CHS DIRECTORY POLICY ==================== October 23, 2006 Minor revisions: July 30, 2007 This is our policy on: CHS Names Addresses Phone Numbers E-mail Addresses Deaths List Distribution and Privacy. If you're sending in YOUR OWN INFORMATION don't bother with the policy: Just send it in. Thanks!!! If you're sending in information on SOMEONE ELSE, you should read the applicable parts of this policy. Topics: SUMMARY BACKGROUND DUPLICATE INFORMATION NAMES MISSING CLASSMATES DEATHS CHANGE OF ADDRESS PHONE NUMBERS E-MAIL ADDRESSES REASONABLENESS WEB SEARCH ENGINES FOR PHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES DISTRIBUTION PRIVACY ------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY ------- Current and accurate classmate information is important because wrong information can lead to problems and extra work. Convince me that your info is reliable, and I'll post it. BACKGROUND ---------- In our first mailing for the 45th reunion in 2006, 71 postcards for "saving the date" bounced due to bad addresses. When the invitations were sent out a few months later, another 25, or so, invitations bounced. Mysterious, but true. In our first mass e-mailing in 2006, 22 e-mails bounced!! Postcard bounces - 2006: 71 Invitation bounces - 2006: 25 (approx) E-mail bounces - 2006: 22 --- 2006 Total Bounces 118 That's a LOT of bounces for mail and e-mail!! This was due primarily to people moving or changing their e-mail address, but in some cases, the information given us was wrong or incomplete. Similar experiences occurred with previous reunions. To ensure accurate information and reduce the workload on the keeper of the records (Dave Morton), and reduce the number of Reunion postcards and invitations that bounce via the US Post Office (expensive and a real hassle), and reduce the number of e-mails that bounce (a real hassle), here is my policy for accepting information on classmates in our CHS Directory: Look for the best source possible, or multiple sources. ALWAYS LIST YOUR SOURCE OR SOURCES!!! If I agree that the info you supplied me with is confirmed, or as accurate as you could make it, I will post it in the CHS Directory. NOTE: I realize that this is not always an easy job, but it can be fun with the right attitude of "No Defects" and "100% Accuracy", and speaking with our classmates. The "green-eyeshade accountant's attitude" and the "fun and social attitudes" can be mixed together with no problems at all. I do it all the time. Just be sure the info is correct!! :) DUPLICATE INFORMATION --------------------- Just send it in. If I already have the info, I'll see it. NAMES ----- Don't bother putting married names in parens. I'll figure it out. EXAMPLE: Trudie Cook Coe High school name = Trudie Cook. Married name = Trudie Coe. MISSING CLASSMATES ------------------ For new addresses of Missing classmates, the address must be confirmed. Confirmation must involve a conversation with the classmate, or speaking with a close relative (husband, wife, adult child, brother, sister). Alternatively, if you receive such an address from a friend of theirs, and they have been in RECENT contact with the Missing classmate, I will accept that as being confirmed. But I need to know HOW you confirmed the info. Apartment buildings and condos require an apartment number - otherwise the Post Office won't deliver the item. EXAMPLE: "Confirmed by speaking with classmate on the phone." EXAMPLE: "Confirmed by wife on the phone as our CHS classmate." EXAMPLE: "I saw him/her at a party and they wrote down their home address on their business card." Only *confirmed* addresses will be posted. Reason: Thousands of people in the USA have the same name. There's even a SATOSHI SATO in Connecticut. That's not our classmate: Satoshi has been located in Tokyo via John Hundley and his 1961 AFS family. If you send me an incorrect address, that person comes off the Missing List, and no one will be searching for them. DEATHS ------ This category requires some evidence of confirmation. Deaths need to be confirmed via either: 1. Reading the obit in the newspaper, and verifying that it's OUR classmate. or... 2. Getting the info from a close friend who read the obit, or spoke with the spouse or other relative, or attended the funeral. Etc. IE, the info needs to be reliable. Only **CONFIRMED** deaths will be posted. Hearsay from someone who "heard from someone" will not be posted. EXAMPLE: "Source = obit in our local newspaper. Age=63. Listed as a CHS grad in the obit. Photo also matches grad." EXAMPLE: "Bill Smith, Bob's longtime friend, called me to tell me the news. He received the news from Bob's wife last week." EXAMPLE: "See 'www.xyz.com/BobSmith' where his obit is published." EXAMPLE: "Bill Johnson told me that Bob Smith died last week." No cigar for this one. I need stronger evidence. If it were Bob Smith's BROTHER that told you, that would be different. Until then, Bob Smith stays on the Active List. Reason: We need to be absolutely sure of this info before I move their name to the Deceased list. CHANGE OF ADDRESS ----------------- How do you know the new address is the correct one? What is your source? Did they move? Confirm it or tell me why you believe this to be their new address. Apartment buildings and condos require an apartment number - otherwise the Post Office won't deliver the item. EXAMPLE: "Source = Bob Smith (grad). He called me last month to tell me he'd moved." EXAMPLE: "Source = Mike Smith, Bob Smith's brother." EXAMPLE: "Source = Mary Johnson, Bob Smith's longtime friend." EXAMPLE: "The US Post Office returned my letter and attached a 'Change Of Address' sticker on the envelope." INCORRECT Example: "I looked up 'Bob Smith' on Google and there he was." ...Get real. No way will I accept that as a confirmed address. Not a chance. Prove to me that it's him by calling him and sending me a confirmation report - and some highlights of your conversation. Then I might believe you... PHONE NUMBERS ------------- Newly Supplied: What is your source? Does the address of your source match the one in the CHS Directory? Is the telephone Area Code correct? Have you called them? (Not necessary if the classmate gave it to you). EXAMPLE: "Source = 411.com. Address matches CHS directory." EXAMPLE: "Source = 411.com. Address matches CHS directory, and I called classmate." Changed: What is your source? Does the address of your source match the one in the CHS Directory? Is the telephone Area Code correct? Have you called them? (Not necessary if the classmate gave it to you). EXAMPLE: "Source = 411.com. Address matches CHS directory, but phone number is different, so I called classmate to confirm. New phone number now verified." Cell Phones: Please indicate cell phones with "CELL" or something obvious so I can place the phone number in the correct column in the Directory. Directory example: "h. 763-123-4567 c. 612-987-6543". Is the telephone Area Code at least NEAR the home phone Area Code?? (612/651/952/763 are all in the Twin Cities, and a cell phone for a Twin Cities resident could have any of these Area Codes). Have you called them? (Not necessary if the classmate gave it to you). E-MAIL ADDRESSES ---------------- What is your source? Have you e-mailed them to confirm it? People change e-mail addresses. Many of the e-mail addresses we received 5-10 years ago turned out to be defunct in 2006, and our e-mails to them bounced resulting in a lot of extra work for me. E-mail addresses are often tricky to write down correctly, so they need to be confirmed with a TEST e-mail. If it's something like 'czerneyrw_two@orevif1.net' you'd better get it in writing and definitely test it... Also, people sometimes give the WRONG e-mail address by mistake. Yes, it happens. For example, the classmate might say their e-mail address is 'bob@aol.com' but forget that it's really 'bob12345@aol.com', or 'bob_12345@aol.com'. Note the underscore in the middle. EXAMPLE: "I e-mail Jane all the time. I did a copy and paste of her e-mail address from one she sent me yesterday. Her e-mail is correct as of yesterday." EXAMPLE: "Source = classmate. Sent Test e-mail. I waited 15 minutes to see if it would bounce. It didn't bounce." EXAMPLE: "Oooops.... That Test e-mail I sent to Bob Smith last night bounced. Just got the MAILER-DAEMON message this morning, 10 hours later. I'll check into it and get back to you." REASONABLENESS -------------- If you've carefully checked your information, but the classmate lives in Los Angeles with a phone number that's attached to New York City, that phone number is unreasonable and probably wrong. Please find some way to locate the correct phone number, or just omit the phone number from your info, perhaps with a note saying that it looks incorrect and further research is needed. If the classmate has 2 homes, one in Los Angeles and another in New York City, then the address and phone number may be valid, but the phone number doesn't match the address. Therefore, it's incorrect for that address and unusable. Don't send me a bogus phone number with a note saying, "Well, this one doesn't make any sense, but that's what the online phone book has listed... Maybe you should check this one out..." Do the research. Check it out yourself, or omit it, or send me $500 to do it (cash only). I won't post doubtful or obviously bogus information. Would you?? WEB SEARCH ENGINES FOR PHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES -------------------------------------------------- Two useful websites for locating information are: www.411.com www.zabasearch.com DISTRIBUTION ------------ The CHS61 Directory is only for Central High School classmates of the Class of 1961, and a few close associates of that class. If you have a copy, please do not distribute it to friends or family. Do not, under any circumstances, send a copy of the Directory, or a subset of it, to someone incarcerated in a correctional facility, even if you know the person: It could come back to bite you and many others via unwanted phone calls and unwanted visits. PRIVACY ------- I do not distribute the CHS61 Directory to people outside the sphere of the CHS Class of 1961. I respond to address/phone/ e-mail requests from classmates by sending them the info if I'm confident they are or were friends, or have some legitimate purpose in requesting their contact information. If there's any doubt, I check with the classmate first for permission. The CHS61 Directory is not and will not be published on our website, or any other public location. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Convince me that the info you're sending me is correct - otherwise, sorry to say, it will be rejected. I don't like to do that, but I don't want the hassle of dealing with incorrect info, either. Convincing me is ****EASY**** if you have the proper documentation. Always list your source or sources. And have fun! Enjoy the social and fun aspects, but be wearing your accountant's green eyeshade - and your Sherlock Holmes hat - when you copy, evaluate, and send the info. Dave Morton CHS61 Directory Keeper, Label Printer, E-Mailer, and occasional "Information Please" Guy for Central Classmates, webmaster of the CHS61 website.