In the Week One post I outlined a collaborative email and memo activity. In addition to the submission requirements and deadlines, this post will serve as stylistic and organizational guidelines for your work.
The email and memo activity should be built from your viewing of the “Motor Vehicles 3.17.26” committee meeting shared in Week One
- Sent to Dr. Pete (pete@kennesaw.edu) as the fictional client/audience and the context for that relationship should be clear in the email.
- Sent by the Project Manager (PM) with other team members copied.
- PDF of the memo should be attached
- Subject line: short but should articulate the purpose of the email (per the fictional context that you’ve decided as a group).
- Greeting line: clear and professional
- Body of the email: only 2 or 3 paragraphs; 2 sentences per paragraph; the email must a) make the fictional context clear, b) announce the attachment, c) summarize the main observation of the attachment without overly summarizing it, and d) invite further feedback.
- Closing line: respectful and with all team members’ names and roles
Memo
- There are many example templates for memos on the web; choose one and be sure it is simple and clear rather than ornamental and complicated.
- Memo should include the following headings . . . To:, From:, Date:, and RE:
- No more than one page long, 12 or 14 pt font, one inch margins.
- Do not indent paragraphs; skip lines between paragraphs; paragraphs should be between and 3-5 sentences.
- Include background information that is not in the video to prove that you have conducted outside research including: full names and titles for people that you site, direct quotations, citation of relevant legislation being discussed, name of the bill being discussed, awareness of the bill’s language, a hyperlink to the bill online, and knowledge of what happened to the bill after this committee meeting.
- Do not use the pronouns “you” or your.”
- Be sure to demonstrate clear sentence completion and sentence variety (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences).
- Avoid rhetorical questions; the memo should provide direct observation and analysis for the meeting for your “client” who could not attend the meeting.
