I guess there really could be an age gap. I am much younger than John, only in my sixties, and I prefer tight control.

Tom F.

--- On Fri, 1/16/09, John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET> wrote:

> From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
> Subject: Re: Vanagon List Moderator-let's get things underway!
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Friday, January 16, 2009, 1:13 AM
> Mike S wrote:
> > At 10:52 AM 1/15/2009, John Rodgers wrote...
> >>  It there any real need to move up to a
> :"Moderated" level now?
> >
> > Well, there are those who top-post, and consequently
> quote multiple
> > levels of prior posts, with no effect other than to
> consume bandwidth
> > and storage.
> >
> > I have no problem with off-topic posts, provided they
> are given a
> > proper subject line, so they can be filtered, either
> by a participant's
> > email agent, or by the list server itself.
> >
> Some things need cleaning up, but mostly I would like to
> see the [NVC]
> become standard fair for off topic subjects. And to see
> Frydaye Follies
> become a permanent part of the scene. What I fear is the
> degradation of
> the sense of community by over restrictive rules and
> actions. The [NVC]
> works for me. And I confess to often asking [NVC] questions
> of the The
> List membership. It is such a wealth of information it
> seems a waste not
> to put it to use, even on [NVC] stuff at times. It sure has
> helped me in
> other areas of life besides strictly Vanagon things. I
> would be more
> than a bit lost not being able to communicate with such a
> great bunch of
> folks about other things. In my view, there isn't
> another group out
> there quite like this one. So allowing [NVC] for me is
> crucial.  It just
> needs to be marked as such so that it can easily be
> filtered or deleted.
> There are some good things that come across the list that
> are important
> and even enrich our lives but are definitely [NVC], so I
> have no problem
> with [NVC] myself, it just needs to become a standard that
> any [NVC]
> stuff is marked as such.
>
> As for "Moderators" as opposed to
> "Administrators" I would go very slow
> on that one. Not done right, it can wreak havoc. There will
> be a lot of
> people that will quit and leave the list, and, fact is, we
> aren't that
> big. We need all we can hold onto that are interested in
> Vanagons. As
> these machines age, we will suffer more and more attrition.
> And there is
> going to be some attrition due to aging list members.
> I'm 70 years old,
> and I'm not the only one. There are those members older
> than me and
> there are one or two that are older than dirt itself.  One
> day, and it's
> not far off for those over 70, we won't be here to
> participate. And
> there will be more and more that drop  out over time as the
> people and
> the vehicles wear out to the point repair and replacement
> aren't
> possible. But frankly I'm glad to have found a
> "community" with
> Vanagons, and I hope to hi heaven it doesn't turn into
> some very dry
> all-techie sort of list. There are plenty of those out
> there.
>
> By the way, it would be interesting to compare the ages of
> those pushing
> for tight control and those not . Life experience certainly
> colors our
> points of view.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver