Activity 6.5.1

This was the first real task for our team where there was numerous emails going back and forth between us all.
Activity 6.5.1 - Implications of feedback using email in large groups.
I wouldn't call our group large but we definitely found implications!
Craig started by sending us all a group email which nominated each of us to find advantages and disadvantages of each type of email - HTML, Rich Text or Plain Text Email. Craig and Tom were to research the disadvantages and Tobin and I were to research the advantages.
It started out fine enough, or so I had thought. I started researching straight after I received Craig's email (on the Sunday) and emailed what I had found onto Tobin asking him to look it over and add or delete what he liked so we could forward it onto Craig by Tuesday.
First glitch:- By Tuesday afternoon though I still hadn't heard from Tobin, so decided to email my findings on to Craig. That evening I received a text from Tobin to apologize for missing the last meeting we had and wanted to know what he had missed. I asked if he had checked his emails lately and told him as we were working on activity 6 he needed to do so. I then went on to tell him what task had been delegated to us and that I had emailed my findings to him.
Second glitch:- By Wednesday we found out that we had Tom's email address wrong so he wasn't receiving any of the group emails.
But still our team did well getting this activity done, even with the few glitches we still managed to come up with the following findings:

Advantages	Disadvantages
Plain Text email 1. Can be read by everybody, regardless of email software 2. May apeal to verbal learners 3. Quick to create 4. Can be edited and reused 5. Can be read off line. *6.It's smaller and therefore faster - Plain text email is pretty much that - plain text. There are no embedded tags or codes to be sent, nothing beyond the most basic formatting, no colours or background pictures. This means the email is smaller and therefore needs less time to send or receive. *7.It's more compatible - These days more and more people read email when out of the office, often using a Blackberry or similar device. By using plain text you can guarantee that your message will be readable (No guarantee that it will actually be read however...). HTML/Richtext emails can contain formatting that renders them unreadable on some platforms. Another benefit of being smaller is that that mobile users need less bandwidth and battery power to download your email. *8. It's more secure - You cannot get a virus from reading a plain text email, nor can the sender track the email to see who has opened it. Reference: *http://www.itlifeguard.com/Plaintext.htm	Plain Text email 1. Text can appear plain and boring
Rich text or simple HTML email 1. Text may be coloured, highlighted, bulleted, numbered, aligned. 2. Different font and sizes can be used 3. Can be edited and reused 4. Better for visual and global users 5. Quick for recipiants to download 6. Can be read off line *7. Widely Readable - All major word processors and many other types of programs can read RTF text. *8. Preserves Basic Formatting - Font information and text styling selections are preserved in RTF. *9. Offers Security Advantages - RTF is a more trustworthy format than .DOC, and it doesn't leave an "edit trail." *10. Smaller File Size - Because it doesn't save document history data, an RTF file is smaller and therefore easier to send as an email attachment. References: *http://www.page-house.com/clippings/benefitsOfRTF.html	Rich text or simple HTML email 1. Only people who use Outlook and Outlook Express can see rich text formats. 2. Can't insert tables, columns, forms or graphics
HTML email 1. Bright, modern, visually appealing 2. Allows pictures, diagrams, tables, forms and charts 3. Allows movement 4. Great for visual or global learners 5. Can be edited and reused. *6. Include tracking scripts or invisible visitor counters, which enables you to receive reports on message viewed or click through by recipients *7. Insert interactive hyperlinks that take users to webpage or site of interest *8. Code to automatically opens the browser and connect to the webpage *9. Pop-up windows to grab viewer attention *10. Embedded sound, movies clips and images that download automatically from your webpage when message is viewed--this way you can speed-up sending emails because the images need not be included when sending *11. Include banner Ads with and navigational links to sites *12. Allows you to include images, graphics, multiple columns, various fonts and colors and lay out the message like a web page *13. Include survey FORM tags with submit button, sponsorship links information, forward to a friend links, subscribe and unsubscribe links and more.... References: *http://www.mailsbroadcast.com/email.bolts&nuts/html.or.text.htm	HTML email 1. Some email clients can't read HTML and will attempt to convert it into text, which can result in formatting problems. 2. If a client is reading your HTML email in offline mode, the images from an HTML email will not show up. Also, there are some blackberries and smart phones that do not read HTML e-mail as well as they can read plain text email. 3. HTML emails take longer to load http://www.ehow.com/list_6191837_advantages-html-plain-text-e_mails.html 4. HTML emails have more chances of having a trojan horses, viruses and etc. Some email clients have blocked the downloading of external content (images, scripts). So a reader will not see a HTML messages as it suppose to be when they first see it. http://www.freemarketingzone.com/email-marketing/html-email-pros.html

I thought this activity was great for us as a team to work out how to work together to get something done. Yes, we had a few glitches, but hopefully, over the next few weeks, we'll be able to smooth out these issues and start working more smoothly as a team, so that by the time the Assessments, for this course, come along we will be working well together as a team.
I have high hopes for our team. If we can still get an activity done and posted in the forum with the few glitches that we had then once we start working more smoothly together we are going to be AWESOME.
Go Team Roughnecks!!!!