Hi Folks- I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the significant work of a few people who helped to transition Cobirds from Net Atlantic to Google Groups.
First of all, we owe a big THANK YOU to Greg Pasquariello, who had the foresight to create a Cobirds archive on Google Groups in 2006. Not only did this reserve our Cobirds name, but it began archiving all of our messages for free within the easily-searched confines of Google. When we began to look at money-saving options for hosting our list, Greg graciously agreed to his group's role being upgraded from an archive to the list server. Thanks, Greg! We really owe Mark Peterson thanks in so many ways, but in this case for his hard work that got us fully switched to Google Groups. Our Lyris-based list on Net Atlantic had just gotten to be too expensive and we weren't getting the performance we needed out of it, particularly on the archival and administrative ends. Additionally, dozens of our subscribers were being unsubscribed from the list each month for no apparent reason, and there seemed to be no way for Mark to prevent it, creating continuous undue work for him getting people re-subscribed. In the past few months I've noticed that some other state lists I follow have made server changes for various reasons, so we aren't alone in the need to change. As you've seen from Mark's status-updating posts, the switch didn't turn out to be as easy for him as he'd hoped, and he had to individually approve subscribers to the new group instead of doing a bulk switch like we had hoped. Mark has also worked out a some technical issues with subscribers using a couple of email providers. He has offered to help any individual needing to get switched over, and the process appears to be working. Thanks again, Mark! Rachel Hopper also has been instrumental in the process, establishing and maintaining our Lyris-based list on Net Atlantic that served us so well for so many years. When we realized that a new system was needed, she researched alternatives with Mark and helped him behind the scenes on the transition. I got word today from Rachel that our service with Net Atlantic has officially ended- we'll be getting a final pro-rated invoice for January and that will be our final obligation to them. Thanks, Rachel! If you get this message in your in-box, then obviously you've succeeded in making the transition. If you are reading this on http://BirdingOnThe.Net or http://Surfbirds.com, or if someone forwarded this to you (please distribute to any potentially interested party), joining the group is easy. Just link over to http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en and follow the link near the top right to "apply for group membership." This web page also lets you manage your subscription options (using the "edit my membership" link that appears on the right side of the page.) You will need a free Google account to access these features, but you don't need to create a Gmail account (you can use whatever email you want.) If you don't want a Google account, you can still receive Cobirds but you won't have access to the account management tools. Again, take Mark up on his offer to help with technical assistance if you are having trouble (or ask me- I'll help if I can and if I can't help I'll forward your concern to Mark.) If you haven't had the chance, please take a few minutes to review the rules of the road (http://cfo-link.org/birding/COBirds_rules.php) for using the list. We're on a long run of great posts and list civility and I'd hope this will continue to be the case- thanks, everyone. I'm confident that the newest iteration of Cobirds will serve the Colorado birding community well (not to mention those who lurk beyond our borders)- looking forward to everyone's contributions to the list! Enjoy- Bill Schmoker, Longmont ______________________ • Bill Schmoker • ______________________ http://schmoker.org http://brdpics.blogspot.com [email protected] 720/201-5749 ______________________ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
