CAARA is an ARRL Special Service Club
located at 6 Stanwood Street in
Gloucester Massachusetts.

Group and Mass Electronic Mailings (Email)

Email is a useful way to communicate with individuals and groups, whether small or large. It is often misused, usually because it is easy to use and perceived to be free. Email is not free; it consumes resources and shifts costs to different areas. Many people consider it to be intrusive and in the past CAARA has received complaints about inappropriate email sent to group lists. One person’s vital information is another’s junk mail, so please use the guidelines below if you are considering sending a mailing to any CAARA list. CAARA reserves the exclusive right to reject any message that does not meet our guidelines or which a moderator feels is inappropriate for any reason.

Sender Guidelines

Your first consideration should be whether a mass email is the most appropriate method to communicate your message. Ask yourself, “Is my message so urgent that everyone on the list must see it, or would want to receive it?”

When you use a CAARA mailing list a Moderator will review your message to ensure that the information is appropriate for the list and is valuable to the recipients. This takes time. For this reason, it is possible your message could be delayed for as many as 24 hours. Please plan your posts with this in mind and be patient.

Requests sent directly to Moderators asking them to send or relay a message on your behalf will be rejected. Send your message. If it is not appropriate or does not meet the guidelines it will be rejected. We will not bypass the moderation guidelines or send inappropriate messages for you.

Under no circumstance shall any CAARA Email List be used to participate in or promote activities which are illegal or which violate the CAARA Constitution or any CAARA policy. The Moderator will reject any such message. Members with access to the online CAARA Roster may use such access to directly communicate with individual members. However, all persons granted such access are strictly prohibited from using it to, 1. Create a mass emailing to members or, 2. Create their own private email list of Members.

The following examples illustrate some appropriate uses for a list (there may be others):

caaramail@caara․net

  • CAARA-related events or functions of a non-official nature
  • Amateur-Radio-related announcements of general interest
  • CAARA-sponsored Educational Courses or Events
  • CAARA-sponsored Fund-Raising Activities
  • Requests for shared rides to an Amateur Radio or CAARA-related event, or announcements that such shared rides are available

emcom@caara․net

  • Anouncements of upcoming disaster drills, etc.
  • Severe weather-related announcements
  • Solicitation of volunteers for CAARA Public Service or Emergency Events

caarave@caara․net

  • Anouncements of upcoming test sessions, etc.
  • Solicitation of volunteers for CAARA VE events

Examples of inappropriate uses of a list (there may be others):

  • Previously rejected or repeated announcements of non-CAARA-related news
  • An announcement that your dog is lost
  • Personal political views
  • Personal advertisements of products or services not related to Amateur Radio, free or for sale
  • Any message containing abusive language, personal attacks, etc.

CAARA maintains an official, members-only mailing list. ALL CAARA members in good standing are automatically included in this list. This is the Official Notification List for the CAARA Membership. CAARA Members are encouraged to include the list address, members@caara․net, in their approved safe-senders or contacts list.

Moderator Guidelines

For moderated mailing lists at CAARA such as caaramail@caara․net, emcom@caara․net, and caarave@caara․net, the Moderator must exercise good judgment to ensure that the information sent to these lists is valuable to the recipients.

A Moderator shall screen for submitted messages from time-to-time, preferably at least once each day. The rules for use of these lists are rooted in the purpose of the lists - messages should be of interest to CAARA members or be CAARA EmComm or CAARA VE-related issues only. An email suitable for a moderated mailing list will be judged by the CAARA Board, in the person of the Moderator, to merit sending to all recipients based on how well it can be described as CAARA business. Inevitably cases will arise that will require judgment; that is one of the functions of the Moderator.

If a Moderator determines that a message is of an Official nature, i.e. required by the Constitution to be disseminated to the entire Membership, the Moderator shall forward the message to the Official CAARA Membership Mailing List.

Moderators have the option to either discard a candidate message - essentially, to throw it away - or to reject a candidate message. A rejected message is returned to the original sender. A Moderator may optionally provide a reason for the rejection. Although it is not mandatory, in general, Moderators will reject messages and provide brief reasons for the rejection. A Moderator may, however, simply discard candidate messages without giving any reason. For example, messages with abusive language or repeat messages that have previously been rejected. If a Moderator is unsure as to how to handle a particular message, it shall be forwarded to the CAARA Board of Directors for final review and disposition.

Official CAARA Membership Mailing List. This strictly-moderated list is the Official Notification List for the CAARA Membership. Without exception, this list is restricted to Official Notices required by the CAARA Constitution. Postings to this list by anyone other than persons directed to do so by an Officer of the Association will be rejected. Postings to this list which are not required notifications by the CAARA Constitution will be rejected.

These Guidelines may be revised from time-to-time.

Click here for a printable copy of this Policy.