In what may trigger a policy change across all DPS schools, Nicole Bayer, who works in Administrative Support at High Tech Elementary, sent out a mass email, but chose to blind carbon copy (BCC) instead of carbon copy the recipients. “I just thought it seemed like the right thing to do,” said trailblazer Bayer. “I mean, maybe some people don’t want everyone seeing their email address, but more importantly, a lot of people think ‘reply’ and ‘reply all’ are the same thing. They are not. But, inevitably, people will click ‘reply all’ and then everyone will see tens and tens of questions and responses they weren’t interested in.”
Although many recipients of the BCC email were taken aback, most appreciate innovator Bayer’s intentions. “At first, I thought I was the only one receiving the email,” said High Tech Elementary Parent Brian Morgan. “But, then I called my friend and found out they received it as well. We put two and two together and realized it was a BCC situation.” Other Stapleton parents agreed. “I thought it was really considerate,” said Chad Sifers. “Normally, I end up not reading the emails because by the time I get to it, there are 50 responses to sift through, so I just delete them.” Some parents prefer the old approach. “I like being able to see everyone on the email,” said Becky Lembeck. “Plus some people have the same questions, so I let them handle it instead of me being the one feeling silly asking what might be a dumb question.” Resident Paul DeLay prefers the group email, but for different reasons. “When you have people’s email addresses, it makes Facebook stalking so much easier,” said Lembeck. “There are all these hot moms, so now I can work on remembering their names, and in some cases, become Facebook friends with them, which is great.”
Bayer says she plans to continue taking advantage of the BCC option. “I used to work in an office,” said Bayer. “And I used it all the time when sending out mass communication. Sure some people like having their responses read by everyone, but my guess is that more people prefer the anonymity that the BCC option offers.” It is unclear if Bayer’s BCC technique will be carbon copied by the rest of the area schools. Until then, residents can expect to continue to receive long email strings with unnecessary commentary.]]>