I may be putting it too dramatically, but a curious thing has
happened, or, I should say, is happening, now; and I wonder,
if anybody has had any similar experiences.
I have been running a majordomo list service, through my local ISP,
for a coalition of environmental organizations, for over a year.
There is no formal arrangement. I was simply going to regular
meetings of several fairly prominent groups. I automated the
active e-mailers, then helped set up a bank account, started taking
the minutes, compiled a directory, became the "chair" for a while,
coordinated things, set the agendas, did mailings, etc. I pretty
much moved on, but continued to manage the e-mail list. The group
was interesting and doing useful, pleasant work; but that all
changed today.
The subscriber list is small, about 320, mostly in Massachusetts,
but other people, all over, have signed on. Its not an active chat
group. I got in the habit of picking up items of interest, from
the local papers, and from online. I've become a gadfly, attending
public meetings, writing reports, reviewing books, promoting my
friends. About every two or three weeks, I compile an e-zine, of
sorts, usually on a special topic, like the EPA clean air hearings,
Earth Day, environmentalism in politics, electric utility
restructuring, or a conference. Sometimes I take Alerts that
others prepare, and send them out, as a publisher/distributor.
They are chopped up, but editorially untouched. Most often, its
just a collection of blurbs, calendar items, and articles.
What happened is that I received several "Letters to the Editor,"
objecting to one prolific online writer and local/national
environmental personality and his putdown of a business association
and their attempts to be green. He attacked them; others rallied
to their defense. I thought we were going to have a discussion!
What did I know? Most of the information on the list is factual
and dry. The articles can be opinionated. However, there's not
too much debate about global warming, endangered species, energy
pollution, population impacts. Its more a problem of how to work
together on positive solutions.
As the "publisher," I put the letters online, and agreed, in an
editorial comment, that name-calling by, we'll call him "Jay," was
needlessly rhetorical, and that a business group, at least talking
green, was good to hear. I wanted to remind folks our coalition was
started to find common ground, to build a broad basis for more
logical, acceptable environmental positions - something good for
consumers, the public, the earth, business, and so on.
Anyway, "Jay," the original writer, who is now the chair of the
coalition, took a partial list of subscribers, and, bypassing the
list service, sent them a message announcing that my list would no
longer publish anything, of an official nature, from the coalition
(...like he can stop the presses...), and that a new list had been
started by him and another self-appointed "co-chair." And that if
people wanted to continue to receive the official "coalition"
alerts, they should unsubscribe from my list, since they had
already been "subscribed" by him to the new list, which was not
automated, but had the eddresses in his headers.
"Jay", of course, has limited appreciation of what I have to do to
change the "info" file, and other things, such as, placements, here
and there, on lists of lists and so on. All, of which, I'm willing
to do.
What a mess. Following "Jay's" instructions, some people have
started bouncing messages around, sending commands to his complete
list, and so on. His Cc: list is old, so I know he is getting
swamped with a ton of undeliverable return e-mail. One loop has
started between two automated lists in his header, and that has
involved other addresses. I'm moderated, so my list is ok; but
the do-do is hitting the fan.
You can laugh, and I will, too, someday; but, right now,
I don't want to bother my ISP - they are terrific. And the
subscribers are all wonderful people, who do not need this. Also,
Massachusetts is blessed with a number of fine environmental and
other well-established nature groups and activist organizations,
who are just getting used to these electronic media. Many of the
organizations have names that you would all recognize. Those of us
in the background, feel proud and privileged to have helped to move
things forward, but... ...now, this.
I'd be interested in hearing more about the personal politics - if
anybody has gone through this sort of screw up - than the technical
aspects, which I can handle, I think. But that's part of it, too.
Please, let me hear your stories. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Ross M. Donald
<RNN>
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