Email Group Handling

[Will Rickards]

So the local cub scouts pack has an issue with maintaining the list of people to email. What happens is that people just reply to an old email with the the entire list. So what happens is that bad or incorrect or no longer with the pack people end up getting e-mail.

I've suggested switching to google apps and then giving everyone an account and using shared contact list. But people generally want to use their own e-mail accounts.

So what would you recommend here?

 

[Sol]

If people are willing to link their current email to a Google account (Like you'd use for Google checkout or an Android phone) then you could use Google Groups.

 

[ddrueding]

Google Apps also lets you give a group of contacts it's own e-mail address, so you could have an address "parents@cubscouttroop.com" and maintain the list that way.

Though I think the Google Groups is a cleaner solution.

 

[Howell]

You want a solution in which the recipients opt-in and out so that the list is self maintaining. Google or Yahoo groups will work.

 

[Mercutio]

At a bare minimum, use Bcc to specify your recipients!

 

[Will Rickards]

But with google groups, all the members have to join. I was thinking something along the lines of only the people sending the mail have to join and they maintain a central contact list. So the leader would e-mail an alias and that alias was hosted somewhere else and would relay the message. That relay would have automatic opt-out procedures.

I'm interested in this

Google Apps also lets you give a group of contacts it's own e-mail address, so you could have an address "parents@cubscouttroop.com" and maintain the list that way.

But don't see it on my own domain. Do they have to be shared contacts?

 

[ddrueding]

But don't see it on my own domain. Do they have to be shared contacts?

Disregard, this only works with groups of users in the domain, so it wouldn't work for you.

In Google Apps, go to users, then groups. You'll notice a group can have it's own address.