Which office to print when someone holds more than one

Many dignitaries hold more than one office. A vice-chancellor also chairs a foundation, a mayor presides over a joint board, a general sits on the board of a public body. The invitation goes out in the capacity in which the person is invited. The place card and the seating list show the capacity in which they attend, and the two are not always the same.

The usual mistake is printing the highest office out of habit. The chair of the foundation, invited as such, ends up on the place card as vice-chancellor, and in the wrong seat.

A written rule

Decide for each appointment how it behaves in print. Some are always printed, even when the person holds others. Some are never printed: an honorary title, an internal role. In every other case the first valid appointment is printed, following an order the office sets.

From February CerimoniereWeb applies these three rules. Place cards, seating lists and the plan show the appointment chosen for printing, which is not necessarily the one the person was invited under, and the same description can be used in emails.