PhiladelphiaDANCE.org
USING THE LISTSERV
updated 4/30/09

OWNERSHIP & USE
The PhiladelphiaDANCE.org listserv is exclusively owned, operated and funded by PhiladelphiaDANCE.org a divison of Music & Motion Dance Productions, a 501 C 3 Pennsylvania registered non-profit. Use of the listserv is provided to the Philadelphia dance community without charge.

Please note that all posts are moderated and reviewed for format and appropriate content.
We reserve the sole right to approve, edit, resend under our email address, reject or discard any post sent to the listserv.
Duplicate posts sent with in 5 days of each other are automatically discarded to prevent spam.
While posts usually go out within one hour of receipt, they may be held for up to 12 hours depending on current volume to the listserv.
If you do not agree to the rules set forth, please do not use this service. Use of service is acknowledgment and agreement to terms of use.

NOTE: Non-members of the listserv may still send out emails via the listserv. However, priority will be given to emails sent to listserv by participating members.

DISCLAIMER
Comments posted to the listserv do not reflect the opinions of PhiladelphiaDANCE.org or Music & Motion Dance Productions. PhiladelphiaDANCE.org nor Music & Motion Dance Productions endorse any post made to the system and we are not responsible for any statement, opinion, advice given or made.

LISTSERV MARKET
Please note that the 900+ members of the listserv are primarily fellow members of the dance community. When marketing a performance or workshop, with the listserv, you are doing so ONLY to the dance community. If you are looking to reach an audience beyond the dance community, I would recommend posting to the Dance Calendar and to the Dance Web Boards Performances posted to the dance calendar are automatically included in the monthly eNewsletter to 10,000+ as well as spidered on google, yahoo and MSN search engines. Additional free tools and resources to market yourself can be found at http://www.philadelphiadance.org

HOW TO POST
1. Simply send an email to listserv@philadelphiadance.org Once received, this is put in to a moderation cue and when reviewed is either sent out or if there is a problem, you are notified. Moderation is done in under 24 hours in most cases under 12 hours. Priority is given by date of event. If too many posts are sent in a given day, they may be spread out over a 48 hour period so as not to be perceived as spam by most major internet systems.
2. Subject line of email must be filled out. Do not leave blank or your post will automatically be deleted by the system. The subject line should be short and to the point, indicating what the post is about. Eg// Performance 4/12 by XYZ Dance Company or New Modern Dance Class Forming. Do not make the subject lines extremely lengthy! Do not put subject lines in all capital letters.
3. When you send to the listserv, your message as formatted is exactly what goes out. Please do not send notes with the email to the listserv. Example, do not put in your post messages like – "can you send this out on the listserv", "please post this when you get a chance", "is this ok to send out on the listserv?". If you have questions about a post or using the listserv – send them to philadelphiadance at gmail.com and not the listserv itself.
4. Remove elaborate signatures or footers. Please remove any organizational or advertising signatures that may be contained in your email. We realize that some signatures (example - yahoo mail) can not be removed and have allowed for them to be accepted by the system.
5. Do NOT have the listserv address as part of your own mass emailers. Messages which contain cc or bcc fields with multiple email addresses will be rejected to prevent spamming. You must send a UNIQUE email to the listserv.

MESSAGE FORMAT
The best format for your listserv post is a plain text message. All users, regardless of their email systems, can read this. Some of you prefer to enhance you messages using html (formatting similar to a web page). This can also go out but when you send your email, you must allow for it to be in both text and html formats. If it is only sent as html, you will loose over half your audience or your message may appear to be blank to the recipient.

ATTACHMENTS
The listserv by its setup strips most attachments from posts sent to it. I have made exceptions for sending pictures in .jpg and .gif formats. I am also selectively allowing for pdf and word doc files. However, attachments should be under 5mgs in size so as not to jam up most users mailboxes. You should reduce photo sizes before sending them. IMPORTANT – do NOT just send an attachment. You MUST still have a message in the body of your email or it will not go out. All attachments are scanned for virus, malware, scripts and illegal characters. If the system does not like the formatting, it is automatically deleted. I do not have control of this as it is built in to protect the server!

FREQUENCY OF POSTS
We are all bombarded by tons of information on a daily basis. So it is important not to have the listserv be perceived as spam or simply ignored because of too many postings. If you have already seen a volume of posts on a given day, you might want to wait a day or so to post, unless there is an urgent need. This will make your post more effective in the long run! If you are promoting an event, please limit your posts to one advance notice of the event and one reminder the week of the event. If the same post is submitted with greater frequency to promote an event, it will not pass the moderation cue.

SIDE NOTE:
When you signed up for the listserv you were given a choice to receive emails as single emails or in digest mode. If you wish to cut down on the volume of emails, log back in and select digest mode for receiving posts!

ACCEPTABLE POSTS
This is by no means a complete list and we try to give a very wide lattitude with minimal censorship...
1. Performance announcements, upcoming shows, new works, dance festivals, dance events.
2. Announcements of master classes, workshops, new classes forming.
3. Dance issues, advocacy for the arts, funding issues, etc.
4. Deadline reminders for grants, sign ups for participation in programs, other dance related programs.
5. Informational pieces - general announcements, reading recommendations, etc.

RESTRICTED POSTS
The following posts are restricted from going out on the server…
1. Selling of products or services, even if dance related. These should be submitted to the dance web boards and not the listserv.
2. Management of dance classes. We do not mind posts to initially advertise/promote your class and prefer that these originate from the instructor or organizer as opposed to a thrid party recommendation. However, the listserv should not be used for class cancellations and announcements and other management issues.
3. Personal messages. ( You would be surprised what is sent through! Sorry we do not do birthday announcements.)
4. Messages which contain cc or bcc fields with multiple email addresses. Please do not put the listserv address as part of your other emailers or emailing campaigns.

Please feel free to email with questions to philadelphiadance at gmail.com