Why you shouldn't email large PDF or Word files...

They make your audience unhappy

1. They can take a very long time for people with modems to download
2. They can fill up free email accounts like "hotmail", preventing other messages getting through.

They're unlikely to be forwarded

1 Many people will not forward the email as (i) it will make the recipients unhappy for the reasons above. (ii) many email lists don't take email attachments to prevent viruses and save space. 2 Some email providers do not allow you to forward attachments ofthis size.

They are harder to read and reply to

1. With some PDFs you cannot copy and paste the email addresses from the document - they come out as gibberish and have to be retyped
2. They information can't be read immediately, it has to be downloaded into another program.

They don't add anything above plain text

Often, the majority of the file size is taken up with pictures which have no relevance to the content

What to do

I would suggest you send out a text-only (e.g. email not MS-Word or PDF) version so that you increase your audience.

You should also remember to use "BCC:" rather than "To:" when mailing lots of people as otherwise you reveal everyone's email address to everyone else.

I look forward to receiving a copy of the information which I can pass on to others who might also be interested.