Switching to egroups

[Patrick McAuley]

At the risk of delaying a decision further, may I also suggest to Murli that, to get a broader sense of people's opinions on this question, you make use of the polling feature on eGroups?  

You could set up a poll that asks people a yes/no question about switching (more options if you wish).  This generates an email to everyone who is currently signed up with the OSLIST on eGroups and asks them to go to the OSLIST/eGroups website (a link is provided in the email) to choose their option.  Unlike regular postings, people's votes are not broadcast to everyone, though the overall results are visible on the website even while the poll is still open for further voting.  You can choose how long you want to leave the poll open, then take the results as input to the decision.

While this method would not get input from those not on eGroups, it would get opinions from those who have seen both forms of the list.  And it would have the side benefit of exposing those on the new system to one of its additional capabilities -- this could generate ideas for more creative uses of this capability, but that's another tangent!

Patrick McAuley

PTM Consulting                   Tel:  (519) 827-9396
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Guelph, ON  N1G 4X7         patrick.mcauley at sympatico.ca
Canada
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peggy Holman 
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
  Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 1:52 PM
  Subject: Switching to egroups


  Murli,

  While this is going to the list, I address this request to you as the person
  who started us on this experiment in decision making.  (As an aside, I think
  it's been instructive to observe our process on making a collective
  decision.  There's been a great exchange of information, several experiments
  initiated.  That's been wonderful.)  I think we are ready for a decision on
  listserv or egroups.

  So here's my "2 cents worth" delivered as a request to you, Murli.  The
  latest cries of "I'm confused" lead me to think we would be best served by
  someone knowledgeable making a decision on the list's behalf.  Since you've
  been willing to invest the energy into this, I think you're the right person
  to do it.  The choice of egroups or listserv is a technical one.  Those with
  expertise have given you their opinions.  The only negative I heard for
  egroups was customer support.  In all other ways egroups sounds superior.

  I suggest you make a call on which way to go.  If you are satisfied that
  support won't be an issue, then take the 3 or 4 days to move everyone over
  to egroups and put out instructions, just as you did when we switched
  listservs in 1998, that tells people the new e-mail address.

  As I mentioned, OSI(US) can pay to make the site ad free.  Just send me the
  details.

  So, there you have it.  I think the information to enable action is in.
  Would you be willing to take the lead on bringing this to closure?

  Thanks,
  Peggy

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