By Karen Frankola

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Slack channel posts are usually the first and best choice for communicating with neighbors in Courtyards at Southpoint.

 

Many homeowners like to use our Slack channels as their main form of communication in our neighborhood because it’s less intrusive and easier than email.

 

To send a message in Slack, choose a specific channel unless you want all your neighbors to read your post. In that case, use the “General” channel. “General” posts can be just for fun, like sharing photos of a sunset, but when possible, try to use a specific channel.

 

For example, if you:

• Need a hand with something, try the “_resource-and-help-needed” channel.

• Want to get rid of an item, post photos in the “_for-sale-or-free” channel.

• Notice a problem at the clubhouse or pool, post in the “_committee-amenities” channel.

• Wonder when your yard will be mulched, ask in the “_committee-landscape” channel. When communicating with a committee, it’s especially important to post in the committee channels to ensure that committee members can see your issue and respond promptly.

 

For personal communication, you can Direct Message (DM) one or more neighbors. Since Slack posts can be read by everyone in that channel, if you have any private/sensitive information to share or comment on, please Direct Message instead, reaching out to one or more people.

 

For example, perhaps you want to tell your closest neighbors you’re going out of town. Go to Direct Messages (DMs), click on the plus sign and add the recipients.​

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​​You may ask, “Can I send an email in addition to using Slack?” Sure. But email overload can be a problem for many of us, so try to be considerate. Here are a few guidelines.

• If you are organizing an event, asking for timely action or delivering critical information, sending a group email in addition to a Slack post can be warranted. Go into Homeowner/Resident Directory in the “_documents-permanent” channel and copy the emails for your recipients.

• In general, if you are emailing more than two or three neighbors, please use the  Bcc: — or blind copy — field, not the To: or Cc: fields, unless it’s important for all recipients to review all replies. You can leave the To: field empty or put your own email address in. When you select Bcc:, recipients can’t use the “reply all” function, which results in all recipients getting all replies.

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• If the sender did not Bcc: recipients, it’s usually best to choose Reply instead of Reply all, unless you want everyone to read your reply.