How NOT to write mailing letters

Today I received a letter from the IEEE Northwest Section (as it happens, I am an IEEE member). The letter surprised me with its content and design. Since I often receive letters from organizations like IEEE, I have developed a certain pattern of how a letter should be written, which is sent to 300, 500, or 10 thousand people. I really do not want to be showered with rotten tomatoes shouting “psol out, gram-Nazi”, however, I want to quote this letter and highlight particularly controversial places. Before that, I would like to give some very simple and trivial advice to those who write mailing letters:

1. Always read the letter slowly and completely before sending it.
2. If in the process of re-reading you noticed and corrected several errors, be sure to follow step 1.
3. Point 1 should be done as many times as the number of participants in the mailing list (ideally =). Well, or at least from 1 to 3 times.
4. Always use spell checkers. Now available for free in all browsers.
5. If a letter is sent to more than 300m people, give it to someone else to read.
6. Not sure whether you can say so or that? Do I need a hyphen? Run on Yandex or Google! We drive in a phrase or a word and look at the answers, as well as that for the resources returned to us the search engine. Can you trust them?

So, the letter:
blue highlighted pieces that I put
red highlights controversial places and errors
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from IEEE Russia NorthWest < deleted @ gmail.com>
to deleted @ gmail.com
date Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 1:30 PM
subject Russia NW Section: S Novim 2009 godom mmm ... And what's the catch of translit? Then the letter in Russian!
')
Members of the Russian Northwest * IEEE Section
* - North-West

Dear Colleagues!

Our year 2008 ended in the ranks of the IEEE Russian Northwest Section, which now has 248 members, including 2 Fellow ** , 23 Senior ** and 58 Student Members ** .
* Is it like oo? IEEE since Christmas taxied in the Northwest?
** - I understand that these words do not even have close analogues in Russian ^ __ ^

In the section, many interesting meetings , conferences and seminars were held in all 9 TIs * and the LETI student department. An important step forward was the creation of the creation of the second student department at the University of Film and Television ( President Advisor ** , Professor Konstantin Frantsevich Glasman) and the new information theory cepter operating under the auspices of all three IEEE Russian sections. Our section in this new chepter * is represented by Vice - Chairman Sergey V. Fedorenko.
* - OMG !!! WTF ??? what did a man mean? If one of the Russian meanings of the English word chapter, which is the word "branch", then why not write the "student chepeter LETI" ???
** - advisor, he is usually attached to someone. So they write: "The President, Advisor to the Rector of the Saratov State Academy of Law."

The Technical English Program (TEP) program, created by our sections and currently covering 63 IEEE * student members, has been further developed. The spring semester of 2008 ended with an interesting 8-hour tutorial ** on May 24 held by the current and present IEEE vice-presidents for educational activities Moshe Kam and Evangelia Tzanakou in a beautiful Renaissance hotel in the center of St. Petersburg with 38 students participating. Just recently , before the New Year , Moshe Kam and his assistants organized a new tutorial ** for the 29 participants of the TEP fall semester in the wonderful Radison SAS Hotel, which was preceded by a reception in the main rooms of the Stroganov Palace. To disseminate the experience of the TEP organization, IEEE plans in October this year in our city to hold a world IEEE seminar with the invitation of all teachers and organizers of technical English language training.
* - very controversial phrase. 63 student members in general uzhosnakh. Maybe "63 students, members of IEEE"? Then ... “a program covering 63 student members ...” It seems to me that in this context the word “covering” does not apply at all to people, but only, perhaps, to regions. Although, in another situation, it is easy to say: “Hunger, covering the stomachs of 63 three IEEE members, gives us one more time to make sure that dinner was planned for a reason!”
** - OMG !!! WTF ??? №2

Another very important event of our section is the preparation for the main technical conference of the region 8 IEEE Eurocon2009 (www.ieee.org/go/eurocon2009), which will be held in our city on May 18-24. The conference is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of A.S. Popov. Currently, 518 reports have already been received, which are planned to be heard at 19 sections and special sessions of the conference.

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the section, I congratulate all our colleagues and friends on the occasion of the New Year 2009 * , I wish you good health and continued success in bringing together engineers from all over the world .
* - "New" with a capital letter, but "year" is not ... Not good.

Alexander Mikerov What for two signatures? Automatically added? Eeeh

-
Alexander Mikerov
Doctor of Tech. Sci., IEEE Senior Member
IEEE Russia (Northwest) Section Vice Chair
Professor of the Control Systems Department,
Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University, www.eltech.ru

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I want to add that in my opinion, such letters should be written in English, even despite the fact that Russian people read them. Organization is INTERNATIONAL! The exception, as far as I know, is made only for the Chinese. And further. I do not want to present myself as some kind of a smart guy or a guru in the Russian language. Not at all, I just wanted to give six tips to people who do not have built-in literacy. In short, like me ;-)

PS find something else, write in the comments.