[HANASHIR:16675] Long--Netiquette Reminders and The Future of Hanashir List and Web Site

[Adrian A. Durlester <adrian...>]

Chaverim:

First and foremost, please know that I am happy at all the activity on this
list, and how it continues to be a valuable resource for so many.

That being said I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone of some
of the unwritten policies that help keep the list operating efficiently, and
seek some input on establishing some new policies.

1. Announcing local/regional events

In general, it is preferred that announcements of events that are
geographically particular not be made to the entire list. However, we
recognize that sometimes you just want to share the news with your
colleagues. Some areas (like the DC area where I am) do have a local
songleaders group and e-mail list, and when possible, this is how local and
regional announcements should be made. If your area doesn't have such a
group, and you really feel that sharing your announcement on hanashir is
beneficial, you are welcome to do so with the caveat that you include **at
the beginning of the subject line** an indication that the message is of
specific geographical interest. For example:

Subject: New England Area-Ploni Ben Ploni Concert on February 30th.

2. Self-Promotions/Announcements

It has always been our practice to allow subscribers **one shameless act of
promotion** for any new recording, songbook, book, etc. Repeat promotions of
an item more than once are discouraged. It is also requested that your
promotional message clearly direct people to respond to you privately and
off the list.

2a.
Lately, we've been seeing a lot of performance announcements.  This is a
more recent development, and there hasn't really been time to establish any
kind of unwritten policy about this. If you have an opinion on this, please
e-mail me privately at adrian (at) ehavanashira(dot)org(dot) I do understand 
why artists
like to make block bookings, but I'm not sure this list is really the
appropriate forum for trying to make that kind of shidduch. In addition,
again I'm not sure if this is the place for artists to share
tour/performance schedules. Judy Caplan Ginsburgh's Jewish Entertainment
Resources site already provides such listings. www.jewishentertainment.net

2b. Hanashir is more than just an e-mail list.

This list is a great resource for all of us, but it is just part of an
extended online community which I encourage all list subscribers to use to
their advantage. This list is supplemented by the web site,
www.ehavanashira.org. In addition, there is a loose confederation between
the JER website www.jewishentertainment.net, Robin Selinger's
www.HotShabbat.com and www.TotShabbat.com web sites, Aura Lipski's
www.hebrewsongs.com, the Hava Nashira web site www.ehavanashira.org, and
this list. We're trying to avoid needless duplication. We are working to
create some tighter integration between the various sites.

3. Before you hit that send button -

We're all getting sloppy again and hitting that send key before
double-checking to "to:" field. If your reply is not intended for the entire
list, please be sure you send it privately and off the list. Remember that
the list defaults to "reply-to-list" and not "reply-to-sender" because the
basic premise is that most responses will be of interest to the entire list.

3b. Make it truly relevant.

Remember that little tricks like putting specific info in subject lines to
alert subscribers that the message may be of limited interest to them are
great for those who receive individual messages. Many of our subscribers get
the list in digest format. In such case, their digest is going to include
all those messages--they don't have the quick to simply ignore or delete.
That's why it's really important for all of us to think before we send
something to the list. "Attaboys/attagirls" and compliments are nice, and I
don't want to completely discourage them, but ask yourself how much your
comment really contributes to the discussion. Should you send your kudo
privately, or do the hundreds of subscribers to this list need to hear from
you as well as ten others that "so and so" is great? Again, I do not want to
totally discourage this, as part of what makes this community work is how we
all encourage and support each other. Let's just all try to keep the whole
community in mind when we post.

4. Potential Improvements.

We have the possibility of adding on to the www.ehavanashira.org web site
some new features originally developed by Daniel Hoffer for
www.songleaders.org which he has now graciously turned over to our community
to use which could include:

        a. threaded **web-based** discussions (might this be a place where
people could post regional/local announcements, tour schedules, block
booking inquiries? The down side is it's not e-mail accessible, but
web-only. See below for an alternative possibility.)

        b. A songleader's registry that would be searchable by people
looking for songleaders.

        c. A music file/sheet music download library  (but this would
duplicate the work of Robin Selinger and Aura Lipski)

Please share your thoughts with me as to which, if any, of these features we
should include as part of the Hava Nashira website www.ehavanashira.org.

5. Another Idea-more lists

Another possibility to help keep the hanashir list more focused would be to
create a second, third, etc. hanashir list devoted specifically to event
announcements, block bookings, performance schedules, etc. I already have
some dummy groups set up on Yahoogroups for potential future expansion.

Again, please send your thoughts, comments and opinions to me OFF The LIST
at adrian (at) ehavanashira(dot)org(dot)

6. Changes at Shamash.

I am pleased to announce that Shamash is in the process of switching over
all their e-mail lists (and there are hundred of them) to ListServ software.
ListProc's developers have abandoned the program and it has not kept pace
with changes. Soon some of these issues with truncated digests, gibberish in
messages, etc. will all go away. I'll keep you posted on the transition,
which should be seamless.

Thanks to everyone for making hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org the incredible 
resource
it is. Let's all work to make it even better.

I apologize for the length of this message. While I can't do it right at the
moment, I will also post this message to the www.ehavanshira.org website
sometime late tonight.

Thanks you for making hanashir such a blessing to us all,

Adrian

Adrian A. Durlester, MTS
E-mail: adrian (at) durlester(dot)com  URL:www.durlester.com
Director of Education & Congregational Life, Bethesda Jewish Congregation
director (at) bethesdajewish(dot)com
Co-Director, Hazamir/JTAI Choir of Greater DC
Past Conf Chair, CAJE 27, August 4-8, 2002, Trinity University, San Antonio,
TX
List Owner, hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Jewish Songleaders/Performers List
Co-Owner, l-torah (at) shamash(dot)org; Liberal Torah Discussion List 


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