WhatsApp and FVOmailPolicy on use of WhatsApp and FVOmail
The club runs two communication systems: FVOmail and a WhatsApp Community.
FVOmail
FVOmail is a closed members only googlegroup. All members are able to join and will receive adhoc communications from the club and other members this way. It should only be used for FVO relevant information. Everyone's inboxes are already swamped so we discourage messages being posted here unless it will be relevant to a significant proportion of the club. If you have less urgent information relevant to a small number of people it may be better to ask the President to add to their periodic update emails.
We recommend when posting on FVOmail that you send the message you address it to yourself and Bcc fvomail@fvo.org.uk - then if someone mistakenly replies to all we don't all receive it. If you post to FVOmail your email address will be visible to all other users. If you only receive mail from FVOmail your email address is only visible to the group admins.
Members who do not renew their membership before Easter each year, will be purged from the list.
After many requests to have a structured approach for immediate communication and much investigation around WhatsApp’s privacy approaches we have finally managed to get a solution in place which provides a balance between ease of use and privacy.
Please note that to comply with SOA safeguarding advice this group will only be open to members who are at least 18 yrs old. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and we appreciate your help in sticking to this. New >18s joining the club will get who provide a mobile number will usually receive an invite to join the WhatsApp community.
If you accept this you will be added to a WhatsApp community where you will receive announcements from the club - this will likely be important matters we need to get out to the whole club ASAP like event cancellations. If you just join the community your phone number is only visible to the community Admins (President, Secretary, Membership Secretary).
If you don’t receive the invite it is likely because we don’t have your mobile number. In that case please contact membership@fvo.org.uk with your details and you will be invited.
WhatsApp communities can also have sub groups eg, for major events, travel sharing, local event organisers, coaches etc. If you are added to any of these subgroups your phone number will be visible to everyone else in that group. You can choose to join some subgroups yourself or be invited to join closed groups. If you think another group would be useful let us know - if we agree we can create it.
The informal nature of WhatsApp can make managing tone difficult - this is a club community and the SOA code of conduct still applies there but if you are concerned about any post please report it to the group admins. We hope we don’t need to but we may temporarily or permanently remove anyone who misuses the functions, that may include unsolicited or unwanted approaches direct to other members outside the community.
WhatsApp groups can be noisy which can be great for building club interaction but not everyone enjoys that constant chatter - so please consider if the message is appropriate and in the right place, a message on a large group may be about to disturb 200 people - however each user can mute any group they are part of if they find it distracting; you will still get the message but without the notifications.
WhatsApp is a great tool for sharing photographs or videos of our athletes but we would ask that you ensure you have permission of the member (or their parent for any under 18s).
Legacy groups used for events or travel sharing will be discontinued so that all FVO WhatsApp activity falls under one umbrella. (SWAT is not an FVO activity and will continue to operate its Parents' groups etc).
Finally if you don’t use WhatsApp don’t worry - we will continue to use FVOmail as our medium for official communication, and social media users will find frequent updates from Steve and Holly on Facebook and Instagram.
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