[conspire] branching/derivative conversation - need for one common announce list

[Heather Stern]

On Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 07:50:30PM -0800, Deirdre Saoirse Moen wrote:
> On Feb 24, 2007, at 7:36 PM, Paul Reiber wrote:
> 
> > I love BALE - don't get me wrong - but if it was sufficient in that
> > capacity, we wouldn't have LUG coordinators cross-posting their
> > announcements.
> 
> That seems to have occurred due to cluelessness more than any other  
> factor, actually.

Exec Summary:
BALE has its use, but would have more if people believed it so. This is a
circular problem, which a little dusting off would help sincerely.

There's right ways and wrong ways to *ahem* market usergroups to other
groups of partially-similar interests. Getting good news out in a painful
way is a net loss.  Direct examples of one possible right way, below.

Details :)

As a side note about BALE, people at SVLUG meetings ask me why it's not
kept up to date.  Not that I have any real capacity to know why, or to
magically fill it forward for any groups, but it raises an interesting
point.

If some of the groups that are on there are on a date pattern (e.g. CABAL 2nd &
4th sat aftnoon-night;  USS Augusta Ada 4th Saturday except Nov/Dec) then
perhaps it would look-and-feel "current" if the only ones that need to be
updated to look current are the ones whose meeting date or time needs to be
declared, or is changing for a special occasion, or unusual events.
Contrariwise, even if it *is* current, feeling somehow not-so-current
discourages people from considering it their first stop in looking for lots
of linux events.  That's a social problem, but a technical solution exists.

If the desire is for a community corkboard a'la the corkboard down at the
supermarket, BALE already exists.  I can grok that some geeks would rather
have an email jab them in the ribs now and then; for such, a bale-announce
kind of list might be desirable ... though note, I wouldn't join it.  I get
enough flyers as it is.  I wouldn't disagree with the idea of having it
though.

As to the main thread:
Cross-pollinating groups IMnsHO is a good thing.  However, that kind of
cross-pollination that works best happens from actually "bee"ing there, not
merely tacking flyers on the front door.  You might use the same template or
checklist of items you want to say to each group.  But mailing each group
individually really is best -- it allows you to also customize why it's
interesting, which is specific to *them*.

To SVLUG's mailing list (in which I am seen and never hear ;> ), I do *not* 
announce all the baylisa meetings.   I only announce those that I feel will
have specific interest that crosses over to linux stuff;  I'm perfectly
aware that many of the SVLUG audience are not sysadmins, and won't find all
the talks their cup of tea.   *In Person* I always announce that baylisa
regularly meets;  those who feel, on their own, that the sysadmin/netadmin
or somewhat hardware-hacker stuff that baylisa does for a main entree are
worth their regular time, can look at baylisa's website.  Or catch me
afterwards and ask more.  Some of them have, and BayLISA thus gains the most
interested people with the least abuse to un-interested ears. What it gains
*me* is that people who see my rare posts on SVLUG can rely on that if I'm
saying something there, I'm probably worth listening to.  (Or, oh no,
Heather's yakking about linuxy stuff at some other group again, yawn. ;P)

Contrariwise cloning info without personalization to otherwise interested
geeky souls, makes us put up Junkbuster The Brain Edition(tm) and thence a
tendency to ignore it.  Mass mailing the same content to several groups
pushes this particular button, more visibly so if they're a cc rather than
bcc or if any reply-to entanglement ends up pestering mailadmins.   Getting
good news out in a painful way is a net loss.

#include <said-my-piece-now.h>

  . | .    Heather Stern          |     (408) 374-7623 land
--->*<---  star at starshine.org   - * -   (408) 761-4912 cell
  ' | `    KG6ZYC                 |    
And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing
what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail.  No exceptions.
		-- David Jones