> The Carag Forum e-mail list has about 50 members > after two years <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. We figure that > the only way to significantly grow the list would be to go door to door, > explain the list, and gather their opt-in e-mail addresses.
Kingfield's e-list is about 500 people. It is a one-way announcement list mostly, so the Kingfield Neighborhood Association can more effectively communicate with the neighborhood. However, it also lets residents communicate with KFNA. We got the first hundred or so members by accident, organizing around a hot-button transit initiative. Since then (about four years), we've steadily built membership through our newsletter and Web site and consistent organizing at every neighborhood event (Annual Meeting, Summer Cabaret, Farmers' Market, any public meeting in the neighborhood, etc.) It's like a long march; you have to be relentless and patient. One reason the list has steadily grown is that it's focused; people's in-boxed aren't overwhelmed, especially by non-Kingfield stuff, and they seem to like that. If you want to be on it, email me at any of my addresses. I need your name, address and phone. The last is in case your email address changes and you don't tell me - it's a moderate time-suck tracking people down (most still want to be on the list, but forget to tell us about the change). Like CARAG, we also have a two-way neighborhood discussion list of about 50 people. It has not been promoted much at all. I set it up on Yahoo Groups, but I don't recommend commercial services because their rules are rigid and ads turn people off. Good luck to Tom - in the short term, it only increases the diffusion of neighborhood-focused discussion, but since we haven't figured out (or had time to refine) the perfect neighborhood discussion forum, I welcome fresh attempts. I think it is important to disclose the list host's ties and ideological biases; in my experience, neighborhood-centered e-listers are easily turned off by commercial sponsors or stealth agendas. David Brauer Kingfield REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
