I second your motion Dylan. The list needs an unbiased controlling hand. I
personally am not aware or informed of any existing charter or set of bylaws
that pertain to the actual moderation process. Again, I speak potentially from
my own ignorance. Lets begin from the beginning, so to speak and see if we
can  proceed in an orderly manner to democratically elect a moderator with votes
from  all of the 1000 or so listees having an opportunity to vote on the
matter. Is  there a cyber-friendly method of using something akin to "Robert's
Rules of  Order" to facilitate an effective choice for this very important and
formative point in the list's evolution?

In a message dated 1/14/2009 12:28:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
insyncro@YAHOO.COM writes:

Please  don't be sorry.
This needs to talked about and something done about  it.
We have lost many knowledgeable listees due to no or weak  moderation.

This is the Vanagon list.
I vote for just Vanagon  content.
NVC gets put into a separate folder on my computer and I check it  about once
every two weeks.
The size of the folder grows far to quickily  IMHO.

I belong to over 30 groups and this particular group is the only  one with
such issues occuring as frequently as they do.
Other lists ban  "non content" posters after one warning.
Any finger pointing or bad  mouthing ends with all parties removed from the
list.

These lists are  excellent for sharing info.
I find myself using pmail far more than ever  now.
This is unfortunate for the lurkers.
Speak up people or we may  loose more and more of the the listees with true
experience and the answers  needed.

How about coming up with a list of likely canidates and having  a  vote?

dylan

________________________________
From:  Michael Sullivan <sandwichhead@GMAIL.COM>
To:  vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:22:41  AM
Subject: Re: Vanagon List Moderator

Sorry to start this thread,  guys.

On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 10:02 AM, pickle vanagon
<greenvanagon@gmail.com>wrote:

> Unfortunately, I think it is  clear that this list does require a moderator.
> Recently, some messages  have been downright spam.  I think if you were
> going
> to  be the moderator, you would need to be prepared to err on the side of
>  caution in your own posts for that period.  It would not look good if  the
> moderator was responsible for some of the questionable emails on  the
> list---even if they are a little bit related to  vanagons.
>
> -Wes
>
> On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 7:41  AM, BenT . <syncro@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >  Robert,
> >
> > Let clarify my point. I do not necessarily  want THE job. However, I would
> > like the job done. So far nobody  has stepped up to the plate. Picking a
> > moderator from a "show of  hands" is not exactly my idea. That was Jim's.
> > Though I think he  is looking more for opinions on whether any moderating
> is
> >  even necessary. I moderate a few other groups now. So far we do not  have
> the
> > sort of issues we have here or even the type of  constraint in more
> tightly
> > controlled groups.
>  >
> > For the record, you might notice that most of my jesting w/  Mike Miller
> is
> > usually related to some Vanagon themed  activity. For example, the recent
> > postings about burning things  at the beach is about activities for
> > Burningvan this Saturday. We  have found in the past that friendly banter
> on
> > the List  just before the event results in improved attendance.
> >
>  > Thanks for your opinion. I hope this thread can start us back on the
road
> > of sanity or insanity as the case may be. At the rate that  things were
> going
> > last week, we were going everywhere w/o  clear direction.
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> >  BenT
> >
> >
> >
> > ------Original  Message------
> > From: Robert Fisher
> > Sender: Vanagon  Mailing List
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > ReplyTo:  Robert Fisher
> > Sent: Jan 14, 2009 3:52 AM
> > Subject:  Re: Vanagon List Moderator
> >
> > --snip--
> >  Anyway, please share our thoughts about this. Pmail if necessary.
> >  --snip--
> >
> > Two thoughts came immediately to mind: The  first was 'Jonas's First Law
> of
> > electoral politics': What  disqualifies a person for the leader's job is
> > that
> >  he or she wants it.
> >
> > The second was about those  occasional but lengthy barrages of non-vanagon
> > related inside  jokes that you and Mike Miller indulge in, especially
> around
>  > this time of year. Talk about wearing out the delete key.
>  >
> > I have nothing against you personally but I don't think that  picking from
> a
> > show of hands is the way to go about  this.
> >
> > If we are going to have a moderator (and we  should probably have a
> > moderator) I'd be inclined to have a  slightly more formalized structure
> in
> > the form of an  elected council or board (of say, nine people) who would
> >  then
> > appoint a moderator and an 'assistant moderator' (as a  standby/fill-in)
> > from
> > amongst themselves; those two  individuals would then be disqualified from
> > being the head of  council or board chair (*). This council would also set
> > policy  (as in the charter) and perform various other administrative
> >  functions that you find in most large human organizations.
>  >
> > The problem with even benevolent dictatorships, as was  demonstrated so
> > clearly with Jim, is that they inevitably  generate resentment in both the
> > governor and the governed. I  think that recreating that situation is just
> > begging for more of  the same problems down the road. Having a small
> > representative  body should take a good deal of that pressure off of the
> >  individual moderating. On the other hand, if he or she screwed up they
>  > would
> > have the ability to can them if necessary, which isn't  possible with
> person
> > holding all the keys. (See *  above.)
> >
> > Cya,
> > Robert
>  >
> >
> > Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>  >
>

--
Michael in San Antonio
91GL AT  'Gringo'

**************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's
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