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I need to respond to an e-mail sent to me by a committee (e.g. ABCD Organizing Committee). In the distant past, I would use something like "Respected Sirs" but that seems archaic now. How would I address such a committee now?

Context:

The committee's e-mail to me started of as "Dear FirstName LastName, " and then proceeded to extend a formal invitation.

Also, I decided to go for "Dear ABCD Organizing Committee"

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Jacob
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    I don't know how formal you want to be, but you could either say, "Dear Members of ABCD Organizing Committee," or "Committee members,". Sometimes, if I'm addressing more than one person less formally in an e-mail, I will just say, "Hello, all." – JLG Oct 05 '12 at 21:09
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    Just ditch the (definitely archaic/servile!) "Respected", and head up your email with "Sirs". – FumbleFingers Oct 05 '12 at 21:10
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    As @FumbleFingers said, you can just start with Sirs. If you want to prepend something to it, you can say Dear Sirs. – Aleks G Oct 05 '12 at 21:31
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    Sirs may offend female committeepersons. Let them set the convention. Who actually signed the email you received? Respond to him or her, using the same salutation, Dear or whatever, employed toward you; or if it's signed by the Committee, [Salutation] Committee. – StoneyB on hiatus Oct 05 '12 at 22:06
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    What exactly about this question do the four close-voters consider off-topic or not constructive? – coleopterist Oct 06 '12 at 11:56
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    Check the e-mail that you needed to respond to. Reciprocate the level of formality and tone. If they said 'Hi ...', reply to them with a 'Hi ...' -- there's nothing uncivil about it. – Kris Oct 06 '12 at 12:15
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    @coleopterist I didn't vote to close, but as a first guess, would hazard that this is another of those etiquette versus usage fine lines. All the answers in the comments are equally valid, because no one knows the exact context for the question other than OP. Using "Sirs:" with a colon was what I was taught. I love these sort of questions, personally, but it is fair to say that they are unanswerable. – Ellie Kesselman Oct 06 '12 at 19:14
  • Thank you for all your comments. Please post them as answers so I can upvote/accept them! – Jacob Oct 06 '12 at 22:47
  • @FeralOink: I've updated my post. – Jacob Oct 06 '12 at 22:48
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    @Jacob Given the further information you provided, I think you made a reasonable choice! Opening with "Committee ABCD:" is okay. Yet keeping things parallel i.e. they addressed you as "Dear", and you replied similarly, seems just right, given that the context was not especially formal. – Ellie Kesselman Oct 07 '12 at 14:56

1 Answers1

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Address them in context to their members. If it is an all-male committee, you can in good etiquette use the address

Sirs,

if the committee is women, you may feel you can use the intelligent & obscure

Mesdames,

(this primarily has the usage "Mesdames Gordon, Thames, Foxworth, and Stein,")

In a mixed context, there is nothing wrong, or even 'dated' about

Ladies and Gentleman of the committee,

if the committee is small enough, you may consider the very-formal

To Mr. Thompson, Ms. Brown, and Mr. Woodrow, Esq., members of the ABCD Organizing Committee,

but, if you can reference them by their function or duty, consider doing so:

Judges Thompson, Brown, and Woodrow,

Committee Members Thompson, Brown, and Woodrow,

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