Heads Or Tails, E-Mails And SMSes
Calling the weekly mass e-mails “Update” or “Extra” has gotten boring, so from now on, they’ll be called “Heads” or “Tails”:
- “Heads” if it’s on a Monday or Tuesday.
- “Tails” if it’s on a Thursday or Friday.
After all, in many sports, a coin toss is used to decide which team starts the match.
Currently, the first e-mail of the week is always on a Monday. From now on, it could be on either Monday or Tuesday. It could even be on Wednesday. If a mass e-mail is sent out on Wednesday, it will be called “Toss” – meaning nothing more than being between “Heads” and “Tails”. 
As before, there will usually be one or two mass e-mails a week. It could even be one e-mail later in the week. It all depends on whether there is a need for a mass e-mail.
Last week, for the first time, I sent out a mass e-mail on Saturday. I don’t think sending out mass e-mails at the weekend is useful, since most of you receive the e-mails in the office, but if I do, it will be called a more mundane “Weekender”.
Since April 2009, I have attached an updated list of all mobile numbers that I have for participants to the first mass e-mail of each month. The updated list will be attached to the next mass e-mail I send out.
I am trying to limit my SMSes to finding additional players for forthcoming sessions which are short of players, or to find replacements for late withdrawals.
If you are keen to play in a particular session, but it looks short of players, and the session is at risk of being cancelled, you can also ask anyone you know whether they’d like to play. You might know other participants from having played in the same session as them before, and now, you have their mobile numbers as well.
Likewise, if you have to withdraw from a session at a late stage, you can also help out by trying to find your own replacement.
If you are on the Participant List, but I do not have your mobile number, and you would like to be added to the telephone list, just e-mail me your mobile number and I will add it to the telephone list. The telephone list is kept by me will be circulated once a month by e-mail. It does not appear anywhere else.
If you are on the mailing list or the telephone list and wish to be removed, either add a comment on the blog or e-mail me to let me know, and I will remove your contact details from the lists.
“Heads” will be sent out tomorrow instead of today.
The latest telephone list was circulated with today’s e-mail.
Again, “Heads” will be sent out tomorrow instead of today.
As the sessions tonight and tomorrow night are full, I’ll again send “Heads” out tomorrow (Tuesday) instead of today.
Our routine sessions and other activities are managed primarily through the blog, but the two weekly e-mail circulars, “Heads” and “Tails”, serve to remind our participants what is currently available and to highlight other blog content.
The first e-mail circular of the week, “Heads”, has been sent on either Mondays or Tuesdays. From this week onwards, it will ordinarily be sent out on Tuesdays, after the weekend schedule is posted. It will include a reminder of the places available for the mid-week sessions.
“Tails” has been sent on either Thursdays or Fridays. It will usually be sent out on Friday, after the mid-week schedule is posted for the following week. It will include a reminder of the places remaining for the weekend session, and any places left for the Monday night FAFI game at Turf City.
Over the past few weeks, I have included reminders relating to the system. The most common one is “If you played this past week, don’t forget to vote for your player of the session.”
Other recent ones include:
• On 14 July 2009:
• On 17 July 2009:
I’ll regularly include reminders of various aspects of our system and sessions/games in future “Heads” and “Tails”.
“Heads” and “Tails” are archived here. You can find the link under “Internal” in the links in the right column.
I’ll circulate the latest telephone list later this week only to those on the list.
The latest telephone list will be circulated with today’s “Tails”. As such, only those whose numbers are on the list will receive today’s “Tails”.
The “Heads & Tails” page has been revised.
As tonight’s session is full, and there is no session tomorrow, there is presently no need for a “Heads” today.
Instead, we might have the first Wednesday “Toss” tomorrow.
We’ve had the first-ever “Toss” today.
Again, we won’t have a “Heads” today. We may have a “Toss” tomorrow.
When we had a “Toss” last time, it replaced both the “Heads” and “Tails”.
A “Toss” (on Wednesday) between “Heads” (earlier in the week) and “Tails” (later in the week).
As we had a “Toss” on Wednesday, there won’t be a “Tails” this week.
The updated telephone list will be circulated with an e-mail next week.
I’ll circulate the updated telephone list later this month.
I aim to circulate the updated telephone list once a month. From now on, it is more likely to be in the middle of the month than at the beginning of the month.
The updated telephone list was circulated with today’s “Toss”.
We’ll have another “Toss” today, so no “Heads” or “Tails” this week.
As an updated telephone list will be included with today’s “Tails”, only current participants will receive the e-mail.
There will be no further e-mails before 15 November 2009.
I may take a day or more to reply to SMSes so use the blog instead.
The e-mails resume today with a “Toss”.
I’ve changed the link from the top banner in the e-mails from the “Heads & Tails” page to the Current GIFFA Games page.
Today’s “Heads” will be the last e-mail of the year. As their frequency has been reduced to once a week or once a fortnight, from next year onwards, the e-mails will go back to being called “Updates”.
I will also no longer be archiving the e-mails.
As the games have been filling up largely through the GIFFA Message Board, the need for e-mails has been reduced.
I may have just one e-mail update a month, more if the places are slow to fill up. On the other hand, if places are slow to fill up, I may also reduce the number of games a week.
The e-mail to circulate the latest participant list is separate.
A link to the archive has been added under “Old Categories”.
The latest update was sent out today. There has only been one a month since January 2010, so the update no longer refers to the actual date, but to the month – effectively, once a month.