Email spam, also known as junk email, is the electronic equivalent of junk mail and is a violation with web hosting companies the world over. Last March, our very own “californiadar.org” got blacklisted for “spamming” to hotmail accounts.

So, what happened? More than likely, someone with an email address ending in “californiadar.org” sent an email out to a large group of people (more than 20) who use hotmail for their email. That’s enough to land you on the list–hotmail sent a warning to our web hosting company who in turn simply blacklisted our account. Our blacklisted email addresses, such as “webmaster@californiadar.org,” were able to receive email but no longer allowed to send. The emails would show up in the “sent” folder, but were thrown away and never actually left the server.

What does this mean for you? Be careful with blasting out or forwarding emails to large groups of people when using CSSDAR email. And if you do need to contact, for example, ALL the chapter registrars or ALL the state chairmen, sending that information via a Communiqué is the way to go. We use Constant Contact to send Communiqés–a company whose “opt in” only policy keeps it off blacklists.

Simply fill out the Communiqué request form, located here, and send it in for approval. Please contact Communication@californiadar.org with any questions.

Lisa Fox
VIS State Chairman
California State Webmaster
webmaster@californiadar.org