Communication Guide 2010-09mmiresource.hotelpros.biz/doc-folder/General/Communication_Guide.pdf · Section 11800: Effective Writing Skills Section 11900: Glossary, Acknowledgment

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

GUIDE

Marin Management, Inc.’s Style Guide for Letters, Electronic Mail, Facsimiles and Memoranda

Including policies 11000 through 11999

Revised September 7, 2010

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

GUIDE

Marin Management, Inc.’s Style Guide for Letters, Electronic Mail, Facsimiles and Memoranda

Including policies 11000 through 12999

A poorly or carelessly written letter reveals the author's lack of pride in his or her work, a lack of respect for the reader and an under-estimation of

the reader's knowledge and intelligence. A letter written with care is a compliment to the reader's intelligence, and it shows the author respects

the time of the person who will read it. Take time to write well. To do less is inconsiderate to the reader and a poor reflection of the author.

Written Communication Guide

© MARIN MANAGEMENT, INC. Communication_Guide_2010-09.doc

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section 11000: Introduction & General

Section 11100: Letters

Section 11200: Facsimiles

Section 11300: Memoranda & Employee Communication Section 11400: Internet & E-mail Section 11500: (Not used) Section 11600: (Not used)

Section 11700: (Not used)

Section 11800: Effective Writing Skills

Section 11900: Glossary, Acknowledgment & Bibliography

“Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth.

Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilarating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!”

–Edna Ferber (1887–1968), U.S. writer. A Peculiar Treasure, Chapter 1 (1939). The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1993 by Columbia University Press.

December 30, 2002



Section 11000: INTRODUCTION &

GENERAL



11000. Introduction & General

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11000 Introduction 11010 Storage of Written Documents 11020 Guidelines for All Written Communication 11050 Standards for Replying to Written Communication “What you’re trying to do when you write is to crowd the reader out of his own space and occupy it with yours, in a good cause. You’re trying to take over his sensibility and deliver an experience

that moves from mere information.”

–Robert Stone (b. 1937), U.S. novelist. Interview in Writers at Work (Eighth Series, ed. by George Plimpton, 1988). The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1993 by

Columbia University Press.

December 24, 2002



11000. INTRODUCTION

A. The Purpose of This Guide

The purpose of our Written Communication Guide is to provide the team members of Marin Management, Inc. (MMI) and our affiliated hotels with guidelines to help them professionally prepare and present consistently effective written communication that enhances the image and contributes to achieving the Company’s goals.

B. Distribution

We distribute the Written Communication Guide to the following:

All MMI headquarters staff All hotel salaried staff All hotel sales staff

All other hotel staff members who prepare written communication

C. References to the “Company” Within the Written Communication Guide, “Company” means Marin Management, Inc. (MMI), the hotels managed by MMI and those hotels supported by MMI using this Guide.

D. Ownership

The Written Communication Guide is the property of Marin Management, Inc., Sausalito, California. No part of this Written Communication Guide may be copied or distributed without the written approval of Marin Management, Inc.



11000. INTRODUCTION, Page Two of Two

E. Disclaimer

The policies and procedures in the Written Communication Guide are intended for implementation by capable supervisors and well-trained team members using good judgment. Marin Management, Inc., its officers and employees make no implied or expressed warranty regarding the use of this Guide. January 22, 2003



11010. STORAGE OF WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure the secure retention of Company documents.

B. Our Document Software We use Word

® for Windows

® for all correspondence, except when we use Time &

Contact Manager (TCM)® for certain form letters.

C. Storing Electronic Documents

Keep all Word® documents saved to computer files. Save all sales documents to

the file server in a directory named "F(C on server):\Documents\Sales\ . . ." using the subdirectory for yourself.

Use a separate computer file for each account. Combine letters for each account within one file in chronological order, so they will all be in one place for easy reference. For example, you may have a file name “F:\Documents\Sales\Verizon” containing all sales letters for Verizon. To start a new letter to Verizon, you would first open the “F:\Documents\Sales\Verizon” file, and then type the new letter into that file. When done, you would simply save the file with the same name.

To print, simply print the pages of the new letter (not the entire file). This system is

not recommended, however, if you are attaching a letter to an e-mail message, because you may not want to attach all correspondence with each message. If you are attaching a letter to an e-mail message, you may want to temporarily extract it from the account’s file.

If a file became too large and awkward to use, you could separate the file by

categories, for example:

“F:\Documents\Sales\Verizon\2010” or “F:\Documents\Sales\Verizon\Smith”

Record all correspondence in Time & Contact Manager® (TCM

®) contact-

management software as a "history" event. In the history Type field, enter "Lett" for letter. In the Comments field enter, for example, "I mailed a proposal letter for the meeting March 10, 2010. See the file F:\Documents\Sales\Sample." Following these procedures will make finding letters easy.



11010. STORAGE OF WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE, Page Two of Two C. Storing Electronic Documents (Cont.)

Do not make photocopies of letters for paper files. Do not keep paper files of documents that are stored on the computer except when a client’s signature is needed for retention. Do not store Company documents on computers that are not owned by the Company. January 1, 2003



11020. GUIDELINES FOR ALL WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

A. The Purpose of This Policy This section provides guidelines for all forms of written communication. These guidelines will help you achieve the objectives of your letters, e-mail messages, manuals, policies, procedures, checklists and memoranda while raising the image of our Company.

B. Some General Guidelines Letters, e-mail messages, memoranda and notes have permanence often unintended by the author, so take great care when preparing written communication. Following are some guidelines to keep in mind preparing any document:

♦ Do not send a letter, e-mail message or memorandum when a telephone call or a personal meeting will get the job done. Personal contact is often the most effective communication, because you can measure the recipient’s response while you are communicating.

♦ Before you begin to create a document, consider what it is you want the

document to achieve. Stay focused on that objective, and do not wander from your main topic.

♦ Never write when you are angry, frustrated or experiencing any emotional

extreme.

♦ Do not write hurried documents.

♦ Always use spell-check (F7 for Word® and Outlook

®) before finishing a

document.

♦ Whenever possible, have someone proofread and comment on your written work before you distribute it.

January 22, 2003



11050. STANDARDS FOR REPLYING TO WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure that we provide a professional and appropriate response to those who send us written communication.

B. The Format of Replying to Written Communication Most often, reply to written communication in the same format as the communication was received. For example, if you receive an e-mail message it is appropriate to reply by e-mail. It is usually inappropriate, however, to reply to a letter using only an e-mail message, hand-written note or telephone call.

C. The Timeliness of Replying to Written Communication Company team members receiving written communication must reply according to the following standards:

♦ For inquiries from Company customers, prospects and clients made to our sales or reservations staff: Reply within one business day.

♦ For inquiries from media organizations, such as a local newspaper, regarding

a newsworthy event: Only the general manager may reply, and the reply must be within one business day.

♦ For inquiries from customers requiring some research (such as a question

regarding billing or lost-and-found): Reply within one week.

♦ For inquiries making a legal claim: Reply according to the direction received from MMI.

December 24, 2002



Section 11100:

LETTERS



11100. Letters

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11105 Hotel Stationery Standards 11110 Who May Use Hotel Stationery 11120 Format of Letters 11125 MMI Letterhead 11150 Replying to Guest Complaints 11160 Sales Letters

January 5, 2003



11105. HOTEL STATIONERY STANDARDS

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure that all written correspondence presented on hotel stationery (letterhead, second sheets, note cards, etc.) is presented on printed stock of high quality.

B. Paper Stock, Logo, Colors and Fonts For the stationery of branded hotels, all paper stock, logo, font styles, font sizes and colors must adhere to brand standards. For unbranded (independent) hotels, MMI must pre-approve all stationery printing and all stationery must be consistent in these qualities.

C. Electronic Letterhead Each hotel has its “electronic” letterhead (pre-formatted computer documents with the hotel’s logo, address, etc. exactly as it appears on its printed letterhead). We use this electronic letterhead for sending attachments to e-mail messages. Such electronic letterhead is typically kept on each computer workstation in a file named as follows:

C:\Documents\Templates\Letterhead The electronic letterhead includes the first and second pages formatted with the correct margins. If the second page is not needed, delete it being careful to not delete the footer. After opening the above file and before beginning to write the letter, save the file using a new file name to prevent overwriting the letterhead template. The letterhead template prints a logo with lower-quality resolution, so do not use it for high-priority presentations. December 8, 2002



11110. WHO MAY USE HOTEL STATIONERY

A. The Purpose of This Policy Communication received on Company stationery represents the Company and affects its standards, image and reputation. The purpose of this policy is to protect the Company’s image and assure the following:

♦ Hotel stationery (any letterhead, second sheets, note cards, etc.) is used only for matters related to Company business.

♦ Hotel stationery is used only for matters that support our business objectives.

♦ Only those approved by Company policy and directed by the hotel general manager use hotel stationery.

B. Who May Use Hotel Stationery Only the hotel general manager, sales staff members, office managers, MMI staff members and certain hotel department heads designated by the general manager may use hotel stationery. Except for routine correspondence for sales, purchasing, etc., all documents sent from the hotel, including letters on hotel stationery, must have the advance approval of the general manager. December 30, 2002



11120. FORMAT OF LETTERS

A. The Purpose of This Policy

The purpose of this policy is to promote a professional image of our Company by presenting consistently high quality written correspondence to our customers, prospects, guests, vendors and others.

B. Responsibility Anyone using company letterhead is responsible for assuring that correspondence is prepared according to the standards of this policy.

C. Using Letterhead Stationery

Prepare all written correspondence (except hand-written notes) to be sent to anyone outside of the company on company letterhead stationery. Do not use the memorandum format for correspondence to anyone other than another company employee. For hand-written notes, use the company note cards or another pre-printed, attractive card, such as a thank-you card.

D. Our Letter Style We use “full block” style for Company letters. In “full block” style, paragraphs are not indented, there is a blank line between each paragraph; and the date, address and salutation lines are flush left.

E. Font and Font Size

Use 12-point Arial font for the body text of all correspondence. Use 8-point Arial font for noting the computer file name at the end of letters and other documents. To set the font size in a Word

® document, select Format, Font (Alt-O, Enter).



11120. FORMAT OF LETTERS, Page Two of Five

F. Text Alignment

Use “justified” alignment for the body text of all letters, memoranda, manuals, etc. Justified alignment shows an even (flush) left and right margin. To set the text alignment in a Word

® document, select Format, Paragraph (Alt-O, P).

G. Page Margins

To set the page margins in a Word® document, select File, Page Setup (Alt-F, U).

Set the page margins as follows:

♦ Top Margin: One-half inch below the logo on the first page. One-half inch from the top edge of the paper or one-half inch from the logo on all other pages.

♦ Bottom Margin: One-half inch from the bottom edge of the paper or one-

half inch from any printing on the bottom of the sheet.

♦ Left Margin: One inch on all pages.

♦ Right Margin: One inch on all pages.

HHHOOOTTTEEELLL

LLLOOOGGGOOO ↑↑↑ The top margin is one-half inch from the logo.

←← The left margin is one inch from the edge of the paper.

The right margin is one inch from the edge of the paper. →→→

The bottom margin is one half inch from the bottom printing or edge of the paper. ↓↓↓



11120. FORMAT OF LETTERS, Page Three of Five

H. The Date Line All letters include the date line flush left on the first line on the first page. Write the date in the North American format (month, day, year) with no abbreviations.

I. The Name and Address Block The name and address block begins four lines below the date. (There are three blank lines between the date and the address block.) Use the recipient's full name as it appears on his or her business card preceded by the prefix ("Mr.", "Ms.", etc.). If in doubt whether to use "Ms.," "Mrs." or "Miss," use "Ms.". Whenever possible, include the recipient's title. If the correspondence is going to a business address, use the business name.

J. The Subject Line The subject line is located two lines below the last line of the address, flush left. (There is one blank line between the address block and the subject line.) It starts with the word "Subject" followed by a colon and one blank space. Enter the subject line (except for the word “Subject” and the colon) in bold, all-capital letters with no period at the end.

K. The Salutation Line The salutation line is located four lines below the subject line. (There are three blank lines between the subject line and the salutation.) The salutation should almost always be formal ("Dear last name:"). Only use the informal salutation (Dear first name:") when it is clearly uncomfortable to use the formal salutation and you are certain the correspondence is not going to be reviewed by anyone else in the recipient's office. Use a colon (:) after a formal salutation, not a comma.

L. The Body of the Letter Separate the body of the letter from the salutation by one blank line. The left and right margins of the body are flush (justified), so the words line up evenly on the right side of the page as they do on the left. Separate each paragraph by one blank line. Do not indent paragraphs.



11120. FORMAT OF LETTERS, Page Four of Five

M. The Second Page of the Letter All pages after the first page begin with the recipient's name in all-capital letters followed by the date and page number in proper capitalization. Leave two blank lines between the page number and the continuation of the body of the letter. If paragraphs are separated onto different pages, leave at least two lines of the paragraph on both pages. Since it is difficult to break a paragraph onto two pages, it is simply easier to make sure all of your pages breaks are before or after complete paragraphs. To create a page break in any Word

® document, press the Ctrl-Enter keys. This is

called a “hard” page break. Placing a hard page break means you decide where the page break is, rather than letting Word

® place the break where it chooses.

N. The Closing Salutation The closing salutation is located two lines below the body of the letter. (There is one blank line between the last line of the body of the text and the closing salutation). The closing salutation is usually "Sincerely" or "Best regards" followed by a comma. This should be as professional as the rest of your letter. Do not try to be overly informal or cute in the closing salutation (such as, “See ya”).

O. The Signature Block Leave three blank lines between the closing salutation and the signature block. The signature block contains the sender's name on the first line and title on the second line.

P. The Enclosure Line Leave two blank lines after the title for the enclosure line or the copy line, whichever is used. Include the enclosure line only if you are including one or more enclosures. This line is the word "Enclosure." If there are multiple enclosures, indicate the number in parentheses (for example, "Enclosures (3)").



11120. FORMAT OF LETTERS, Page Five of Five

Q. The Copy Line Use a copy line only if you are sending one or more copies to others. The copy line begins with the abbreviation (a lowercase “c”) followed by a colon and a blank space (for example "c: "). Indent each recipient of a copy on a separate line. Note: It is impolite to send a copy to someone within the recipient's organization without his or her approval. If the person being copied is within your organization, follow the name with the position title and company name for the primary recipient's reference. If the person being copied is in a different office from the recipient, indicate the location after the name. It is assumed that the person being copied is not receiving the enclosures. If he or she is receiving enclosures, indicate at the end of copy line (for example, "w/ enclosures" after the name).

R. The File and Path Name The last line of any document is the computer file path and name showing where the document is stored on the computer. Enter this line in eight-point size.

S. Sample Letter

The following two pages contain a sample of the correct letter format.

T. Handling Outgoing Correspondence

Keep letters and other presentation papers, such as contracts and proposals, protected, so that they are sent out clean. Do not use paper clips on presentation papers, because they can leave black marks on the paper. December 8, 2002



October 17, 2010 date (no abbreviations) flush left Three blank lines between the date and address Ms. Mary G. Sample System Administrator Acme Rocket Engines 123 Main Street Anywhere, CA 90000-1234 One blank line between the address and subject Subject: CORRESPONDENCE FORMAT The subject is bold capitals Three blank lines between the subject line and the salutation Dear Ms. Sample: Use the formal salutation with a colon

One blank line This is an example of a letter using the correct format for our letterhead. The format we use is full-block style. Full-block style is now the most popular style for business correspondence, because it is neat, clean and easy to read. Note the correct margins and spacing of each section of the letter.

One blank line between paragraphs

Our margins are different for the first and second page of the letter. The first page is two and one-half inches at the top; all other pages are one inch at the top. Letters are divided into sections, including the date, address, subject line, salutation, body, closing salutation and signature block. Each section has a specific placement in relation to the other sections. There are three blank lines between the date and the first line of the address, one blank line between the last line of the address and the subject line and three blank lines between the subject line and the salutation. There is one blank line between the salutation and the body of the letter and the same between the body of the letter and the closing salutation. The body of the letter is divided into paragraphs. Notice that the there is one blank line after each paragraph and that we do not indent paragraphs for full-block style. Each paragraph contains two or more sentences on a related topic. Usually paragraphs do not contain just one sentence. Each sentence should express one concise thought. A good guideline is that if the sentence is more than two lines, it may be too long.



MS. MARY SAMPLE, October 17, 2010, Page Two of Two Two blank lines between the page number and the body Notice that the left and right margins are flush, so the words are lined up evenly on the right margin. This is called "full justification." The full-justification effect gives the letter a much neater appearance. Indentations are handled as follows:

Indentations are always preceded with an introductory sentence. Just as in the non-indented parts of the body of the letter, the indentation has an even right margin. Indentations are indented equally on both sides. Therefore, if the left margin is indented one inch, the right margin is also indented one inch.

If your letter requires more than one page, follow the correct format for the second additional pages. Do not leave just one line of a paragraph at the bottom or top of a page. These lines are called "widows" and "orphans”. Separate paragraphs so that at least two lines of the paragraph are on both pages. If that cannot be done (for example, the paragraph is too short), place the page break before or after the paragraph. Start the second page with the name of the recipient followed by the page number. This is helpful if the pages become separated. Leave two blank lines between the page number and the body of the letter. By the way, numbers ten and under are written out as words, and numbers 11 and above are written as digits. Leave one blank line between the body of the letter and the closing salutation. Insert a comma after the closing salutation. Do not separate the body of the letter from the closing salutation and signature block on separate pages. Every page of the letter should include some of the body of the letter. For the closing salutation, you can use "Sincerely" "Best regards" or another closing salutation that is professional and appropriate to the content of the letter.

One blank line between the body of the letter and the closing salutation

Sincerely, Three blank lines for the signature James Q. Name Super sales manager Two blank lines after the title for the enclosure or copy line Enclosures (3)

One blank line between the enclosure and copy lines c: Ms. Abigail Boss, Los Angeles regional office

Two blank lines

Sample file name Full file name in 8-point size



11125. MMI LETTERHEAD

A. Who May Use MMI Letterhead Only Marin Management, Inc. corporate staff members use the company letterhead, except when the president or a regional manager directs company letterhead to be used for a specific purpose.

B. Paper Stock MMI paper stock for letterhead and second sheets is Starwhite Vicksburg, 80-pound text, Vellum Tiara.

C. Electronic Letterhead MMI letterhead is available electronically in the following read-only computer file:

C:\Documents\Marin Management\Templates\Letterhead The electronic letterhead includes the first and second pages formatted with the correct margins. If the second page is not needed, delete it being careful to not delete the footer. After opening the above file and before beginning to write the letter, save the file using a new file name to prevent overwriting the letterhead template. The letterhead template prints a logo with lower-quality resolution, so do not use it for high-priority presentations. December 8, 2002



11150. REPLYING TO GUEST COMPLAINTS

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure all guest complaints receive a prompt, professional and appropriate response.

B. Standards for Replying to Guest Complaints Only the general manager or MMI management staff member may sign a letter responding to a guest complaint. Reply to every guest complaint letter as soon as possible but always within one week of receiving it. All response letters should include the following components:

♦ Acknowledgement of understanding the guest’s complaint.

♦ Acknowledgement of understanding the consequences the problem had to the guest.

♦ A statement that the service or product received by the guest is not typical or

representative of the Company’s standards.

♦ A statement explaining specifically what you have done to investigate and correct the problem—an explanation without excuses for the guest’s bad experience.

♦ A sincere apology. Avoid standard wording such as, “I am sorry for your

inconvenience…” If it were just an inconvenience, the guest probably would not have taken the time to write the letter. Treat the matter as more than just an inconvenience. The apology must treat the matter as important.

♦ An offer of some sort of compensation, no matter how small. For example,

you may offer something as small as a complimentary upgrade for the guest’s next visit.

♦ A request for the guest to use the hotel again and an expression that you

value his or her business. Directly ask for him or her to return to our hotel.

♦ Frequent use of the recipient’s name, so the letter is less likely to appear to be a form letter.



11150. REPLYING TO GUEST COMPLAINTS B. Standards for Replying to Guest Complaints (Cont.) See the sample complaint-response letter on the following page.

C. Recordkeeping Keep a file of all guest complaints received attached to the response letter. May 9, 2010



December 23, 2010 Mr. James Lament 123 Main Street Springfield, IN 51234 Subject: YOUR LETTER OF DECEMBER 20, 2010 Dear Mr. Lament: I received your letter of December 20, 2010 regarding the delay in your check-in November 30, 2010. As a frequent traveler, I know how upsetting it can be when a hotel has misplaced my reservation or when there is any delay in my getting accommodations. Mr. Lament, your check-in experience is certainly not typical at our hotel, nor does it represent the quality of guest service to which we aspire. I reviewed the circumstances of your check-in and interviewed our team members involved. I found that your reservation was recorded for arrival on the wrong date. I have reviewed our reservation procedures with all staff members involved to assure no repetition of this kind. Please accept the sincerest apologies of all of our staff involved, Mr. Lament, in this serious deviation from our standards. To show our concern for the unacceptable service you received I have enclosed a certificate for a complimentary room during your next visit to our area. We certainly value your business and hope you will often stay with us again. Mr. Lament, please let me know when you return, so that I can assure your reservation receives special attention. Sincerely, Alice Contrite General Manager enclosure



11160. SALES LETTERS For sample sales letters, such as letters for group and catering proposals, group room-block release notification and sales call follow-ups, see Section 8294 of the Marin Management, Inc. Sales Manual. May 9, 2010



Section 11200

FACSIMILES



11200. Facsimiles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11210 Facsimile Cover Pages 11220 General Standards for Sending Facsimiles December 18, 2002



11210. FACSIMILE COVER PAGES

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure the Company’s facsimile transmissions (faxes) are consistent and of equal quality to the Company’s letters and other written communications.

B. Two Cover Pages All faxes sent from the hotel must have a cover page. We use two different fax cover pages—one for faxes sent by hotel guests and another for faxes sent by Company staff.

C. The Guest Fax Cover Page The guest fax cover page must have the following features:

♦ The hotel’s logo.

♦ The hotel’s address, telephone number, fax number, toll-free number, e-mail address.

♦ A promotion description of the hotel’s features.

♦ Blank spaces for the guest to enter the number of pages and the receiving

fax number. We keep these fax cover pages at the front desk and in the business center. They are only for guest use. So that guests always receive a clean, fresh-looking fax cover page, print the originals from the hotel’s printer—do not photocopy fax cover pages.

D. The Hotel’s Fax Cover Page We use TCM

® to generate the fax cover page for all faxes sent by Company

staff. Using the TCM® fax cover page is faster, more professional and more accurate

(because you do not have to manually enter the recipient’s name and fax number). Another benefit is that TCM

® will automatically record the fax transmission.



11210. FACSIMILE COVER PAGES, Page Two of Four D. The Hotel’s Fax Cover Page (Cont.) If a Company employee who is not a TCM

® user wants to send a fax, he or she asks

the office manager or another TCM® user to print a fax cover page from TCM

®. Doing so

has two benefits.

� Management is made aware of all fax transmissions from the Company’s employees.

� We assure that we record all fax transmissions related to Company

business.

E. How to Create a New TCM® Fax Cover Page Create a new fax cover page the same way you create any new TCM

® document by pressing the F6 key for the

Documents menu. Next select “General Documents” and press the Insert key to display the new Documents form. In the Title field, name the document “Fax cover page”. In the large field for the body of the document, type a promotional description of the hotel. When done, press the F4 key to save the new fax cover page.

F. How to Use a Standard TCM® Fax Cover Page

You can use a fax cover page that will automatically enter the recipient’s name and fax number from TCM

®. Within the Contact List move the

cursor to a contact’s name or select a Contact Profile. Next press the F6 key to display the Document menu and select “General Documents”. In the list of general documents, move the cursor to the “Fax cover page”. Then press the Ctrl-P keys to display the Print Formats list. Select the “Fax” format. In the Print Destinations window select “Printer”, then “OK” in the

Print window. TCM® now prints a cover page as displayed on the following page.



11210. FACSIMILE COVER PAGES, Page Three of Four F. How to Use a Standard TCM

® Fax Cover Page (Cont.)

TCM

® next creates an “Auto History” form to

record the fax you sent. The Comments field of the Auto History form automatically is filled in with the body of the document (in this case, your promotional message). Because this does not describe the purpose of your fax, you need to change the Comments field to something more descriptive. So, move the cursor to the Comments field and press the Ctrl-A keys to highlight all of the promotional text. Then type the text that describes the fax, for example:

“I faxed Mr. Jones the volume-account proposal.” As always, after filling in the other applicable fields of the History record, press the F4 key to save it.

G. How to Create and Use a Custom Fax Cover Page

You can create a custom fax cover page that does not have the promotion message. For example, you may want to create a fax cover page with a message that reads, “Hello, Mr. Jones. Thank you for meeting with me yesterday. Following is the proposal I promised you.” To create this fax cover page, first complete the History record form for the contact receiving the fax. In the Action field, enter “Fax”. In the Comments field enter the text as you want it to appear on the fax cover page. Save the History record (F4). Then return to the Comments field and enlarge it (by pressing the space bar with the cursor on the button to the right of the Comments field). With the new text display, press the Ctrl-P keys. From the Print Formats list, select “Fax”; then select “Printer” from the Print Destinations window and “OK” in the Print window. Your printer will now print a fax cover page with your customized message.

Marin Management, Inc.

4000 Bridgeway, Suite 307

Sausalito, CA 94965-1444(415) 331-1061 Fax: (415) 331-8711

FAX TRANSMITTALDate: 12/18/2002

Time: 4:46PM

Sent To: Greg Abel

Company: Superior Court of California-County of S

Fax Number: (707) 565-1165

Sent By: John Manderfeld

Subject: Fax cover sheet

Number of Pages: ________________

Marin Management, Inc. provides management and support services for the lodging

industry, including hotel management, development, training, sales and marketing, risk

management, human resources, food and beverage and computer systems.

For more information check our Internet Web-site at www.marinmgmt.com

Fax Number: (707) 565-1165



11210. FACSIMILE COVER PAGES, Page Four of Four G. How to Create and Use a Custom Fax Cover Page (Cont.) Note the Auto History form appears. You do not want to create a History record, because you already did this before you printed the fax cover page. So, press the Esc key and answer “Yes” to the next prompt.

H. The Auto Activity Form TCM

® is configured to display an Auto Activity form after creating most History

records. This is to remind you to create a follow-up activity. It is a good idea whenever sending a fax, e-mail or letter to call to assure the recipient received it. So, in the Comments field of the Auto Activity record you could type, “Call Mr. Jones to check if he received my fax.” May 9, 2010 = 12177 TCM®



11220. GENERAL STANDARDS FOR SENDING FACSIMILES

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure the Company’s facsimile transmissions (faxes) are consistent and of equal quality to the Company’s letters and other written communications.

B. General Rules for Faxes Following are some general rules for sending faxes:

♦ Do not send faxes for personal matters using Company letterhead or fax cover pages.

♦ Record all faxes sent in TCM® History records.

♦ Always use a fax cover page.

♦ Always make a follow-up call to check that the intended recipient received

the fax.

♦ Do not send fax transmissions having confidential information without alerting the recipient to stand by his or her fax machine to assure no one else reads the fax.

♦ Use the same standards for sending copies of faxes as you would for letters. That is, do not copy others within the recipient’s organization unless you have been instructed to do so or it has become custom to do so.

May 9, 2010



Section 11300:

MEMORANDA & EMPLOYEE

COMMUNICATION



11300. Memoranda & Employee Communication

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11310 Format of Memoranda 11320 General Standards for Using Memoranda December 18, 2002



11310. FORMAT OF MEMORANDA

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure the Company’s memoranda (memos) are consistent and of equal quality to the Company’s letters and other written communications.

B. Memo Format Use a consistent format for all memos by starting them from a standard memo template stored in the Template folder on Company computers. The memo template for Marin Management, Inc.’s computers is located in the following computer file and path:

Documents\Marin Management\Templates\Memo_1_page January 24, 2003



11320. GENERAL STANDARDS FOR MEMORANDA

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure the Company’s memoranda (memos) are consistent and of equal quality to the Company’s letters and other written communications.

B. Authority for Sending Company Memos At each hotel, the general manager determines who has the authority to represent the Company by issuing memos. Usually, this includes only a few essential management team members.

C. General Standards for Memos Adhere to following standards for writing and sending memos:

♦ Do not send memos to those who are not Company employees. Use letters to communicate with those outside the Company. Do not send copies of internal memos to those outside of the Company.

♦ Do not use memos to set new Company policies. Our policy manuals are

the best format for setting policies, but memos are useful for reminding employees of Company policies.

♦ Do not use Company stationery for internal memos.

♦ Do not send memos for personal matters on Company letterhead.

♦ Record all memos sent in TCM

® History records.

December 18, 2002



Section 11400:

INTERNET & E-MAIL



11400. Internet & E-mail

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11410 General Standards for Outgoing E-mail Communication 11420 General Standards for Incoming E-mail Communication 11430 Marin Management E-mail Accounts 11440 How to Configure Outlook Express

®

April 12, 2005



11410. GENERAL STANDARDS FOR OUTGOING E-MAIL COMMUNICATION

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure that our outgoing electronic (e-mail) correspondence is as professional in appearance and content as our other written correspondence.

B. Responsibility All hotel staff members who use e-mail for Company business are responsible for adhering to this policy whether they are sending electronic mail from Company-owned computers for personal or Company business or sending messages from personally owned computers for Company business.

C. Ownership of Electronic Messages The Company owns all electronic messages created on, sent to or from and received to or from Company-owned and all computers located on Company property.

D. Standards for Outgoing E-mail Messages Adhere to the following standards for sending e-mail messages:

♦ Use correct punctuation, spelling, grammar and sentence structure. Do not use excessive abbreviation. Use spell-check before sending every e-mail message (F7 in Outlook

® and Outlook Express

®).

♦ Do not send, copy or forward messages with indecent or lewd content to

Company clients, prospects, vendors, team members, past team members, or employment candidates.

♦ Do not send, copy or forward messages advocating political positions or

matters of public controversy.



11410. GENERAL STANDARDS FOR OUTGOING E-MAIL COMMUNICATION Page Two of Two D. Standards for Outgoing E-Mail Messages (Cont.)

♦ Include a standard signature block with all messages. To add an automatic signature block in Outlook

® and Outlook Express

® select the “Tools” menu,

then select “Options”, then select the “Signature” tab. Check the box titled “Add signatures to all outgoing messages”. Then add the location of the signature path and file in the “File” box under the heading “Edit Signatures”. Your signature block includes no less than the following:

� Your name and title. � The hotel name, address and telephone number. � The hotel facsimile number. � Your e-mail address. � The hotel’s Web-site address (URL). � Key features of the hotel (such as complimentary breakfast).

Your signature block must be similar in format and content to the hotel’s other e-mail users.

♦ Transfer a copy of all outgoing sales messages to the Comments field of the

contact’s History record in TCM®.

December 18, 2002 = Sales 8219



11420. GENERAL STANDARDS FOR INCOMING E-MAIL COMMUNICATION

A. The Purpose of This Policy The purpose of this policy is to assure we professionally handle incoming electronic (e-mail) correspondence and that incoming messages do not transmit computer viruses to our Company computers.

B. Responsibility for Handling Incoming E-mail Messages All hotel staff members who use e-mail for Company business are responsible for adhering to this policy whether they are receiving electronic mail from Company-owned computers for personal or Company business or receiving messages from personally owned computers for Company business.

C. Ownership of Electronic Messages The Company owns all electronic messages created on, sent to or from and received to or from Company-owned and all computers located on Company property.

D. Standards for Incoming E-mail Adhere to the following standards for receiving e-mail messages:

♦ Do not open messages, images or files from unknown senders.

♦ Do not open messages, images or files from known senders when the

subject line appears suspicious.

♦ Respond to incoming e-mail messages from clients and prospects within one business day of receipt.

♦ Transfer a copy of all incoming sales messages to the Comments field of the contact’s History record in TCM

®.

♦ Set virus-scanning software to scan all incoming e-mail messages.



11420. GENERAL STANDARDS FOR INCOMING E-MAIL COMMUNICATION Page Two of Two D. Standards for Incoming E-mail Policy (Cont.)

♦ Block messages from advertisers. In Microsoft® Outlook Express

®, do this by

highlighting the message in the in-box, select the Messages menu, select “Block Sender” and answer “Yes”.

May 9, 2010 = Sales 8219



11430. MARIN MANAGEMENT E-MAIL ACCOUNTS

A. Overview MMI has electronic mail accounts for those who need to regularly use e-mail for Company business, such as managers, supervisors and salespersons.

B. Individual MMI E-mail Accounts Each individual e-mail account has a unique e-mail address, which follows the format of the user’s first initial, last name and “@hotelpros.biz”. For example John Manderfeld’s e-mail address is “[email protected]”. Each individual account has the capacity to store 100 megabytes of data. If a user exceeds the maximum capacity, he or she will still receive messages, but will have to remove stored messages to begin sending e-mail messages.

Because our e-mail system blocks many unwanted advertisement messages (“spam”), check your accounts spam storage box regularly to remove unwanted messages that are using some of your account’s storage capacity. Also, make sure that there are no needed messages that have been diverted to the spam box. In addition, remove messages from your deletes box to keep your account at it highest capacity.

C. Individual Signature Blocks The signature block is the consistent text used at the end of all your messages. MMI creates the signature block for each user’s account. If you discover an error or omission in your signature block, contact the MMI office.

D. E-mail Virus Protection MMI’s e-mail system provides some protection from viruses, worms and other damaging programs contained in incoming messages. You must, however, subscribe to a virus-protection service and keep that service currently updated for all computers used for Company communication.



11430. MARIN MANAGEMENT E-MAIL ACCOUNTS, Page Two of Three

E. Accessing Messages You may access your e-mail messages by using an e-mail management program (such as Outlook Express

®) or by accessing MMI’s Internet e-mail Web-site at

http://mail.hotelpros.biz. At MMI’s e-mail site, enter your user name and pass code. Your user name is not case sensitive, so John Smith could enter “JSmith” or “jsmith”. The pass code is case sensitive, however, so if your pass code is “Hotel9”, typing “hotel9” will not work.

You do not need to go to the mail.hotelpros.biz site, however. Whenever you are working from one of your normal computers you need only access Outlook Express

® for

your messages. Internet e-mail sites often run more slowly than local e-mail programs; and the MMI site is overly mouse-dependent. Managing your address book on an Internet site can be more difficult. If you are using someone else’s computer, however, the best way to get your messages is at http://mail.hotelpros.biz.

F. Pass Codes

Each user may change his or her pass code. Keep your pass code confidential. To change your pass code, access mail.hotelpros.biz and sign in. Click on “Options” in the lower left corner and change your pass code. Some business communication is proprietary and/or confidential, so it is important that others do not know and cannot guess your pass code. Your pass code must meet these requirements:

� It must be at least six characters � It cannot include your name

� It must have at least one uppercase and one lowercase letter � It must have at least one number

This may seem complicated, but a simple pass code such as “Hotel9” meets these

requirements.

G. Brand E-mail Accounts Some brands (such as Hilton) require some users to use brand e-mail accounts for certain messages, such as for sales communication. MMI hotels comply with these brand standards. At all MMI-managed hotels, however, we use only the MMI e-mail accounts for internal communication.



11430. MARIN MANAGEMENT E-MAIL ACCOUNTS, Page Three of Three

H. How to Configure Outlook Express® See the following section on how to configure Outlook Express® to send and receive e-mail messages using your MMI e-mail account on your computer. April 12, 2005



11440. HOW TO CONFIGURE OUTLOOK EXPRESS®

A. The Purpose of This Policy Consistently using an e-mail management programs, such as Outlook Express

®, has

advantages. To do so, you need to configure Outlook Express® to send and receive

messages using your MMI e-mail account.

B. Outlook Express® Account Configuration Using the following procedure to configure Outlook Express

® for your e-mail

account(s):

1. Open Outlook Express®.

2. Select the Tools menu, then Accounts, then select the Mail tab.

3. Select the Add button and select Mail. Optionally, you can select your

existing account and click Properties and then skip to step 9 and enter your new user account and password information.

4. Type your name in the box, then select Next.



11440. HOW TO CONFIGURE OUTLOOK EXPRESS®, Page Two of

B. Outlook Express® Account Configuration (Cont.)

5. Type your e-mail address, then select Next. Your e-mail address is the initial of your first name, then your last name, the “@hotelpros.biz”.

6. Type the server name, “mail.hotelpros.biz”, then

select Next.

7. In the Account Name field, type your full

e-mail address. In the Password field, type your pass code.

8. Select Finish.

9. Select Properties,

then the Servers tab.

10. Check the box next to “My server requires

authentication.

11. Click the Advanced Tab. Note that the default Outgoing Mail port is 25. Change this to 366 to avoid problems sending e-mail while connected to ISPs that block ports.

12. Select “OK”, and then select “Close”.



11440. HOW TO CONFIGURE OUTLOOK EXPRESS®, Page Three of

B. Outlook Express® Account Configuration (Cont.)

13. Click Tools, Options and click the Security Tab. Uncheck the box next to Do Not allow attachments to be saved or opened… Otherwise you won’t be able to open most of your attachments. Click OK.

April 12, 2005



Section 11800:

EFFECTIVE WRITING

SKILLS



11800. Effective Writing Skills

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11800 Introduction to Effective Writing Skills 11820 Choosing the Right Word 11825 Using the Best Sentence Structure 11830 Using Correct Singular and Plural Words 11835 Using Correct Grammar 11840 Using Correct Punctuation 11845 Using Correct Capitalization 11850 Using Correct and Consistent Layout and Spacing

December 8, 2002



11800. INTRODUCTION TO EFFECTIVE WRITING SKILLS

A. The Purpose of This Policy

The purpose of this section, Effective Writing Skills, is to help Company professionals write more effective and error-free correspondence. Learning to write clear, accurate, error-free correspondence can be interesting and fun or annoying and tedious. In either case, accurate, readable communication is important in every job and important with every letter, memorandum and e-mail message.

A poorly or carelessly written letter reveals the author's lack of pride in his or her work, a lack of respect for the reader and an under-estimation of the reader's knowledge and intelligence. A letter written with care is a compliment to the reader's intelligence, and it shows the author respects the time of the person who will read it. Take time to write well. To do less is inconsiderate to the reader and a poor reflection of the author.

B. The Best Way to Achieve Clear, Concise, Error-Free Correspondence

The best ways to assure your correspondence is clear, concise and error-free is to proofread every letter several times and ask others to read your writing before you distribute it. Read each sentence carefully many times. Ask yourself if the sentence is clear to every reader and free of common writing errors. Ask if the sentence is needed and, if needed, if it can be shortened while still achieving the same meaning. The following sections give you guidelines on assuring your letters, e-mail messages and memoranda are professionally written, including the following subjects:

Choosing the Right Word

Using the Sentence Structure Using Correct Singular and Plural Words

Using Correct Grammar Using Correct Punctuation

Using Correct Capitalization Using Correct and Consistent Layout and Spacing

December 18, 2002



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD

A. "Anxious"

Widely misused to mean "eager," the word "anxious" means worried (filled with anxiety). So, "I am anxious to meet you." means "I am worried to meet you." Use the "eager," "excited," "enthusiastic," etc. if you do not mean worried.

Incorrect: Jimmy was anxious to see what Santa brought him for Christmas.

Correct: Jimmy was eager/excited to see what Santa brought him for

Christmas. Correct: The sales manager became anxious when the controller began

scrutinizing his expense reports.

B. "As" or "Like"

"As" is a conjunction (a word used to join two independent clauses). "Like" is a verb and adverb. A common mistake is to use "like" as a conjunction.

Incorrect: You can become a successful salesperson like Betty is. Correct: You can become a successful salesperson as Betty is. Correct: You can become a successful salesperson like Betty. (In this

example, "like" is an adverb modifying the verb "can become.")

C. "Between" or "Among"

Use "between" to describe the relationship between two things and "among" to describe the relationship among three or more things.

Incorrect: "This matter is best resolved among your company and the tour operator."

Incorrect: "We had several discussions between our department heads

to determine how to improve our hotel security."



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Two of Eight C. "Between" or "Among" (Cont.)

Correct: "This matter is best resolved between your company and the tour operator."

Correct: "We had several discussions among our department heads to

determine how to improve our hotel security."

D. Using Brand Names

Be careful to not use a brand name unless the brand applies. Commonly used words such as Kleenex

® and Jacuzzi

® are brand names.

Incorrect (probably): "We have a Jacuzzi on our pool deck." Correct: "We have a heated whirlpool spa on our pool

deck."

E. "Disinterested" or "Uninterested"

"Disinterested" does not mean the same as "uninterested." "Uninterested" means not interested, but "disinterested" means neutral.

Correct: "The umpire is a disinterested party in the World Series." Correct: "We are uninterested in paying for services we did not receive."

F. "Fewer" or "Less"

Use "fewer" to describe things that you can count and "less" to describe volume. For example, you cannot count water, but you can count drops of water.

Incorrect: "There are less drops of water on the bath mirror than earlier today."

Correct: "There are fewer drops of water on the bath mirror than earlier

today." Correct: "There is less beer in the glass than I hoped."



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Three of Eight

G. "Further" or "Farther"

"Further" means "more", whereas "farther" applies to distance.

Incorrect: "The ballroom is further from the front desk than the sales office."

Correct: "The ballroom is farther from the front desk than the sales

office." Correct: "If you later want to change your group's pricing package to the

full American plan, we can further discuss that option.

H. "Hopefully"

"Hopefully" is perhaps the most misused word of them all. "Hopefully, you will go to the store today." does not mean the same as "I hope you will go to the store today." In the first example, "hopefully" is an adverb modifying the verb "go." So, the first sentence means that you will be filled with hope while going to the store.

Incorrect: "Hopefully, all of your coffee breaks will be on time." Correct: "I hope all of your coffee breaks will be on time."

I. "Interface"

This word is annoyingly overused and too technical sounding.

Poor writing: "At our pre-convention planning meet, our staff will be interfacing with your staff on the subject of your upcoming event."

Better writing: "At our pre-convention planning meet, our staff will be

discussing your upcoming event with your staff."



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Four of Eight

J. "Irregardless" or "Regardless"

There is no such word as "irregardless". Use "regardless" instead.

Incorrect: "Irregardless of the popularity of our hotel, we still value your business."

Correct: "Regardless of the popularity of our hotel, we still value your

business."

K. Using Jargon

Jargon specific to our industry has no place in a business letter, because it may confuse, intimidate or alienate the reader. Following are examples of jargon and preferred alternatives:

Don't Write Possible Alternative Comp

Complimentary

Cover

Banquet guest.

Double-double

A guest room with two double-size beds.

King room

A guest room with a king-size bed.

Plus-plus (or "++")

Plus tax and gratuity (or "service charge")

Room block

Guestrooms reserved for a group.

Stay-over

A guest who did not depart.

Walk-in

A guest arriving without a reservation.



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Five of Eight

L. "Lay" and "Lie"

This is a difficult one to remember, because "lay" and "lie" do not mean the same, yet "lay" is the past tense of "lie". Use "lay" when the action is being transferred to another object. Use "lie" to describe an action that does not move another object.

Incorrect: "He will lay down on the bed.” Incorrect: "Yesterday, he laid on the bed." Correct: "He will lie down on the bed." Correct: "Yesterday, he lay down on the bed." Correct: "He will lay the book on the bed." Correct: "Yesterday, he laid the book on the bed."

M. "Needless to say"

If it is needless to say, don't say it.

Poor writing: "Needless to say, we appreciate your business." Better writing: "We appreciate your business."

Better yet, tell the reader why you appreciate his or her business.

N. Numbers

Numbers at the beginning of a sentence are always written out as words, no matter what the number (even years). Within a sentence, write the numbers twelve and under as words, and write numbers 13 and over numerically.

Incorrect: "2008 was a good year in the hotel business." Incorrect: "This group visits our hotel about 2½ times per year." Incorrect: "This travel agency has booked thirteen small groups with us

this year." Correct: "Two thousand eight was a good year in the hotel business."



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Six of Eight N. Numbers (Cont.)

Correct: "This group visits our hotel about two-and-one-half times per year."

Correct: "This travel agency has booked 13 small groups with us this

year."

O. "Shall" or "Will"

Use "shall" for in the first person (with "I" and "we") and will in the second and third person (with "you," "he," "she" and "they"). For statements with emphasis, it is the opposite.

P. "Than" or "From"

“Than” is a conjunction and should not be used after “different”. Instead of using the "than" after "different", use "from".

Incorrect: "The group rates we offer this year are different than last year." Correct: "The group rates we offer this year are different from last year."



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Seven of Nine

Q. Other Uses of “Than” Be wary of using “than” as a preposition as described below:

“Since the 18th century grammarians have insisted that than should be regarded as a conjunction in all its uses, so that a sentence such as Bill is taller than Tom should be construed as an elliptical version of the sentence Bill is taller than Tom is. According to this view, the case of a pronoun following than is determined by whether the pronoun serves as the subject or object of the verb that is “understood.” Thus, the standard rule requires Pat is taller than I (not me) on the assumption that this sentence is elliptical for Pat is taller than I am but allows The news surprised Pat more than me, since this sentence is taken as elliptical for The news surprised Pat more than it surprised me. However, than is quite commonly treated as a preposition when followed by an isolated noun phrase, and as such occurs with a pronoun in the objective case: John is taller than me. Though this usage is still widely regarded as incorrect, it is predominant in speech and has reputable literary precedent. It is also consistent with the fact that than is clearly treated as a preposition in the than whom construction, as in a poet than whom (not than who) no one has a dearer place in the hearts of his countrymen. Still, the writer who risks a sentence such as Mary is taller than him in formal writing must be prepared to defend the usage against objections of critics who are unlikely to be dissuaded from their conviction that the usage is incorrect. Comparatives using as . . . as can be analyzed in a parallel way to those using than. Traditional grammarians insist that I am not as tall as he is the only correct form, and though both literary precedent and syntactic arguments can be marshaled in support of the analysis of the second ‘as’ as a preposition (which would license I am not as tall as him), one should treat this use of ‘as’ as a conjunction in formal writing.”

1

R. "That" or "Who"

Use "that" in reference to an inanimate object and "who" in reference to people.

Incorrect: "You are the one that can make a big difference in our hotel." Correct: "You are the one who can make a big difference in our hotel." Correct: "That banquet table is the one that needs repair."

1 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition is licensed from Houghton Mifflin Company. Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Eight of Nine

S. "Unique"

"Unique" means "one of a kind" (without equal), so there are no degrees of uniqueness. To say that something is "very unique" is to say it is "very one of a kind."

Incorrect: "Our hotel is quite unique." Incorrect: "We have extremely unique meeting services." Correct: "Our hotel is unique." Correct: "We have unique meeting services."

Even when used correctly, "unique" is often overused. Rather than writing that our hotel is unique, list the features and benefits that make our hotel unique—and let the reader decide if the hotel is unique.

T. "Very" and "Really"

"Very" and "really" are two of the weakest words to express an extreme. There are many alternatives to "very", including the following

Exceedingly Exceptionally Extremely Excessively Inordinately Genuinely Truly Exactly Precisely

Usually, you can improve the sentence altogether, for example:

Weakly written: "I was very pleased you visited our hotel yesterday." Strongly written: "I was delighted you visited our hotel yesterday."



11820. CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD, Page Nine of Nine

U. "Who" or "Whom"

The question of whether to use "who" or "whom" is a confusing question if you do not understand the basics of sentence structure. Specifically, you need to understand the difference between the subject of a sentence and object of a verb or prepositional phrase.

The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun taking the action; the object of a sentence is the noun or pronoun receiving the action. So, in the example, "She saw me." the subject is "she" and the object is "me”. Use "whom" when it is the object of a sentence or a prepositional phrase.

Incorrect: "She saw who?" Incorrect: "Who did you give the proposal to?" Correct: "She saw whom?" Correct: "To whom did you give the proposal?"

May 9, 2010



11825. USING THE BEST SENTENCE STRUCTURE

A. Active and Passive Voice

"Active voice" is the sentence structure that clearly identifies the actor, and "passive voice" leaves the actor unknown, for example:

Active voice: "I broke the watch today." Passive voice: "The watch was broken today."

Active voice is preferred for more powerful, persuasive and less-vague writing, for

example:

Weak writing: "Your business is appreciated." Stronger writing: "Every one of our hotel associates appreciates your

business."

B. Adverb Placement

Adverbs are those words that modify verbs, such as "slowly", "strongly" and "quickly". Not all adverbs end in "-ly." Many adjectives, such as "fast," can also be used as adverbs.

"Fast" as an adjective: "He is fast." ("Fast" modifies "he".) "Fast" as an adverb: "He runs fast." ("Fast" modifies "runs".)

Place adverbs so that they are as close to the verb as possible.

Poor writing: "The chef loans his kitchen tools to the cooks rarely." Better writing: "The chef rarely loans his kitchen tools to the cooks."

C. Conjunctions at the Beginning of Sentences

Conjunctions are those little words that connect two words or two parts of a sentence together. The following words are conjunctions:

and, as, because, but, nor, or, than



11825. USING THE BEST SENTENCE STRUCTURE, Page Two of Three C. Conjunctions at the Beginning of Sentences (Cont.)

Although advertisers do it often for dramatic effect, do not begin a sentence with a conjunction.

Incorrect: "I shall be at the hotel for your group's arrival. And I hope to be able to join you for your welcome reception."

Correct: "I shall be at the hotel for your group's arrival, and I hope to be

able to join you for your welcome reception." Better: "I shall be at the hotel for your group's arrival. I hope to be

able to join you for your welcome reception."

D. "However" at the beginning of a sentence

Do not begin a sentence with "however".

Incorrect: "I will not be in town for your site inspection. However, Bob will be available to meet with you"

Correct: "I will not be in town for your site inspection. Bob will be

available to meet with you, however."

E. Long Sentences

Long sentences lose their impact and are difficult for the reader to understand. A long sentence is usually any sentence using more than two lines on letter-size paper. Break these sentences into shorter, more concise thoughts.

Poor writing: "The client approached me regarding the subject of increasing his guest-room rates and providing him complimentary meeting rooms, which would make it easier for him to allocate meeting room costs to all convention participants."



11825. USING THE BEST SENTENCE STRUCTURE, Page Three of Three E. Long Sentences (Cont.)

Better writing: "The client approached me regarding increasing his guest-room rates and providing him complimentary meeting rooms. Doing so would make it easier for him to allocate meeting room costs to all convention participants."

Notice the unnecessary words "the subject of" were removed from the “better”

example.

F. Preposition Position

Prepositions are the words listed below:

to into from for before after on onto between among in with within

You may have heard that you should not end a sentence with a preposition. In a

few rare cases, ending a sentence with a preposition is the only way the sentence will make sense. Usually, it is bad writing to have the preposition at the end of a sentence.

Good writing: "Ask not for whom the bell tolls." Poor writing: "Don't ask whom the bell tolls for."

One of the reasons the first example is much more powerful is because the reader

(or listener) remembers the last word of the sentence longer. Because "toll" is the sentence's most powerful word, the impact is greater putting it last. Similarly, because "for" is a weak, common word, it belongs within the sentence.

Poor writing: "You are a customer we have the greatest respect and gratitude for."

Better writing: "You are a customer for whom we have the greatest

respect and gratitude."



11830. USING CORRECT SINGULAR AND PLURAL WORDS

A. "Candelabra" and "Candelabrum"

Both "candelabra" and “candelabrums” are correct plurals of the singular "candelabrum".

Incorrect: "Set the buffet table with a candelabra." Correct: "Set the buffet table with a candelabrum." Correct: "Set the buffet table with three candelabra." Correct: "Set the buffet table with three candelabrums."

B. "Data" and "Datum"

"Data" is the plural of the singular "datum" (as with memoranda and memorandum.

Incorrect: "The data is ready for your review." Correct: "The data are ready for your review." Correct: "The datum is ready for your review."

In reality, using "data" and "datum" correctly does not sound right to some people,

so avoid using it altogether.

Better: "The information is ready for your review."

C. "Staff"

"Staff" is singular.

Incorrect: "Our staff are the best in the business." Correct: "Our staff is the best in the business." Correct: "The members of our staff are the best in the business."



11830. USING CORRECT SINGULAR AND PLURAL WORDS, Page Two of Two

D. Plurals of compound words

The plural of compound nouns is formed as shown in the following examples:

Singular: Brother-in-law, attorney-at-law, manager-on-duty Plural: Brothers-in-law, attorneys-at-law, managers-on-duty

December 18, 2002



11835. USING CORRECT GRAMMAR

A. Subjunctive Verbs

"Subjunctive" verbs are those verbs used in a sentence you know or suspect is not a true statement. For example the phrase "If I were you..." is subjunctive, because you know I am not you. The distinction is grammatically important, because you use the plural form of the verb when it is subjunctive.

Incorrect: "If I was planning to give you poor service, I would not have scheduled extra staff."

Correct: "If I were planning to give you poor service, I would not have

scheduled extra staff."

If, however, you are uncertain whether a statement is true or you know it to be true, the verb is not subjunctive.

Visiting an editor at Random House publishing company in New York City, I stepped into a crowded elevator and found myself pressed close to the control panel. “Has everyone got their floors?” I asked, since I was blocking the elevator buttons.

After a moments silence, a young female voice from the rear said, “His or her.”

“I beg your pardon?” I said.

“His or her. It’s ‘Has everybody got his or her floors?’ Your pronouns don’t agree.”

“And shouldn’t it be ‘his or her floor’, not ‘floors’?” a young man piped up. “Each of us gets off at only one floor.”

“And wouldn’t it be better to say ‘Does everybody have’ rather than ‘Has everybody got’?” a third voice chimed in.

I stood corrected and red-faced. But I was glad to know that good grammar is alive and well.

–Richard Curtis, quoted by Enid Nemy and Ron Alexander in New York Times. 2

May 9, 2010

2 Reader’s Digest, November 1999



11840. USING CORRECT PUNCTUATION

A. "A.M." and "P.M."

When entering times, always use the periods to represent the abbreviations "A.M." and "P.M." (Although many advertisers ignore this rule.) These can also be correctly written "a.m." and "p.m.", but the version with capital letters is preferred. In addition, whenever a time is written followed by "A.M." or "P.M." always show the minutes after the colon (:), even if there are zero minutes.

Incorrect: "Our meeting will begin at 9 P.M." Incorrect: “Our meeting will begin at 9:00 pm.” Incorrect: “Our meeting will begin at 9:00 PM. Not preferred: "Our meeting will begin at 9:00 p.m." Correct: "Our meeting will begin at 9:00 P.M."

B. Commas with "and" in a Series

Except in highly technical writing, do not use a comma before "and" within a series. Using a comma with “and” is redundant, since the comma in a series means “and”.

Incorrect: "The flag is red, white, and blue." Correct: "The flag is red, white and blue."

C. Exclamation marks

Do not overuse them! One per week is enough!

D. Hyphens, Dashes and Compound Words

Confusing hyphens (-) and dashes (--) is a common mistake. The distinction is important, because they have opposite uses. A hyphen (-) is used to join two words to achieve a new combined meaning, but a dash (--) is used to separate two thoughts within one sentence.



11840. USING CORRECT PUNCTUATION, Page Two of Three D. Hyphens, Dashes and Compound Words (Cont.)

Hyphens are used to make compound words, such as "mother-in-law", a compound noun. Perhaps the most common punctuation error is to omit the hyphen in compound adjectives. A compound adjective is two words combined for a new meaning to modify a noun, for example:

Correct: "Use a four-foot ladder for the job."

Here is a tip for identifying compound adjectives: Notice in the above example, neither the word "four" or "foot" alone had correct meaning to describe the ladder. "Use a four ladder" and "use a foot ladder" do not make sense. When the adjectives individually do not make sense but together do make sense, it is probably a compound adjective. Following are some more examples of compound adjectives:

king-size bed first-aid kit on-the-job safety walk-in guest pay-for-view television pea-brained fool half-ounce bottle all-day dining 24-hour service open-face sandwich one-way street all-employee meeting year-to-date statistics first-class service world-class hotel full-service hotel three-month forecast self-closing door one-of-kind opportunity

Note that none of the above examples of compound words would be hyphenated

without the noun they modify. Also note that proper nouns are never compound words, even when they appear to be multiple words. For example, "San Francisco nights" is not hyphenated, because "San Francisco," as a proper noun, is one word.

When two or more adjectives modify a noun and individually they also can modify the noun without changing the meaning, use a comma. For example:

Incorrect: "She had coarse-black hair." Correct "She had coarse, black hair."

Because her hair is both coarse and black, use a comma to separate the two

adjectives. Another way to see the distinction is that there is nothing coarse about the blackness and nothing black about the coarseness, so the words are not compounded.

Dashes are used to break the thought of a sentence, such as, "We checked in 150 guests—what a day!" In business writing, dashes should be used infrequently. Note that in some fonts a dash looks like a long hyphen (—); but in typing, a dash is made by two hyphens with no space between. Do not use a space before or after a hyphen or a dash.



11840. USING CORRECT PUNCTUATION, Page Three of Three

E. Salutations

In a business letter, a colon (:), not a comma, follows the salutation ("Dear Mr. Jones:").

F. Slashes

Slashes (/) (also called "diagonals') are often incorrectly used to mean "and". Actually, the slash means "or" most of the time. Other uses of the slash are for fractions (to mean "divide by"), to separate dates or to mean "per" (for example, "$5.00/dozen"). Between words, however, use it to only mean "or". Better yet, do not use it at all; instead use the word "or".

Incorrect: "Congratulations to Betty/Mel Brown on their wedding anniversary."

Correct: "Congratulations to Betty and Mel Brown on their wedding

anniversary." Correct: "Each person will bring his/her credit card to the gala fund

raiser." Better: "Each person will bring his or her credit card to the gala fund

raiser." December 18, 2002



11845. USING CORRECT CAPITALIZATION

A. General Guidelines for Capitalization

Often writers capitalize words that should not be. Not capitalizing words that should be is less common. The following types of words should be capitalized:

♦ Proper nouns (names, geographical places, street names, buildings, organizations, etc.)

♦ Abbreviations, such as “Dept.” and “U.S.A.” (with a few exceptions, such

as "etc.," "vs." and "c.")

♦ First words of sentences

♦ Titles of books, magazines, plays, etc.

B. Directions

"North", "east", "south" and "west" are not capitalized when used as directions, but they are when used as accepted geographical areas.

Correct: "Travel west four blocks to our hotel." Correct: "Our hotel is about 100 miles from the South Bay Area."

C. Job Names and Titles

A common error is to capitalize the name of a job when it is not used as a title.

Incorrect: "Bob Jones is General Manager." Incorrect: "Janet Butler, President of Value Travel, is attending." Incorrect: "Our Sales Manager, Stephanie Smith, will call you." Correct: "Bob Jones is general manager."



11845. USING CORRECT CAPITALIZATION, Page Two of Two C. Job Names and Titles (Cont.)

Correct: "Janet Butler, president of Value Travel, is attending." Correct: "Our sales manager, Stephanie Smith, will call you."

On the other hand, when a job name is used as a title (preceding the name, without

punctuation), it is capitalized.

Incorrect: "The confirmation letter will be sent to general manager Bob Jones."

Incorrect: "Sales manager Stephanie Smith will call you." Correct: "The confirmation letter will be sent to General Manager Bob

Jones." Correct: "Sales Manager Stephanie Smith will call you."

January 1, 2003



11850. USING CORRECT AND CONSISTENT LAYOUT AND SPACING

A. Line Spaces

Use two spaces between sentences. In Microsoft® Word

®, this may cause the first

space to be at the end of one line and the second space to be at the beginning of the next line (causing the left margin to appear uneven). To prevent this, you can force the two spaces to be on the same line by first pressing the Ctrl and Shift keys with the two spaces. (Pressing Ctrl and Shift joins any two characters onto the same line.)

B. Indenting

Use indenting for long lists that are unwieldy and difficult to read when contained in a paragraph, such as a list of hotel features and services. When you indent on the left side, also indent on the right side. (In Word

®, select “Format” then “Paragraph” to indent

margins. When all items in a list take one line each, you can use single spacing; but if any item in the list requires two lines, use double spacing for the entire list. May 9, 2010



Section 11900:

GLOSSARY, ACKNOWLEDGMENT &

BIBLIOGRAPHY



11900. Glossary, Acknowledgment & Bibliography

TABLE OF CONTENTS

11910 Glossary of Grammar and Writing 11920 Bibliography 11990 Acknowledgment

May 22, 2002



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING

The following writing and grammar glossary includes definitions intended to help

accent (n.): A mark used to show the stress of a syllable.

active voice (n.): Describing sentence structure in which the subject of the sentence is causing or performing the act. For example the sentence “The boy threw the ball” is in active voice, but the sentence “The ball was thrown by the boy” is in passive voice. adjective (n.): A word used to modify a noun or noun equivalent. adverb (n.): A category of words used to modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. alignment (n.): In printing, how text and images are arranged on a page. For example, right alignment is when all text aligns with the right margin. ampersand (n.): A character (&) representing the word and. analogy (n.): The similarity between some aspects of things or conditions that are otherwise dissimilar. antecedent (n.): The word, phrase or clause to which a pronoun refers. antonym (n.): A word meaning the opposite of another.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Two of Ten

aphorism (n.): A terse statement of truth or opinion.

Synonyms: saying, maxim, adage, saw, motto, epigram, proverb, aphorism. These nouns refer to concise verbal expressions setting forth wisdom or a truth. A saying is an often repeated and familiar expression: She was fond of quoting the sayings of philosophers. Maxim denotes particularly an expression of a general truth or a rule of conduct: “For a wise man, he seemed to me . . . to be governed too much by general maxims” (Edmund Burke). Adage applies to a saying that has gained credit through long use: On his birthday the child gave no credence to the adage, “Good things come in small packages.” Saw often refers to a familiar saying that has become trite through frequent repetition: My wise saws gave little comfort to the losing team. A motto is a maxim that expresses the aims, character, or guiding principles of a person, a group, or an institution: “Exuberance over taste” was her motto. An epigram is a terse, witty expression, often paradoxical or satirical and neatly or brilliantly phrased: In his epigram Samuel Johnson called remarriage a “triumph of hope over experience.” Proverb refers to an old and popular saying that illustrates something such as a basic truth or a practical precept: “Slow and steady wins the race” is a proverb to live by. Aphorism, a concise expression of a truth or principle, implies depth of content and stylistic distinction: Few writers have coined more aphorisms than Benjamin Franklin. 3

apostrophe (n.): The sign (') used to indicate a missing letter and possessive case. appositive (n.): A noun or noun phrase placed next to another noun or noun phrase in a sentence and having an equivalent relationship to the rest of the sentence. article (n.): A category of words, including a, an and the, used to signal an upcoming noun. asterisk (n.): A star-shaped symbol (*) used to indicate a footnote.

block (n.): A group of text.

body (n.): The main or central part of a document.

3 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition is licensed from Houghton Mifflin Company. Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Three of Ten

brace (n.): One of two symbols, including the left brace ({) and the right brace (}) used to enclose text. Braces are used when parentheses and brackets have already been used. bracket (n.) (also square bracket): One of a pair of marks ([ ]) used to enclose text. Brackets are used like parentheses when parentheses have been used.

caret (n.): A symbol (^) used in proofreading to show where a letter or word is to be

inserted.

cedilla (n.): A mark placed below a c (ç) to change its pronunciation to an s, such as the French word garçon). character (n.): On a keyboard, a letter, number or symbol. circumflex accent (n.): A mark (^) used over a vowel in some languages to indicate pronunciation. clause (n.): A group of words having a subject and predicate and being part of a complex sentence. colon (n.): 1. A punctuation mark (:) used after a word introducing a series, quotation, example, etc. 2. A sign within a numeric expression of time (such as 12:30 P.M.) and ratios (such as 10:1 mixture of fluids). comma (n.): A punctuation mark (,) used to separate elements of a sentence. complex sentence (adj. and n.): Describing a sentence having more than one clause. compound word (n.): A word consisting of two or more independent words, such as high school, payday and manager-on-duty. consonant (n.): Those letters of the alphabet that are not vowels. conjugation (n.): The alternative forms of a verb, such as the forms of the verb to be, include is, was and been.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Four of Ten

conjunction (n.): A part of speech, such as and, but, because, as and or, that joins words, phrases, clauses or sentences. contraction (n.): Those words joined by omitting some of the sounds of the words they represent, such as don’t, isn’t, shouldn’t and o’clock.

dash (n.): A punctuation mark (—) used to sharply separate a thought within a

sentence.

definite article (n.): An article restricting a noun to a particular thing, place, etc. In English the definite article is the. dieresis (n.) (also diaeresis) (pl. diereses): A mark, such as in naïve, to show that consecutive vowels are not pronounced the same. diphthong (n.): A vowel sound that gradually changes from the sound of the preceding vowel, such as the “i” in foil. double dagger (n.): A sign (‡) used as a reference mark. double quotation mark: A type of punctuation mark (“).

electronic mail (n.): Mail transmitted electronically, usually by using the Internet.

ellipsis (n.) (pl. ellipses): A series of marks (…) used to indicate an omission of words, for example, President Lincoln began, “Four score and seven years ago…”. embossed (adj.): Describing print that is raised above the printed surface. engraved (adj.): Describing print that been or has the appearance of having been carved or pressed into the printed surface.

exclamation point (n.) (also exclamation mark): A punctuation mark (!) used to express an abrupt or forceful statement. e-mail (n.): Electronic mail, usually messages transmitted by the Internet or an intranet system.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Five of Ten

font (n.): A set of print type of one style.

future tense (n.): A category of verbs used to describe an action or condition in the future.

gerund (n.): A noun derived from a verb and usually ending in –ing, for example

selling.

grammar (n.): 1. The study of how words combine to form sentences. 2. A system of word usage in a language. 3. The rules of language usage.

hand (n.) (also index and fist): A symbol (*) used for calling attention text.

homonym (n.): A word sounding the same as another but having a different meaning, such as red and read. hyphen (n.): A punctuation mark (-) used to join words, such as mother-in-law, or used to separate a word onto two lines of text. hyphenate (v.t.): To divide a word with a hyphen.

indefinite article (n.): In English the two indefinite articles are a and an. For

example, the car describes a specific car, whereas a car is indefinite. The article the is used before a specific noun.

interjection (n.): A part of speech that is characteristically a short utterance, such as Wow! inflection (n.): Variations of a word, such as broke being an inflection of the verb break. interrogative (adj.): Describing a word used to ask a question, such as an interrogative adverb.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Six of Ten

interrogative (n.): A word or sentence used to ask a question. intransitive verb (adj. and n.): A verb that does not require or cannot take an object, such as sleep.

irregular verb (adj. and n.): A verb having irregular form, for example written as the past tense of write.

Italic (n.): Typeface or script slanting to the right, such as Italic.

justify (v.t.): To adjust a line of text so that one or more margins are even.

letterhead (n.): 1. The printed heading at the top of a sheet of paper including, for

example, an organization’s name. 2. The stationery that has such a heading.

macron (n.): A mark (—

) place over a vowel to indicate a long sound.

margin (n.): The blank space bordering the printed space on a page. metaphor (n.): A form of speaking and writing in which a word or phrase normally having one meaning is substituted for another meaning, such as “The candy store was an ocean of temptation”. morpheme (n.): A linguistic unit (such as a word) or part of a word (such as –ed) that cannot be divided into smaller meaningful units.

noun (n.): A word used to name a person, place, thing, action or quality. When a

noun is used in a sentence it can be the subject or object of the sentence’s verb, the object of a preposition or an appositive.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Seven of Ten

obelus (n.) (also obelisk and dagger) (pl. obeli): A sign (†) used as a reference

mark. See also double dagger.

object (n.): 1. A noun or noun equivalent receiving action from or affected by the action from a verb. 2. A noun or noun equivalent following and controlled by a preposition.

objective (adj.): Describing a noun used as the object of a verb (for example, in the sentence Jim threw the ball, the object of the verb is ball. outline (n.): A sequential summary of the main topics of a document.

parenthesis (n.) (pl. parentheses): A punctuation mark including the left

parenthesis [(] and the right parenthesis [)] used in pairs to include a modifying word, phrase or sentence within a sentence.

paragraph (n.): A division of sentences beginning on a new line and expressing a complete thought. passive voice (adj. and n.): A verb form in which the subject of the sentence is the object of the verb, for example in the sentence “The watch was broken by Alice.” past tense (n.): A category of verbs used to describe an action or condition in the past. period (n.): The punctuation (.) indicating the end of a sentence. person (n.): A pronoun form, such as I being first person, you being second person and he and she being third person. personal pronoun (n.): A pronoun referring to a person, such as he, they and we). plural (n.): A word form representing a quantity more than one. point (n.): A unit of type size equal to 0.01384 inch (about

1/72 of an inch).

possessive pronoun (n.): A pronoun designating possession, such as his, theirs and ours.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Eight of Ten

postscript (n.) (abbr. P.S.): A message added at the end of a letter after the sender’s signature. predicate (n.): One of the two essential parts of a complete sentence. The predicate includes the verb and objects and phrases governed by the verb. For example, in the sentence “The man is running quickly”, the predicate is “is running quickly”. In the sentence “She grabbed the gun”, the predicate is “grabbed the gun”).

preposition (n.): A word or combination of words preceding a noun or noun equivalent and indicating the relationship of that noun to a verb, adjective or another noun or noun equivalent. Examples include at, to, from, in and in regard to.

prepositional phrase (n,): A collection of words having a preposition and the object of the preposition and having the value of an adjective or adverb (for example, the guests are in the hotel). present tense (n.): A category of verbs used to describe an action or condition in the present. pronoun (n.): A category of words used to substitute for nouns (for example, it, they and who). punctuation (n.): Standardized marks used to separate words to clarify meaning.

question mark (n.): A punctuation mark (?) at the end of interrogative sentence.

quotation mark (n.): Punctuation used to mark the beginning and end of words attributed to another and having two types, the double quotation mark (“) and the single quotation mark (‘).

salutation (n.): A greeting at the beginning of a letter.

second sheet (n.): The stationery used for all but the first page of letters.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Nine of Ten

semi-colon (n.): A punctuation mark (;) used to separate independent clauses within a sentence.

sentence (n.): A grammatical unit having independent syntax, a subject and a predicate with a verb. sic (adv.): Used to indicate the text that appears to contain an error or surprising word is to be read as is. For example, the writer may be quoting someone who used a grammatical error in the quotation and may follow that error with “sic” to indicate that the error is not the writer’s.

simple sentence (n.): A sentence without a coordinate or subordinate clause (for example, The girls sang). single quotation mark: A type of quotation mark (‘) used to represent one quotation within another. slash (n.) (also virgule and solidus): A diagonal mark (/) used to separate alternatives (for example and/or) or to mean “per” (for example, $4.00/pound).

subscript (n.): A character printed below the normal line of text, such as the “2” in H2O. subject (n.): The noun, pronoun or noun phrase in a sentence or clause denoting the doer of the action. subjunctive verb (adj. and n.): A verb a hypothetical, contingent or uncertain condition (for example, if I were to move to Philadelphia I would enjoy it). substantive (n.): 1. A noun or noun equivalent. 2. Expressing existence, such as the verb to be. superscript (n.): A character printed above the normal line of text, for example the “2”in n

2.

synonym (n.): A word having the same or similar meaning to another word. syntax (n.): 1. An orderly arrangement. 2. The pattern of sentence formation. 3. The study of the formation of rules related to the formation of sentences.



11910. GLOSSARY OF GRAMMAR AND WRITING, Page Ten of Ten

tense (n.): A condition of a verb indicating the time of the verb’s action, such as past

tense.

thesaurus (n.): A book of synonyms.

tilde (n.): 1. A mark (~) used over letters in Spanish, Portuguese. 2. (also swung dash) A character used in computer file names and a character used to represent all or part of a word previously spelled out. transitive verb (n.): A verb transferring an action from a sentence’s subject to the object. Transitive verbs, such as throw, require an object.

umlaut (n.): A mark (¨) used, often in German, to alter a vowel sound.

verb (n.): A word expressing action, occurrence or existence.

virgule (n.) (also slash): A diagonal mark (/) used to separate alternatives (for example and/or) or to mean “per” (for example, $4.00/pound).

white space (n.): Space on a page the does not have printing or graphics.

January 22, 2003



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Clear Technical Writing, John A. Brogan, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1973. Microsoft Bookshelf '94 software, ©1994, Microsoft

® Corporation.

The Elements of Style, Third Edition, William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1979.

December 30, 2002



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF THE

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION GUIDE

I have had continuous online access to Marin Management’s Written Communication Guide. I have read it thoroughly and have no unanswered questions about the policies and procedures in the Guide. I agree to follow all of the policies and procedures described in the Guide. I agree to review and follow the policies and procedures of future updates of the Guide.

I understand and agree that the Written Communication Guide is the property of Marin Management, Inc. I agree to not copy, print or distribute the Guide without the written approval of Marin Management, Inc.

Agreed,

______________________________ Name (please print)

______________________________ Signature

______________________________ Date Signed

KEEP THIS COPY FOR YOUR RECORDS

September 7, 2010



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF THE

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION GUIDE

I have had continuous online access to Marin Management’s Written Communication Guide. I have read it thoroughly and have no unanswered questions about the policies and procedures in the Guide. I agree to follow all of the policies and procedures described in the Guide. I agree to review and follow the policies and procedures of future updates of the Guide.

I understand and agree that the Written Communication Guide is the property of Marin Management, Inc. I agree to not copy, print or distribute the Guide without the written approval of Marin Management, Inc.

Agreed,

______________________________ Name (please print)

______________________________ Signature

______________________________ Date Signed

THIS COPY IS FOR COMPANY RECORDS

September 7, 2010