Steve Climpson writes:
My point about a registration system is that it limits the list to people who at least have some knowledge, analogue or digital, lab or sales staff, web designer or illustrator - ie someone who makes a living from imaging. At least we know as a group that they have something to offer.
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Dear Steve/List
Steve I support much of what you have been saying today. At the very least I think that all Prodigers should be required to "agree" to the rules of the "club" and to provide some background information about themselves, so we know where they are coming from. When on list mum duty I tried to get as many people as possible to introduce themselves with more than for example "I shoot.......and have an XYZ digital camera and am here to learn! Not very inclusive is it for anyone wanting to be part of a list where the members are prepared to share their hard won experiences and knowledge.
Of course there will be many here who feel that they have little to offer in their early days in digital imaging, that's understandable but can there really be such an ill balance as there appears to be, based on the postings? I suspect not and that many are just takers and not givers. This is a bad situation in any grouping of people, the fact that there are many lists with this in balance does not make it OK IMO.
Perhaps the list has lost it's way due to it's popularity. It's certainly no longer what it started life as, and I for one am very sad that many who were here in the early years when I joined no longer seem to be.
snip
Contribute, exchange, discuss, rant, maybe become arragant & elitist but at least take part for christs sake.
People involvement is the life blood of any list, without them the list is nothing, but I fear that these days many are more apprehensive of contributing in case their posting is deemed off topic. Yes of course one can ask, but things certainly have changed since I hung up my list mum keyboard some months ago. One thing that would help is if the guidelines were clear, and simple, IMO they are a mess and are desperately in need of a transplant.
Whilst I tried to uphold the requirements of the list owner with regard to the nuts and bolts issues such as trimming etc...... for a number of years I took a far more relaxed attitude as to what could be discussed, but the writing was on the wall! Rightly or wrongly I saw Prodig as a meeting point for fellow professionals. A meeting point where ideally almost any subject that had a bearing on our ability to successfully carry on our photography businesses in a rapidly changing market place could be discussed. After all, where else does one turn when something goes "pear shaped" and the manual does not help and the support lines are closed. There are other lists but not really a satisfactory solution as our problems are often related to our imaging industry. With so many of us here there is every likelihood that there will be someone able to throw a line, and who knows it may help others out too.
OK so this brings with it a big problem of a larger number of posts. Good subject lines make it more straight forward to decide what to read and what to simply "bin". Good trimming makes for far more efficient reading of the postings, etc., etc. Surely that's not too much to ask of members is it? With a dedicated mail box to automatically take your Prodig posts life really is very simple. I would also urge all on the Digest version to consider making such a mail box, and to get the emails as they come in even if you don't read them till later.
The unreliable speed with which posts appear has always bothered me and has in the past been the subject of "discussions" with the list owner. We live in a world where we need quick and reliable communications, and to have postings not appear for hours or days is simply not satisfactory. It also is the reason for many unnecessary postings. I was prepared to put my hand in my pocket to contribute to improve things if this was what was needed, and felt that others would have been prepared to help out too.
I can see that most do not share my view so will now shut up. I can hear cries of thank god.
Steve, your years of knowledge and experience are very valuable to us all here, and those of others too. It has been suggested that there should be various versions of Prodig with postings sent to the appropriate list. Good grief, does anyone seriously think that this could ever be made to work?
There has also been the suggestion that someone starts a totally new list for the pros here. This may be one answer and has been suggested to me by several people in the past off list. If there are sufficient full time pros here who feel strongly about this as the option they would like to see, and be involved in, then I am happy to initially act as your collecting point.
I will set up a mailbox to take your emails and would ask that you please put in the subject line the words. New pro list. Please do NOT even consider that this could possibly be an appropriate topic for discussion on Prodig!! I think I had better end now before the list mum pulls out my connector <G>
Best wishes all.
Richard
Richard Kenward -- Our new scanning and other services web site features Norman Child's superb pictures and those of other photographers. www.precision-drum-scanning.co.uk =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
