Email Policies and Guidelines ATTACHMENTS
Attachments are often the source of Internet viruses. Houston Institute for Culture will not send attachments with emails unless a file has been requested, or the sender has made the receiver aware in a previous communication that an attachment will be included.
Attachments are also cumbersome for email accounts with limited capacity. We will always try to include the relevant information as text in the email or provide a link to any relevant material on line, such as press releases and photos. Material that is accessible on line will, therefore, only be a burden to our servers. Constituents will have the option to copy and paste or download the material.
VIRUSES
We are aware that viruses are a major problem for individuals, organizations and businesses. We take every precaution to ensure that our emails are virus free.
Virus generating programs often spoof email addresses, and this has happened to us as well. Emails that appear to come from a recognizable domain, such as houstonculture.org, may actually come from a virus that has invaded an address book on an unrelated computer. For this reason, we do not maintain address books or email lists on line.
All general incoming email (email from sources unknown to us or containing suspicious attachments that may be viruses) is handled on a Mac (instead of the more susseptable PCs), making it much safer for us to delete corrupt email without incident or risk of spreading viruses.
While we scan email on our system, we will not send a message indicating that an attachment has been scanned and is safe to open. That is usually a deceptive ploy to get the receiver to open a virus-infected file.
Any links that we suggest you open to get further information will have completely logical addresses (i.e. houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html), as opposed to random software generated addresses. Links to pages not on our site are tested in advance of being included in our newsletter.
UNSOLICITED MAIL
We only send email in reference to organization business from our official addresses (i.e. info@houstonculture.org). Mailbox holders, using theirname@houstonculture.org email addresses, may use their accounts to request information or make contact for organization business or for personal interests. No mailbox holder may use his or her address for illegal activity.
SPAM AND SOLICITATION
We do not send email to addresses selected randomly or machine generated. We will not solicit sales or support for any service or product outside of the organization's mission. Any programs to provide services or products from Houston Institute for Culture will be explained in full detail on our website, with a link to a logical address (i.e. houstonculture.org/camp).
RECEIVING EMAIL AND ATTACHMENTS
For many of the reasons above, we prefer to receive text-only emails. They occupy less space on our servers. We receive such a volume per day that we are forced to quickly delete the largest emails (always the ones with attachments), and we must be weary of viruses.
HOUSTON INSTITUTE FOR CULTURE