Admin-type reminder ahead of Friday

[Kelley]

Richard:
> First of all, apologies to Kelley and the admin team for 
> perhaps giving the impression in what I said before that I 
> might have been criticising the team for not being strict 
> with the posts/members on this list. I've just re-read what 
> I wrote and must admit that such a reading was possible. 
> However, I want to make it absolutely clear that this was 
> NOT my intent in any way, shape or form.

Oh goodness, not at all, Richard!  Heh, I should have made the 
point in my own message that I was basically 'me too'-ing 
everything you'd said.  Honestly, nothing in your post felt like 
criticism at all; you see, I've been feeling quite guilty about
not doing more over here, so that's where my post was coming 
from. ;-)
 
> I am well aware that the team has more than enough work 
> looking after the other, much busier lists, and the few posts 
> on this list for 51 weeks of the year don't warrant a heavy-
> handed approach. 

Of course.  And really, that's just what we want to avoid here, 
being heavy-handed.  (On OTC, as well.)

> It is precisely because I wanted to AVOID it that I felt it 
> appropriate for the plea for sticking to the list's conventions 

Yes; I should have said also that I, for one, very much 
appreciated your post.

> (I much prefer that word to "rules", because we really are 
> talking about common-sense conventions which exist for valid 
> and fairly obvious reasons rather than being rules imposed from
> "on high") 

Absolutely agreed.  I belong to a couple groups for mods (to help
each other out) and it was an interesting revelation for me that 
most of our rules/conventions/guidelines/etc. are the same as 
those used in just tons of other groups, too.  They really are 
just basic 'netiquette,' common sense, good courtesy, and so on.

> to come as a gentle reminder from a poster whom many people 
> here might recognise rather than be some kind of order from the 
> admin team. 

Agreed.

> The List Elves do a terrific job and I never thought 
> it necessary to make a big song-and-dance about this issue.

Haha!  Aw, thanks (and yes, no song-and-dance needed, lol.)
 
> Sorry for any possible embarrassment.

Lol, no, none at all. :-)
 
> > Kelley, earlier:  But, one thing was different -- we 
> > weren't hearing the usual complaints from listies that 
> > we'd always heard before.

Richard:
> My own view on the matter (and the reason why I've not 
> contacted the Admins about this) is that whilst I care for 
> people sticking to the established conventions (quite simply 
> because it makes life *reading* the list so much easier!), 
> for most of the time it really isn't a big issue on this list 
> because there are so few posts, and long threads are rare. 

Right, exactly.  Fwiw, as some folks might remember, back when 
Penny Linsenmayer was modding this group, she never found a need
for anything more than a gentle reminder posted onlist now and 
again, whatever the issue was.  That's really all I've ever 
felt should be done, here and on OTC, myself.

> One of the reasons I gave up the Main and OT lists some years
> ago was because flaunting the conventions was rife and keeping
> up with the lists had simply become impossible.

Indeed.  Main's a daily and never-ending battle; OTC has been 
neglected in the just the same way as Movie, really, and we'd 
like to get that group a little more on-track again, too.

> On this list, top-posting, lack of trimming, etc, are 
> manageable - both to people like me who get individual messages 
> delivered by email as well as people reading the digest (not to 
> mention people using the web interface).

Yes; I mainly read by digest and scrolling through unsnipped 
material, both posts that I've already read and footers that have
been left in, is a bit frustrating, and if this group were busier
I'd certainly be less inclined to follow.

> However, within the next 24 hours and for the next week or so, 
> traffic on this list is going to explode (if the movie releases 
> to date are any indication) and so, for that time, people 
> sticking to the conventions (most of which are geared to keeping 
> posts as short as possible) becomes an issue. In a couple of 
> weeks' time, this will, again, no longer be so important, even 
> if the odd post might irritate me on technical grounds.

Exactly, yes.

> I would submit that more of the old hands probably feel the way 
> I do, and this is the reason why the admin team hasn't been 
> troubled by a flood of complaints about various posts/posters.

Yeah, I'd suspect that that's probably the case.

> Thankfully, the members of this list generally do a pretty good 
> job of self-moderation and the odd gentle nudge is enough to 
> correct any minor deviations. 

Oh yes!  And that is such a blessing, too.

> My only concern is that a lot of people will turn up here out 
> of the blue over the course of the next few days and not see 
> this thread but there's not a lot we can do about that anyway, 
> regardless of whether it's gentle reminders or heavy-handed 
> orders. :-) 

Heh, I hear you.  Fwiw, the plan is the occasional 'gentle 
reminder'. ;-)

> I do hope, however, that those who *have* read this thread will 
> create examples for the others to follow, even if their first 
> posts might not be quite up to scratch.

Absolutely; I hope people appreciate how very much that does help.

> BTW Kelley: be prepared to hear from me by the end of the day 
> about setting up some new items in the polls section, and 
> perhaps to close some old ones (I'm sure I shall think of at 
> least one original one). :-)

Lol, I'm tickled that you mentioned this -- when I read your post 
the other day, I got it in mind to look at both the polls and the 
settings; it's now set so that list members can freely set up 
polls if they like.  An elf will have to close any still-open-but-
outdated ones, so I'll be glad to close out any that folks think 
should go. :-)

> --
> Richard, previously AKA GulPlum, a bit cheesed off that there 
> are no midnight screenings around here. :-(

Oh, drat!  It'll actually be sometime next week before I get to 
see it.  (A few elves/ex-elves will be coming to my city for the 
T'giving holiday, so I'm glad at least that I'll get to see it 
with actual HPfGU folks.) :-D

Happy viewing, everyone!

--Kelley