ELP-channel - group management issues

[John A.]

Hi.

I'm creating this post as a top-level placeholder for questions/
comments about how to use this Google Group and/or how the site is
being managed.

As we all make the transition from the 'old' ELP Digest to this new
home as the 'ELP-channel', I am hoping we can help each other better
understand how this new interface is working.

Please post a reply here if you have question related to how this
group works.

Thanks.

- John -

[John A.]

Just wanted to confirm what a few of you seem to have noticed. (Since I'm the group owner, I don't see the same messages others do.)

Once you're added as a group member, there isn't an explicit email confirmation. The fact that you see that you can 'post' or 'reply' to a message means that your membership has been confirmed.

Just to keep the clutter to a minimum, I deleted a few 'test posts' from new members. No problem. Just wanted you to know.

- John - 

[John A.]

As we all learn the best way to make the new 'ELP-channel' successful, I've received a few questions (like this one from Veronica - that I deleted from its original location and am moving here):

Veronica wrote:

>>> Hi , I hope this group site is as fun as the yahoo site, thank you 
>>> John for all your hard work !  Can I send attachments with the emails 
>>> now, and what happens to all the files and photos from the Yahoo 
>>> group ? V

If people have attachments that they really need to accompany a note, I think the best way to handle them is to do one of the following:

1. Put the photo/image/video/document someplace on the web at a URL that others can visit and link to that URL in your post.

2. If you really can't find a place to manage that photo/image/video/document yourself, then you can contact me - via email at elp-digest <at> reluctant <dot> com - and we'll work out a way to get that content onto the ELP Digest web site where you can link to it in your message.

Hope this helps.

- John -

[John A.]

There have been a few questions about how the ELP-channel will be different from the ELP-DISC Yahoo group. Here's what I posted there to address this question:

Re: The evolution of the ELP Digest

Hi to all who have posted and/or joined the ELP-channel.

I want to emphasize that I do NOT intend the new ELP-channel to 'compete' with
this group (ELP-DISC). I think that both can survive and thrive.

As mentioned, the 'hand crafting' of the ELP Digest was getting to the point
where I was concerned that some news wasn't getting out in time because of the
limits I have on my own time (and the time of a few key, behind-the-scene people
who helped me). So, the move to the ELP-channel is an experiment to see if I can
accomplish the following:

* More timely distribution of news
* Less reliance on me as a filter/organizer of content
* But still focus mostly on news, Q/A, substantive discussion of ELP and
KE/GL/CP

I am listening and learning as we go.

I've always felt that the ELP DIgest's strength was its focus on the news, Q/A,
substantive discussion (mentioned above) of all things ELP. And I've always felt
that the strength of ELP-DISC was as a place for ELP fans to more directly
interact (and sometime argue) with each other. So, maybe it's just me, but I've
always viewed the ELP Digest (and now the ELP-channel as more like 'news and
commentary distribution' and ELP-DISC as a more social environment.

We'll see how it works in the long-term. If I need to directly moderate the
ELP-channel to make it a successful follow-on to the ELP Digest, I will. But, as
we get started, I'm going to see if the members can set the tone without that
much intervention.

Though it would still take on some extra work, I am also considering an option
where I use the 'daily summaries' as the input to my manual editing process and
still send out a monthly 'Digest' as a summary of the ELP-channel activity for
those who see the daily inbox summary as too much.

Hope this helps!

- John -