Agree about the OT discussion, except when they involve cave related equipment,
like David's LED discussions.
Global Warming, Evolution, and Plastic bags should be on another list.
Matt Turner
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without
accepting it." - Aristotle
"Empty pockets never held anyone back.Only empty heads and empty hearts can do
that."- Norman Vincent Peale
----- Original Message ----
From: Daniel Hogenauer <dhogena...@msn.com>
To: gv...@warpdriveonline.com; texascavers@texascavers.com
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 10:50:33 PM
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Thoughts on OT postings
Thank you George,
Thank you for your abiding commitment to and concern for caves, cavers, caving
organizations and functions, and for this forum. I second what you wrote to the
TexasCavers community about this news group - very well said. I don't think
that I was among those who told you that they were tempted to unsubscribe, but
I am among the subscribers who routinely delete every single post from some
contributors and many other postings with subject line that are of no interest.
However I still feel that this list has value and I believe that it will be
even better for your contribution.
Again, thanks,
Dan
From: gv...@warpdriveonline.com
To: Texascavers@texascavers.com.
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:26:09 -0700
Subject: [Texascavers] Thoughts on OT postings
One of the recent postings on off-topic discussions stated, “Some enjoy the OT
subjects…”
I know that’s true, but let’s compare some numbers. By my count, there are
about a dozen people who contribute the great majority of OT material. I’ve
heard there are close to 200 people registered on TexasCavers.com. That’s not a
very high number, especially considering that many subscribers don’t live in
Texas. I believe a big reason is the OT postings. I know at least 2 dozen
cavers who over the past five years or so (two cavers within the past 3 weeks)
have told me they canceled their subscriptions or refused to subscribe due to
all of the OT postings. I can count at least 2-3 dozen additional cavers who
have told me they are tempted to unsubscribe because of OT postings, but put up
with them to get the rare snippet of caving information. If this is only what
I’ve heard, I suspect the actual numbers are quite higher. Yes, people can
click delete, but why should they? Do we embrace spammers and say “It’s OK.
Just hit delete if you
don’t want the information”?
To subscribe, cavers go to www.texascavers.com where it states “This list
should be used for the exchange of information on Texas caving and related
activities.” So when cavers subscribe, they expect information that is related
to caving, not non-caving information they didn’t ask for. Just because a caver
does, uses, believes, or is interested in something, doesn’t make that cave
related. The basic definition of spam is unsolicited, unwanted e-mail, and
since most of the postings are OT, many cavers I’ve heard from consider most
postings spam. I’m pretty sure no one signed up for that.
The purpose of TexasCavers.com is to “keep cavers informed about the latest
developments and current events in Texas and the rest of the caving world.”
With at least 2 dozen cavers who have already run away due to OT postings, and
at least as many considering unsubscribing for the same reason, TexasCavers.com
is failing at its purpose. Many cavers are not getting news from TexasCaver.com
or sharing their news with it. That is truly a shame.
George
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