From my being on the list since July 1995, there is nothing at all to
stop anyone posting anything that is lace related on "lace" and anything
else - within reason - on "lace chat". So reviews of lace books are
allowed on "lace", and often helpful to those who have no chance of
seeing them before deciding to buy.
Non lace subjects belong on chat, and cross posting to both lists is
discouraged as some people still pay to download, or have limits on the
amount they can download, so getting duplicate messages can cause
problems. For those not on chat - it isn't like the old days where there
were up to forty messages a day - far from it - today there have been
several following a link to a film clip of San Francisco before the 1906
earthquake... (fascinating), but frequently we go several days without
anything posted on chat at all. Rather than post off topic subjects on
lace, or cross post, maybe subscribe and come and join those of us on
chat? Sometimes threads start on topic and meander off (or vice versa) -
this is where being on both lists mean you can continue when it is moved
to the other, but please when replying delete the word and brackets
[lace] or [lace-chat] from the subject line - for those of us using
filters this helps the "moved" message to go in the right mailbox!
(Arachne's computer adds these tags to each message according to which
list it is addressed to).
The basic rule is not to blatantly advertise your own goods (or those
that you have a financial interest in) - so in the case of a book that
you want to tell everyone about, that is fine as long as you didn't
write or publish it! Suppliers are allowed to answer direct questions,
but obviously not go into great detail - so a "yes, we stock it" is
fine, but going into detail as to how much for can be done by private
email with the person interested.
Other than that, remember (particularly on chat where jokes are
circulated) that some of those reading may be children, and don't post
anything that could be regarded as offensive - ie avoid politics and
religion which are nearly always contentious subjects! (Though jokes on
chat that tar everyone with the same brush can be quite funny - it is
picking on one in particular that can cause upset). Remember that in an
international group, not everyone has the same sense of humour (there
were quite a few "wind-ups" in the early days - particularly over such
things as Marmite!). This is why Tamara (the Duchess - another long
story from the past) put on her "flame proof undies" - performing a very
valuable service of censoring those jokes that we weren't sure of,
before deciding whether they were fit for the whole list or only for
circulation on her list of those who would appreciate them.
There is an Arachne handbook, in two parts, I think updated around 2000
or so, which I've kept copies of - though some parts of it now may be
out of date - which gives a reasonable amount of guidance. I believe the
original idea was for the link to this to be circulated to all new
members - though whether this still happens I don't know. I can forward
it (as long as I can find it on this computer!) but don't all rush at
once!
The main thing from sixteen years' experience is that around
October/November we seem to have a "flame-fest" - it doesn't happen
every year, but it seems that once the headache of the kids being off
school (half term? or just the impending Christmas/winter holiday) kicks
in and the US start thinking about Thanksgiving dinners tempers can get
a little frayed, raw nerves get touched and bitchy posts sent - at which
point in the past some newcomers to the list have been put off. The
thing to remember is to bite your tongue and calm down before hitting
"send" if you find something upsets you at that time of year!
If you are not sure, email Avital and ask - but remember that she too
has a life, and may not be able to respond immediately :-)
To the other "long-in-the-tooth" Arachnes - have I missed anything?
--
Jane Partridge
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