TO: Horse, Jonathan, Magnus and Marco and MF thread gang (with exception of Blade, who has turned into a young flamer) :^) From: Rog
JONATHAN: I suggest that a "digest" summarizing the "Overdoing the Dynamic" be posted in a new section of the web site. Maybe Horse can start a mailing list to send out the digest, or even just an announcement of where it is posted. [Marco and Jonathan agreed, pending final summary] HORSE: Suggestions by members as to the attributes that the MF list should possess are: - limit the amount of noise in a discussion - focus on the subjects(s) under discussion - provide some sort of summary of a discussion - better way of choosing subjects to discuss - change moderators role - stimulate the dynamic nature of the list ROG: I have no suggestions on any of the above beyond getting self-moderators to provide some benefit and focus to the discussions. We could lay out a suggested process for members to use to organize into more constructive, yet still spontaneous dialogues. This would create clearly identifiable islands in the otherwise turbulent seas of messages. HORSE: - accurate thread titles that relate to content - clear rules of procedure - some sort of FAQ resource ROG: These would all be of value. I agree with Magnus' thoughts and that we should resurrect the LILA SQUAD. Do note that I share everyone's distaste of censorship and over-control. However, clearer rules would allow us to gravitate to common patterns of interaction upon which everyone would still experiment and deviate. Over time, we could add new twists that seem to work, or drop the idea altogether and try something new. HORSE: Some other things that need to be decided are: - should the list be moderated - should the number of posts per day be limited - how is it decided that a post is on or off topic ROG: I think that we could TRY to let moderators influence moderated discussions with distinct titles "MD MODERATED DISCUSSION ON INFORMATION" or some such. The moderator can remind folks not to duplicate old messages in entirety, to stay on topic if using that heading etc. I think most of the dialogue/topics (which would be non-moderated) should be as free flowing as always. (The volume is getting heavier than ever lately, yet the recent quality has been better than normal too). Or, we could do something other than the volunteer/moderators idea altogether! I do not see the need to limit daily posts. HORSE: Roger asked if other members would be prepared to help in order to get a better system up and going and received offers from 3 members. Assuming that Rog would also be prepared to throw in a few hours a month as well and including the current committee members that makes 8 persons who are willing to actively participate and provide time to revive the list. So having provided some idea of the negative aspects of MD and what would be useful in the MF list could we spend some time working out how the revival of MF could be achieved. It seems that there are a number of people who do want the list to work so there should be enough incentive. We could start by looking at Marco's suggestions and work out from there. ROG: I am game to trying to help. I am usually forced to be a weekends-only member though! (Which means some weekday-only members rarely interact with me) BTW, is Keith still around? Why doesn't he write anymore? Rog MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
