unsubscribing

[Warren Fisher]

Keith A. McGavern wrote:

> So what is the problem here.  

There may not be as much of one as I thought after I had a chance to
read the digest thoroughly.  Many of my feelings about the situation
resulted from Alan Crane's parting shot at the people of Pianotech when
he unsubscribed.  And what I've read so far indicates, that you are
going to limit membership to a select few.  So whatever I said is moot
now!  The material I read in the CAUT LIST which disturbed me is as
follows:

<snip>

The volume of postings on PIANOTECH is more than I have time to deal
with and the merely conversational and/or "cute but pointless" posts
make the problem worse.  Also, it is my impression that the technical
level of discussions on PIANOTECH has been steadily moving toward the
elementary (which, perhaps, is better suited to chapter technical
sessions than the list) *and* that more and more of the advice given
comes from less qualified voices than I might wish (of course, I may be
off the wall on this but it *is* my "gut" impression)...no offense meant
to anyone.

BTW, I would guess that this list is currently "open".  I wouldn't want
to limit subscribership to only CAUTs as there are others (Stanwood,
Fine, Spurlock, etc.) who made major contributions to PIANOTECH
discussions in the early days when it was primarily the CAUT forum.
I think they also benefited, as did we all, from the list when it was
smaller (volume-wise) and less unwieldy.

Does it make sense to try *some* form of list management of CAUT in the
short run?  Don't ask me what form that management might take...I
haven't any ideas so far :)

Regards,

Alan Crane, RPT


Dear Alan, CAUT list,

I feel it is very reasonable to consider list management in some form
for
posting to the CAUT list, however minimal.

One initial step that could be taken to accomplish a semblance of list
management is to ask of all CAUT subscribers, when posting to the CAUT
list, to sign each post with credentials of their involvement with a
college and/or university.    It would create credibility for the list's
namesake.

Each CAUT subscriber, once having understood the general wishes of the
CAUT
list, who might choose to ignore this simple request (should that
actually
ever occur), would be considered showing a form of disrespect or
discourteousness to the others.

Since there is a PIANOTECH list for all other piano type related
material,
I don't feel the CAUT list should be considered by non-CAUT persons as
intentionally exclusive other than for its intended purpose, a forum for
college and university technicians.

FYI: Prior to this post, current subscribers to the PIANOTECH list
showed
298, subscribers to CAUT list showed 28.

Sincerely,

Keith A. McGavern


Keith says;

>FYI: Prior to this post, current subscribers to the PIANOTECH list showed
>298, subscribers to CAUT list showed 28.

Whew!!  Then it is possible that we may get some relief from the inane
and
banal.
Just call me Vandy Ed,  I will probably forget to keep my ID current.  
    What we gotta have is a cop!.  Somebody who will post a mean FAQ.  
I am
not sure what keeps a list really strong, but I know that the "Tuning"
list,
hosted out of Mills college, is remarkable.  Every post on that thing is
worth reading, ( almost).  Perhaps the attitude of the list's original,
hard-core "28"  will be self-perpetuating.  There is liable to be some
flaming,  I been feeling the urge to be less civil at times, myself.  

Ol' Vandy Ed 

<snip>

 
> Warren, what you call "a bunch of back-patting" could easily be nothing
> more than sincere fellowship.

I agree.  I also agree that my original statement was too strong and too
general, and I apologize to anyone I may have offended by my comments. 
But I also remember when I first came on PIANOTECH, it was a dynamic
place, full of fun and fellowship and loaded with all kinds of technical
info of all kinds.  You never knew what you'd find next!  Anything you
asked about, you'd get several answers pronto!  It was marvelous!

Then the tail started wagging the dog!  Six to ten members started
complaining about content and humor on the list and the whole spirit of
the group went down the tubes in a few weeks.   People were afraid to
include a friendly comment to a friend for fear of getting flamed! 
People were unsubscribing right and left!   People were afraid to
venture their opinions on the list for fear of being castigated.  Many
of the people doing the complaining were CAUT'S.  I contributed to the
change when I started my Humor List.   

>Please, don't let the other lists and those
> who subscribe to them become a scapegoat just because they wish to have a
> specific purpose.

I have no intention of making anyone a "scapegoat"!  My point is you are
dealing with human nature here.  You can either have an open public
forum or a private monitored one.  There is not a whole lot in between! 
If you are discussing techniques and issues of general interest to the
technician public then they will want to hear them and if they feel they
have something to contribute, they will put in their two cents worth. 
Then, pretty soon you'll have another PIANOTECH and another 100 messages
a day to delete.  The process is called entropy!

And finally Keith, I can meet your list requirements, but like Jim B., I
think I'll cool it for now!  I'm sure that breaks your heart! :-)

Sincerely,

Warren Fisher (the secret CAUT)

-- 
Home of the Humor List
Warren D. Fisher
fish@communique.net
Registered Piano Technician
Piano Technicians Guild
New Orleans Chapter 701