[Rhodes22-list] Future of Da List

[Bill Effros]

John,

We went through lots of lists before we got to this format, and a lot of 
work was lost in the process.  The list has not always worked like 
this.  This format has endured longer than any other, and we found we 
could keep people active for much longer if instead of restricting the 
scope of the list, we opened it up, discussed personal matters, told 
jokes, discussed politics, and treated each other as old friends.  The 
list is like an extended family.  We see each other off-list.  We all 
have many interests beyond boats.

When push comes to shove, a very small number of people wind up doing 
95% of the work. Then new people come along to tell us what we've done 
wrong.

All the answers you need for a lifetime are contained in the archives, 
and it is relatively simple to download, access and search them.  But 
nobody is going to do that.

I wrote stock answers for my list, but it took almost a full year to get 
the answers to the point where I could anticipate 99% of the questions 
asked.

I now tell them that my book is the FAQ, and I refer them to my book 
whenever they ask a question that is answered in the book.  I have 
considered writing a book about the R-22, and would be open to the idea 
if others will help.  I don't anticipate that anyone will make any money 
on the R-22 book, but it might help Stan, and it might help whoever is 
in charge of maintaining this list.

The search syntax keeps changing.  I got more answers with my syntax 
than I got with yours.  We should write a stock answer to cover that 
issue. 

Hard economic times will drastically reduce the number of newbies.  We 
will be mainly talking to each other for quite a while. If we reduce the 
acceptable topics people will drop off the list at a rapid clip until 
the list just shrivels and dies.

The device of inserting Politics: or Joke: etc. in the subject line has 
been extremely effective.  Almost everyone adheres to this convention 
almost all the time. We can easily teach people to set junk filters if 
they don't want to see jokes or politics.  There is no excuse for anyone 
to drop off the list because they don't want someone else to express 
their opinion.  That's always just an excuse for some other problem, and 
we're not going to solve that other problem by changing the way the list 
works.

John Lock wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> It is not my intention to commandeer the list and bend it to my 
> will.  I believe that is wrong.  But I do feel a responsibility to 
> set some limits because it will make the list a more valuable resource.
>
> Ben - Yes, a wiki is a great idea and has been on my short list of 
> improvements when I get some elusive spare time.  I also agree that a 
> forum format would better serve the group, but that opinion has been 
> in the minority.  People love their e-mail.  However, I would be 
> happy to install a test forum for people to try out if there was 
> enough interest.  (FYI - think sailnet.com style forums, not nabble.com.)
>
> Bill E - Thanks for the reminder about alternate search methods for 
> list, but that syntax doesn't work for me.  I had to use "rhodes22 
> penetrol" (no ":") to get any results.  More specifically you can use 
> "site:rhodes22.org penetrol" to just search the main list archives.
>
> And to all who responded in like fashion "the list has always worked 
> like this, leave it alone." - I'm not buying that.  That doesn't mean 
> it can't be improved and it doesn't mean it's always been 
> right.  Anytime we lose a valuable list member due to caustic 
> rhetoric we're poorer for it.
>
> I also do not believe that that we all have to hang around and bypass 
> the stream of verbal effluent as some sort of penance for getting a 
> quick answer when we do have an actual sailing question.  There has 
> to be a better way.
>
>
> John Lock
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> s/v Pandion - '79 Rhodes 22
> Lake Sinclair, GA
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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