Communications Policy

 COMMUNICATIONS POLICY (updated August 2020)

The AMS-NE (American Musicological Society -- New England Chapter) shall communicate primarily through the following methods/venues:

1. E-mail (henceforth: chapter email address)

2. The website/blog

3. Facebook group

4. Twitter

5. Paper mailings (rare--only when necessary)

The chapter e-mail address will be a distinctive account (ams dot newengland at gmail dot com) which will be maintained primarily by the webmaster, although the President, Secretary, and Program Chair will have access.

That account will be used to send official communications of the chapter, and can only be used by the aforementioned Chapter Officers and positions. All basic inquiries shall be sent to this e-mail address.

E-mail List

The webmaster will maintain the mailing list for the chapter. The mailing list will be used in the BCC field ONLY. The TO field will contain the chapter email address. The mailing list includes all interested parties (including non-members) and is opt-in only.

Chapter members who wish to share announcements with the chapter may do so by sending the announcement to ams.newengland@gmail.com with the indication that they would like it to be shared (forwarded). Only the following type of announcements will be shared and the webmaster reserves the right not to send anything that does not comply with these guidelines. Please note that these guidelines also apply to the Facebook group and Blog*.

Postings must adhere to the following:

1. All events must take place in the “New England area”, understood as extending to Eastern Quebec, Maritime Provinces, New Jersey, New York, and any state/region within 3-6 hours drive of a New England state. If the event is online, it should be hosted by an entity or persons who are located in the region described as “New England area”. 

2. The following event types are acceptable: Conferences, Symposia, Lectures and other events where the musicological component is central.

3. Concerts that do not have a distinctive musicological component will not be shared. Lecture-recitals/concerts with a distinctive musicological component are ok. This must be something outside the repertoire itself.

4. Job postings should be geared toward musicologists, or suitable alt-ac positions, and must be within the New England area.

5. Promotions of books, awards, articles, and other accolades will NOT be shared, although these can be sent for posting on the “Chapter News” tab on the blog.

6. The Webmaster has the right to refuse sharing any announcement

The chapter website/blog

The chapter website is maintained by the webmaster and is found at http://ams-ne.blogspot.com/

This site was chosen to link the chapter website with the gmail account for easy transfer to different personnel. Primary postings regarding chapter events will be posted on the landing page. There are also five tabs: Chapter News and Announcements*, Upcoming Meetings, Schafer Memorial Award, Meeting Archive, Chapter Bylaws and Officers.

*An exception to content policies will be made for the Chapter Blog. Members in good standing (recent meeting attendance and/or dues paid) can email the Chapter e-mail address to share news of awards and recent publications only. Concert announcements will not be shared unless they feature a lecture or other musicological aspect. Other types of announcements will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Facebook Group

At present, any member of the Facebook Group may post. The Webmaster, and any other assigned Facebook Group moderators can delete any post that does not comply with the guidelines as stated above. These guidelines are available at the Facebook group site as well. If a post does not comply, the poster will be made aware of the reason for deletion and asked to review the guidelines. If the same person posts again, with a post that does not fit the guidelines, they will be removed from the group. 

The Facebook group is private but open to anyone who answers the “membership question” upon asking permission to join. The membership question is as follows: “Hello! Please kindly share your interest in joining the group, as we do use this space for a specific purpose. Thanks!” Current members can invite others, but those people will still need to answer the membership question in order to be approved.

Twitter

The Webmaster may use the Twitter account (@AMSNewEng) to advertise Chapter news and relevant items. The webmaster will determine hashtags for meetings. Live-tweeting of meetings can only occur with each speaker’s approval. If in-person, a “Tweets ok” sign should be hung in a visible place in front of each speaker. If online, the Program Chair should communicate Twitter permissions for each speaker in the chat box and in introductions.

Paper mailings

Due to labor and cost, paper mailings will be kept to a minimum. In the rare case that a chapter member may not have access to email, or has to pay dues by mail, USPS will be utilized.