To: or Cc: ?

When do you put your contacts in the To: field or the Cc: field? There really are no hard and fast rules -- you have to use your discretion based on the circumstances at hand.

As a general guideline, use the To: field if you want to address several contacts for the same reason as a group, while encouraging their input. The Cc: field is generally used to keep people in the loop (FYI) with no expectation of a reply being required. That is unless you have something important to add to the conversation that needs to be pointed out. In that case only reply to the Sender and do NOT hit Reply to All.

One thing is clear -- don't play politics with these fields to make someone feel less important or to make a point by putting them in the Cc: field when they should be in the To: field and be welcomed to contribute. That is never a successful strategy and can have you looking trivial and/or unprofessional.

HTH!