[Chapter-delegates] Important Updates on Email and Chatter Group Functionality in Fonteva - Your Feedback Matters!

[Andre Copelin]

Dear Chapter Delegates,

I hope this message finds you well. With the recent launch of Fonteva, we've received valuable feedback about the challenges some of you are facing in the communication processes. Your input is crucial to us, and we want to assure you that we are actively working to enhance the membership management and communication experience for all chapters.

While we strive to make these improvements, we want to equip those of you who’ve had problems with the necessary information to communicate seamlessly with your members. Below are key details that will assist you in navigating the email and chatter group functionalities in Fonteva.

One-way Communications:

Chapters can use the leader portal to send one-way communications to all members of their chapter, a subset of those members, or an individual member. Each Chapter has two designated communication officers who can send such emails. The system allows those emails to be sent as either promotional or transactional emails, with each serving a specific purpose. Promotional emails will go to all members except those who have opted out of email communications. Transactional emails will go to all members. For details of what is considered promotional vs transactional, each Chapter should refer to their local jurisdiction as the definition can vary from country to country.

We’ve outlined step-by-step instructions on how to send an email and provided a demonstration video.  They can be found on our community training site here<https://communitytraining.internetsociety.org/training/send-email-as-chapter-leader/>.

Two-way Communications:

Chapters can leverage Chatter Groups on the community portal for interactive two-way communication. In the Chatter Group, members and leaders can create posts, administer polls, and post questions.  There is a unique feature in Chatter Groups called topics. As Chatter Groups do not have subject headers, they use a “topics” feature to help organize posts by common themes.  Topics are created and identified by inputting a “#” symbol followed by a topic word or group of words (e.g. #AMSTransition).

Some members have inquired about receiving notifications of posts in Chatter Groups.  All members should receive notifications and can customize their post(s) notification settings. They can receive a notification for every post, a notification as a daily digest, or a notification in a weekly digest.  To change a notification setting, simply log into a Chatter Group in which you’re a member.  At the top of the page will be your member profile in that group.  Either click on “manage notifications” and select the desired setting or click on the drop-down menu next to your current notification setting. PLEASE NOTE: The sender of a post currently does not receive a notification of their own post.  This is a matter we are actively investigating.

There have also been inquiries about sending and responding to Chatter Group posts via email.  Yes, this can be done.  To share a post by email, from your preferred email provider send your email to the Group Email address of the Chatter Group (which can be found under the Group Details section in the Chatter Group). You can add a topic in the post by entering #Topic for single word topic or #[Add Topic] for a multi-word topic in the body of your email. To respond to a Chatter Group post, you can respond directly under the comment from the Chatter Group, or you can reply to the email. For more information on some of the features in Chatter Groups please review the demonstration on our community training site here<https://communitytraining.internetsociety.org/training/chatter-groups/>.

We have received various inquiries, concerns, and constructive suggestions related to Chapter communications. Below is a list of areas that we are actively working to enhance and address:


  *   Enhancing User Experience
  *   Improving topic capabilities, filtering, sorting, and featuring topics
  *   Implementing customized subject lines
  *   Enabling customized email addresses for chatter groups
  *   Facilitating sender post notifications
  *   Empowering Chapter Leaders with enhanced email capabilities
  *   Streamlining the process of opening reports from email notifications
  *   Introducing the option to add images to email posts
  *   Addressing text block character limitations

Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping our approach, and we are grateful for your continued support. If you encounter any other issues or have suggestions, please reach out to us at amshelp at isoc.org<mailto:amshelp at isoc.org>. We are committed to delivering a system that works seamlessly for both our dedicated staff and vibrant community.

Thank you for your understanding and collaboration as we work together to advance the mission of the Internet Society.

Best regards,

Andre Copelin
Vice President, Systems and Support
Internet Society

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