TOPIC:

To Whom It May Concern

There is a problem with syntax/wording at the head of these commuications.
It names the club and is then followed by the phrase 'on behalf of' and then the name of the officer sending the message.

This is incorrect because it's actually the other way around. The club, which is an absract entity without verbal skills or the ability to write with a pencil/pen/keyboard skills, is spoken for, i.e. on behalf of, by an officer or other authorized individual.

An example, though awkward, might be
Douglas Shachnow DTM, President, on behalf of West Boca Toastmasters, i.e. I, as an officer, acting as an agent, i.e. .on behalf of the club, am conveying a message. It is not MY message, it is the club's, and therefore the club cannot be conveying it on my behalf.

Really the best way to remedy this without going to a great deal of trouble is simply to drop the 'on behalf of'' phrase, because it is incorrect. The source of a message would be correctly conveyed by (this other example).

West Boca Toastmasters. Douglas Shachnow DTM, President. This is how business correspondence is signed at the bottom, and works just as well at the top. It is conventional in every sense and everyone knows what it means.

All of this may seem like much ado over nothing, the proverbial tempest in a teapot, except it really isn't. One could make an argument if so inclined, that there are legal implications. A CEO speaks on behalf of his organization, because what he says is his organization's message, not his own. When any message is sent from a club to its members, there must never be any doubt who is sending the message (always the club) and who is conveying it, again, on behalf of the club.

I recommend this be given your immediate, or near immediate attention. Many may gloss over this, but for the trained eye a mistake like this only bespeaks a lack of concern for correct language and syntax, an indispensable component of what we're all about at Toastmasters: Effective communication.

In every other respect, FreeToastHost is doing a stupendous job. It deserves some kind of an award, just like mine got!

Best Regards,

Douglas Shachnow DTM, West Boca Toastmasters (#1978)
President, (2014-2015)
District 47 Public Relations Officer (2013-2014)
VP Education (2012-2013)
VP Public Relations (2011-2012) earned D47 Honorable Mention for club monthly newsletter The Well-Spoken Bocan
Joined Toastmasters 17 February 2010


.

When I made the change to allow the different From address formats, Brian and I went back and forth over the wording of this for the different settings. You must consider the different From address settings and it must work for all clubs using the system. We do not make changes just to suit one club's tastes. (The system does not work that way.)

I will let you hash this out with Brian. I know for a fact he will insist that the club number be shown and you do not show that in what you are suggesting.

Acknowledged. In this case please waste no time revisiting the phrasing that's been chosen and understand that it is, in fact,
not what you mean/want to say. We're talking about the routine practice of any Toastmasters club, or any business entity.
Not the tastes or preference of my club or me personally.

The existing phrasing reverses this reality and says something very different in a practical, and certainly in a legal context.

There's no issue about the club number being shown, and that is not the subject of my argument..
My comment relates to the fact that an officer speaks on behalf of the club, not the other way around, in the course of routine business. E.g. if a club changes the starting time of its meetings, that is a matter of club business. The club makes the policy, the officer conveys it on behalf of the club. The officer is not making the change and telling the club to convey it for him personally.
This is not a matter of the tastes of one club, rather a matter of business reality in any club. In any business organization.
Take a look at the way you've responded. You're speaking for FreeToastHost as indicated by the caption Posted by: You're
speaking FOR, ON BEHALF OF, FreeToastHost, which is at the top of the page.

If inclusion of of the club name is being included, it would be correct to have a source line say
Club name (Club #1978). Officer name, position.

Best regards.

Douglas the English teacher

Well, as I noted, hash it out w/ Brian.