Hi all, Good thread, and I agree with most of the comments made. Chris, I understand why some would take your response as harsh, but as the moderator of 3 other community-focused mailing lists, I also understand the tendency to pick up on anything promotional as "spam." It undermines the value of the list to other people to have spammers on it, and I get why you responded the way you did.
My thought on this is that there are a lot of people out there who simply do not know or understand how to interact properly with a community, particularly in a written space. Too often, especially when sending out a mass email, it's easy to say "me me me, promote promote promote" and hard to express genuine emotions or feelings about a subject. I think many of us in these sorts of written communities (forums, mailing lists, bulletin boards) have only learned the proper way to communicate via a series of trials and errors. It is really hard not to just go in and promote. With that said, I think the primary directive of this mailing list -- and one that prevents spam -- would be simply to: Listen (and ask questions) FIRST, and promote LATER. A lot of forums I'm on require some sort of time spent on the forum before self-promotion is allowed. This is to help develop an awareness. This isn't as easy on a mailing list. Having said that, those who are obviously trying to get into the coworking spirit should be allowed to do so. I think this email was an honest one. I also agree with Tara that rules should be posted clearly, and perhaps sent to the list on a monthly basis. (Mailman mailing list software lets you do that automatically, and put it in an email when new members sign up...I'd recommend both of those options if available in Google Groups.) -Erica On 9/24/07, Chris Messina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Coworking spaces don't spam their members or use bulk email to promote > themselves. > > If you're interesting in participating and contributing to the > community, we're more than welcome to hear from you; drive-by postings > to this list will be considered spam. > > I look forward to your feedback, and ask that you, in the future, you > refrain from posting self-promotional emails to the list without > balancing your correspondence with positive contributions to the > larger coworking community. > > Thanks, > > Chris > > On 9/24/07, My Day Office <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > My Day Office is now open in downtown Seattle. Tired of meeting with > > clients in coffee shops? Worn out running between the copy center, > > mailbox and notary? Finally a workplace that has it all in one > > place! From virtual offices to physical offices, My Day Office is > > where work happens. My Day Office offers meeting solutions with open > > work areas, private offices, and conference rooms; mailbox rentals; > > shipping services; fax, copy and printing; and full secretarial > > support with wifi and state of the art technology. Patrons may > > become members and enjoy substantially discounted fees on rentals and > > services. Costs are much lower than executive suites or other retail > > mailbox or copy centers. For more information on the products and > > services or to reserve a private office or conference room visit > > www.MyDayOffice.com. > > > > > > What makes us different? > > > > My Day office is a spacious and modern business center with expansive > > windows that provide plenty of ambient light and a contemporary decor > > with rich brown an blue tones. > > > > Our friendly staff can assist you with your paperwork, business plans, > > answering phone calls and shipping. > > > > > > A hot-house for up and coming entrepreneurs and great business minds, > > My Day Office offers a series of business workshops and networking > > events to give you the tools you need to take your business to the > > next level. My Day Office is conveniently located at Elliott & Broad > > across from the Spaghetti Factory and overlooks the Olympic Sculpture > > Park. > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Chris Messina > Citizen Provocateur & > Open Source Advocate-at-Large > Work: http://citizenagency.com > Blog: http://factoryjoe.com/blog > Cell: 412 225-1051 > IM: factoryjoe > This email is: [ ] bloggable [X] ask first [ ] private > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" 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/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
