Re: Digest for harp-l-meta-discussions@googlegroups.com - 3 Messages in 1 Topic

[b boggs]

Harp-l has kept my interest in the mode it has been because of the guidelines that the listowner has encouraged.

When the meta begins in earnest, then my appreciation wanes quickly.

There is enough of that on other sites.

 

BB

On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 3:50 AM, <harp-l-meta...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

  Today's Topic Summary

Group: http://groups.google.com/group/harp-l-meta-discussions/topics

• Will Harp-L go away for good in October? IMPORTANT. [3 Updates]

 Will Harp-L go away for good in October? IMPORTANT.

"William Lifford, CP" <william...@gmail.com> Aug 15 08:25AM -0400  

Hello all Harp-L'ers,
 
/(obligatory harmonica content: I thought I was really awesome at
playing the harmonica, until I joined Harp-L and found what truly
awesome players can do with a harp. Boy, that was a rough couple of
weeks, adjusting to my non-awesomeness.)/
 
I'm not a prolific poster on Harp-L, but have been a member for many
years (and I even produced one of Harp-L's compilations a ways back) and
I enjoy the list greatly. But I need to remind all of you about something.
 
Our listowner is RETIRING in October 2012. He mentioned this a year
ago, and some discussions about what to do were bandied about on the
Harp-L 'Meta Discussion' Google groups list, but they kind of died out
-- and currently there is NO succession plan. Basically, Harp-L will
cease to exist by November 2012 if we do not band together and do
something about it.
 
I am am willing to volunteer to become the new Harp-L listowner. But I
cannot even come close to fulfilling all the responsibilities of the
job, because I'm not well versed in computer stuff. The only way I
could do this would be if I had the help of others.
 
Hopefully my sounding the alarm will cause someone way more qualified
than I to step up and say "I will be the new listowner", but maybe not.
I therefore ask all of you:
 
1. Do all of you want Harp-L to continue?
 
2. Do any of you have any experience with Listserves or any of that
stuff? If so, is there a concrete list of tasks that need to be done on
a regular basis to make this list continue to stay viable? Please tell
me so that we can find people to help with these tasks.
 
3. Would some of you be willing to partner up with me or somebody else
and keep this list running? I read pretty much every post and certainly
could help with moderating. But I am simply not qualified now (though I
am willing to learn) to do the computer-end of stuff required to manage
Harp-L.
 
4. Are all of you willing to put up with the mistakes I will invariably
make while learning to manage the list?
 
Thanks for listening/reading. I think Harp-L is just too good to let it
die out.
 
Bill Lifford
 
 
 
 
--
William Lifford, CP
Progressive O&P, Inc.
1111 Willis Avenue
Albertson, NY 11507
516-338-8585
www.ProgOandP.com


 

El Rey de los Super Mochomos <yq7...@gmail.com> Aug 15 09:34AM -0700  

harp-l would have died out long ago of the model hadn't been shifted.
Why we have existed is to provide connections for people. It used to
make me crazy that prolific posters would get upset and then take
their marbles and go home. They weren't actually going home they were
going off into corners to converse in relationships they had formed by
belonging to harp-l. The end all be all of harp-l is not the
conversation it's the connections you can establish.
 
This is what worries me. Just a couple of people seem to understand
this. That and the no meta rule. By and large most people would
favour allowing meta. The persistence of the off topic rubric as a
means of trying to introduce meta to harp-l is proof of this.
Allowing meta would be the effective end of harp-l. We'd become
Modern Blues Harmonica. That ecological niche has already been filled
and quite nicely by Adam and his members
 
So I wasn't born knowing any of this. I learned it on the fly and in
the process I made a lot of mistakes. Nothing like beating your head
against a wall to help you figure out that stopping makes the headache
go away.
 
Today so far I've had one post to harp-l saying cool great time to
migrate the list onto a forum framework. If that's what people want
then they don't need the subscriber list or the name. They can just
start one up and go head to head with Adam. Good luck with that one.
 
We talk about web 1.0 versus web 2.0 versus mobile platforms. Harp-l
is web 0.2 or just about there. We don't translate well on to smart
devices. The last time I checked we had 2300 some odd subscribed
addresses. We cull actively so that's a good count. Remember
Netscape, AOL, My Space? All either gone or mere shadows of their
former selves. Generally speaking they didn't do well when the world
moved out from under them. That we still exist tells you it isn't
about the technology it's about the connections.
 
Perhaps there is no free lunch but harp-l is as free as we can make
it. No ads, no subscriber costs and very little moderation and none
of it in advance of your posting. No culture that reflects the
ownership of the list. I really try hard to be invisible.


 

William Lifford <william...@gmail.com> Aug 15 12:43PM -0400  

That's exactly why it is so important. Because the connections to people
are the key. I don't see the point of going to a forum, either, because
that niche seems to be filled by MBH. And the tone of MBH is quite
contentious at times.
 
Now we are up against the deadline, though as you mentioned to me there
might be a small bit of wiggle room with that.
 
Can you help point us to where we need to be in terms of personnel and
responsibilities?
On Aug 15, 2012 12:34 PM, "El Rey de los Super Mochomos" <yq7...@gmail.com>
wrote:
 


 

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