can check the Email templates page for specific templates to use for various events, regular newsletters, and more.

Sending emails for events

Consider how you read these sorts of emails. You probably give them a quick skim, if that — that’s all you’ll get with your email.

In general, include the following info in an easy to quickly read format:

• what the event will be about
• where and when the event will take place (see additional advice below)
• any action someone who wants to attend should take (e.g. reading prep material, or registering for the event, etc)

Some additional advice about describing the location and dates & times:

• Location
  • be extremely specific — “Building 123, Room 456 (go in the main entrance, up the stairs, we’ll be on the right with a sign saying ‘Forecasting Club’” is a LOT better than “Room 456”
  • if the location is especially confusing, consider including a diagram/picture of where the room/building is located
• Dates & times
  • be extremely specific — “Wednesday, September 20, from 11am-1pm” is a LOT better than “Sep 20 at 11”
  • use absolute dates, not relative ones (e.g. say “december 20” instead of “two weeks from now”) — you don’t know when they’ll open & read the email
  • never use “biweekly” or “bimonthly” — they’re too confusing. either say “twice weekly” or “every other week”