Welcome to HPFGU-Feedback

[junediamanti]

--- In HPFGU-Feedback at yahoogroups.com, "Hebby Elf" 
<hebrideanblack at e...> wrote:
> Hello!
X-Original-Yahoo-Groups-Redacted-From: "junediamanti" <june.diamanti at ...>
X-Original-Yahoo-Groups-Redacted-X-Sender: june.diamanti at ...
X-Original-Yahoo-Groups-Redacted-Return-Path: <june.diamanti at ...>

First of all, a very big hello back. Thanks to the admin for 
providing this opportunity to "shape our destiny" - well alright, 
discuss things.  

let's hope now that the fire has died down a bit from last week's 
storm we can do this in a relatively civilised way.

Let me say first of all, I have very few issues with the way the 
list is run.  In a list this size, there has to be some rules and 
administration and I believe it's largely a thankless job - SO 
THANKS ELVES!  

My reason for coming onto this list is that I was dismayed by the 
emotive tone of some of the posts that went on HPFGU-OT last week - 
and some got downright insulting to other members and I think that 
needs addressing.  So I'm largely here, because if there is change 
to be done, I'd like to be a part of it, rather than moaning later 
that no one consults anyone - because in this case that's precisely 
what the Admin team is doing.  
> 
> Welcome to HPFGU-Feedback. We hope this forum will promote 
> discussion between yourselves, the members of the HPFGU groups, 
and 
> ourselves, the List Admin Team. We'd like to hear about your 
> concerns about the groups, your ideas for the groups, any 
> suggestions you might have. We also know you have questions, but 
we 
> thought we'd get the ball rolling by asking a few of our own to 
> start. <g>
> 
> If you could change one thing about HPfGU, what would it be?

First of all, I like the list and though I've joined a number of 
others since it's still the Daddy in many ways.  Over time I've 
become more selective about the threads I follow, because I've often 
already said all I want to say about a particular topic.  

Someone else on this list has mentioned improving one's ability to 
research previous posts to avoid re-hashing things too much and I 
think that's a good idea if it can be managed. However, new members 
will want to discuss things that have already been covered and I 
believe they have the right to do so. 

An alternative, could we subdivide the posts in some way?  Then it 
would be easier to track posts on the characters/subjects that 
interest you and not bother with the others.   

Ooops. that was two things.  Sorry.  So lets mix them together and 
suggest some way of organising posts or threads.  

> 
> Should there be some formal recognition of good/long-time posters?

Coming off moderation and it being known?  I'm not a long-time 
poster (almost 6 months) though I will be sticking around.  I think 
I can be a good poster though.  And I've never been rude to anyone.  
A funky icon system?  I know a gossip mailing list where if people 
come up with a hot gossip item over ten times, they get an icon.

Bear in mind though that there might well be a great poster out 
there who is yet to join.

I'm concerned about some of the odium that gets heaped on newbies.  
Everyone was a newbie at some point, even the people who founded the 
list.  For example, I might be a comparative newbie in posting terms 
but I've been reading the books since 1997.  I think newbies are 
entitled to speak.  They're moderated carefully here and that should 
be enough.  People leave, others take over and that's what keeps the 
community vibrant.  I don't approve of issuing lurker only status to 
newbies.  If I hadn't been allowed to post for several weeks, I 
wouldn't have stayed.  I like to participate, not just spectate.

Trust me, it was some weeks of lurking before I dared say anything 
around here.  I was new to forums in general and so nervous as 
hell.  I wanted to read a lot of fantastic posts, FAQ's and get a 
feel for what was going on, and that's what I did. I tend to take 
instructions fairly seriously.  Also I was blown away by some of the 
debate, it was just post publication of OOP and though I had a good 
many theories of my own, I realised there was a lot more to choose 
from!  The quality of the posting was great too, and I had a lot of 
laughs reading some of them too.  So when I finally dared post (and 
if my post had been audible it would have been squeaky!) I was 
nervous.  Then I wrote my first long post and got some very kind 
feedback from other "senior" board members and that was very nice 
and encouraging.  I want to stress these factors because there was a 
lot of criticism last week by members about the admin, yet for me 
some of the best encouragement I got was from members of the admin 
team.  

Now I know some new members will need more watching.  And I also 
know that some people do wade in.  But mine was a positive 
experience and I think that should be the rule wherever possible, 
and not the exception.  Having said that, there will also be new 
members who will just ignore the rules and they need some element of 
control over them.  
> 
> If past experience is any guide, we'll be getting a surge of new 
> posters next June when the PoA movie premieres. How should we deal 
> with it? 

Shoot them?!  Seriously, moderation at first, keep the rules to the 
fore.  But where possible, encourage them rather than otherwise.

June