Functionality


 * (3.3) TA Functionality **

The most important resource a TA has is its membership list, current and expired. This is often the hardest data set to control as it is constantly changing, and it needs to be stored safely and effectively. It is surprising how many TAs do not maintain an updated database of addresses and emails, despite emails saving on stationery, administrative costs and the manual work required to send out a large mailing. We suggest that you promote the idea of contact through email rather than letter.

You can store and update membership details using tools such as ** Excel ** or ** Brilliant DB. **A bulk email application is one of the few expenses we would highly recommend, as it can help you send emails with one push of the ‘send’ button. We recommend ** CastleMail, PSS Bulkmailer ** or any of the many other products now available to help you achieve this.

** Google Docs ** can improve functionality as TA board members have limited time and may need to collaborate online to finalize programme details, review proposals and comment on abstracts or other promotional text. There are many other free online collaborative tools which can help you if you need multiple users to work on the same document – ** [] ** or ** [] ** and you can actually see document revisions as they happen.

Editing images or photographs for your publications or your website and blogs can be done freely online – ** [] ** is a good example of a photoshop-like application. Finally, online collaboration can be greatly facilitated through ** Skype ** which includes a screen-sharing function and even board meetings can be held online, too, to increase your efficiency and allow for a strong attendance in board meetings – the virtual classrooms mentioned earlier are also a great way of conducting board meetings.

Note

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