AAE House Style Guide

Audience & Readers

This provides details of the readership and audience at AAE to help you frame what you are writing or saying, and house terminolgy and language to ensure clarity and some consistency.

The audience and readership (the AAE community) is from many countries and regions of the world. They are all from associations, societies, federations and other work-related membership organisations.

Authors and speakers should:

Not assume that situations that ocurred in one country are known by the audience / readers
When refering to an organization (eg.HMRC / government tax & revenue department) that is particular to one country, use a term that is universal, or explain briefly what you are referring to
Take account of legal obligations and custom being different in most countries
Avoid humour that is particular to a specific country / people
Avoid anything that makes the content un-necessarily "dated" as the content may be used years ahead

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Bullets should start with capital letters and not include a comma, full stop or words referring to the next bullet (eg. and/or) at the end
Don't use ordinal numbers for dates, eg. "10th March" as the international format (eg. "10 March") suits everyone

Vocabulary

Use "Sector" not "Industry"
Associations is not a sector/industry: Avoid refering to "associations" as a sector or industry as these terms are used for the specific field of an association, so use phrases like "in associations" or "in the associations world" or "in membership organisations"
Avoid using "NFP" or "Not-for-Profit" as this is misleading as well as imprecise

Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation

AAE adopts english (UK) spelling, grammar and punctuation recommended by the Oxford English Dictionary

"Organize" not "organise"
Hyphenate two words that together as one modify a noun (acting as a compound modifier)

"Strategy" vs "Plans"

We often receive feedback that the word "Strategy" is used in talks and articles, when "Plan" is what is meant. So as to avoid confusion and misleading, please use these words according to the approach below. It is especially important in descriptions of talks, as delegates often specifically want to hear one and not the other, or ensure they are to hear about both.

A Strategy is a high-level, overarching approach that provides direction and a framework for decision-making. It answers the "why" and "what" questions, defining:

The overall objectives and desired outcomes
Key principles that guide decisions
General methods to achieve goals
Core priorities and trade-offs

A Plan is more tactical and detailed, focusing on the "how," "when," and "who." It includes:

Specific actions and steps (processes)
Timelines and deadlines
Resource allocation
Assigned responsibilities
Concrete metrics and milestones