Just one more bit of praise for Jim and his efforts to keep this going and one for all the people who post here. Every time I look elsewhere there seems to be anger,attitude and bickering, but not here. There is a certain level of respect and tolerance for other opinions and a general harmony. I find it very unusual in todays world to have such a pleasant place to ask questions and share each other's passion.
~Mike~ On Jan 12, 6:36 am, Ray Shine <r.sh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Agreed! Great list! I read it often. I also use it a lot to "stay > supplied." > I have this list to thank for the purchase from list members of two bicycles, > several drawers full of yet-to-be-used/applied parts and accessories, and a > rack > of tires. I have no doubt that if my wife could figure out a way to apply > parental controls to this forum, I'd be entirely restricted by now. > > ________________________________ > From: "Allingham II, Thomas J" <thomas.alling...@skadden.com> > To: "rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com" <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Wed, January 12, 2011 6:17:05 AM > Subject: RE: [RBW] Re: State of the List Report - January 2011 > > Jim: > > What John (and others) said -- it's one of the small but important pleasures > of > my day to read all of the posts and keep up with folks I feel like I've gotten > to know through this list. And they are people worth getting to know! Thanks > again. > > Tom > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com > > [mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Bennett > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 9:04 AM > To: RBW Owners Bunch > Subject: [RBW] Re: State of the List Report - January 2011 > > As always, Jim, we're appreciative of all the work it takes to administer a > list > like this. I know, because we tried. You make it seem effortless, but I know > from personal experience that it is not. > In fact, it's quite the opposite. > > Thank you, again, > > John & everyone at RBW HQ > Walnut Creek 96, Calif. > > On Jan 10, 2:33 pm, CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > State of the Rivendell Bicycle Works Owner's Bunch Mailing List > > ============================ January 2011 - #11 > > ============================ > > > We're solidly in the center of winter - although those of you who are > > enjoying high summer in the southern hemisphere will just have to imagine. > > For the 250 or so who have come onboard the group in the last half a > > year, this please accept a slightly belated "Welcome!" Hopefully, > > you've enjoyed the discussions, chimed in a bit on your own, and > > continued to make this group vital and vibrant. > > > It has been very gratifying to watch this list mature. As I've > > mentioned to some long-time members privately, I'm both excited and > > concerned about the growth of this group. I've tried to take a little more > > of > >a "hands-off" > > approach in terms of commenting as an admin, and had planned on no > > more than quarterly "State Of The List Reports". > > > For the newer members, I use this message as a reminder of some of the > > basic tenets of the list, to highlight changes and trends on the list > > and various websites, and to speak generally about the RBW group. In > > the beginning, since this group had picked up the pieces from another > > list, it seemed appropriate to actively remind folks about the tenor > > and tenets of the group. > > > As we've grown, the most important aspect of this group - the tone > > between us - has remained extremely civil. The few muckrakers who > > cropped up seem to have moved on and this group has maintained its respect > > for > >one another. > > I think we all understand the difficulty of transmitting humor or mood > > over a text-based medium, and want to say again how nice it is to be > > among people who think about what they post and aren't afraid to > > reread before hitting the "send" button. > > > An interesting statistic is that even though we've added a number of > > new members, the traffic has actually subsided from the peaks of early > > last year. I've been trying to keep the phrase "Say more. Post less." > > firmly in mind before committing a post to the group. Those of you > > who are also members of the iBob list probably know what I'm getting at > > here. > > > For the newer members, it might be helpful for me to share one of the > > ways I think about this list - as a public house where ideas are > > easily shared between those who have arrived, everyone is present > > because they want to be, and passing through the doors means that "baggage" > > is > >left outside. > > > Of course, disruptions will periodically occur, which is kind of where > > I have to attempt a polite correction now and again. > > > At one point in list history, I commented publically about a general > > trend of topics to drift and generalize. It was interesting how many > > people thought they'd been the cause of my post, and in more than a > > few cases, I had to go back and re-read their contributions to the > > discussion, as most of them weren't really the ones which caused my comment. > > > I think it speaks highly for everyone that they had taken some of the > > assumption of cause, even if it wasn't the case. Let me use this space > > to thank you both for your contributions and your willingness to > > temper your posts. > > > At the current levels, if everyone just makes one post a month, that > > means > > 1590+ posts, or somewhere around 53 per day in an average month. > > > Just by staying on topic, we have the potential to generate a fair > > amount of traffic. One of the hallmarks of this list has been a very > > high signal to noise ratio. It's solid information from the people > > using and thinking about the items. > > > That means that a lot of info can be found in the archives, and it > > seems that the google archive search issues have fixed themselves, so > > that should be a decent resource. So, if a member asks something that > > was covered in a previous, pertinent thread, and you recall having > > participated in that thread, it may be easier for you to track down and > > share > >the thread link. > > Or not. I know I've repeated myself more than a few times over the years. > > > It's important to remember that if you are tagging your post "OT" or > > "Off Topic", then it doesn't belong on this list. > > > Tone is always a concern in my mind. One of the things that happens > > almost every year on other lists is a cantankerousness that escalates > > into real nastiness. It's typically mid-to-late February or early > > March - a definite stir-crazyness manifesting. It's too easy to be > > brusque, as well as take umbrage during that time of year. > > > My view is simple: life is too short. If you can't stay positive or > > at least polite, it's time to put down the keyboard and take a break. > > We all get enough guff in our everyday existence that we don't need to > > add to it here. > > > As I've said before, disagreement is expected. There's no way we will > > all come to the same conclusion about anything, and I think it would > > be a more boring world if we did. But, here, under this roof, we agree > > to disagree with respect for one another. > > > To finish, I'll repeat what I said in the last SOTLR - it is important > > as we grow to honor the relatively narrow focus of this group, even > > though it's tempting to have more general topics discussed here. > > Clearly, it's a bit of an imperfect border, but one which we've largely > >maintained. > > > Letting discussions end as they creep toward more general topics, not > > having to have the last comment (or needing to "win" the argument) > > and, above all, maintaining the respect for one another within the > > group is what makes this list special. > > > As always, thanks again for contributing to or simply enjoying the > > discussions. > > > ============================ > > Projects and Features > > ============================ > > > Cyclofiend Gallery Updates: > > This SOTLR is probably all the free time I'll get between now and the > > end of January, so I won't be updating the Cyclofiend Galleries unless > > I'm up late on too much strong coffee or luck out a bit. I know a > > number of list members have sent in bicycles, and I again thank you > > for your patience. If you keep your eye on my Gallery-specific blog, new > >postings will be announced here: > > >http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com > > > PDF Archive: > > I started an archive of the RBW-published PDF's which appear > > sparodically via the "Knothole" or "News" blogs on the rbw site - > > >http://cyclofiend.com/rbw/pdf > > > Tall Fellers Union: > > There was a thread of late among the vertically enhanced of the list. > > A low whistle which brought them from the underbrush. I think it's > > fantastic that has manifested, and it will certainly give voice to the > > lankier > >among us. > > That may help the RBW folks in knowing how many larger sizes to > > consider, as well as making for a truly impressive group ride, when > > and if that occurs. I hope that you keep track of yourselves on the > > list as we move forward, and it's certainly appropriate to use "TALL" > > or something in the subject line on subjects more size specific. There > > was a mention of a sub-group, but as long as the topic is RBW-specific, it > > more > >than fits in the tent here. > > > Eastern Developments: > > As I've posted, I love to see the development of RBW events in various > > spots around the country and world. Riv's in Thailand, East Coast > > Riv's... all good. A healthy and diverse regionalism is a good thing. Keep > > it > >up. > > > Alternative RBW Streams and Info > > ---------------------------- > > The Cyclofiend.com RBW pages are here: > > >http://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw > > > It gets updated with various happenings, scans, images and such that > > get found in the news and info flow. > > > I did create a "Rivendell Bicycle Owners Bunch on Facebook" page back > > in the beginning of 2009 - > > >http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=127003115064 > > > Please note: I'm certainly not a Facebook* fan at all, and honestly > > don't check in that regularly with the group, and in no way do I see > > it as a replacement for this group. As I mentioned, I finally signed > > up a while ago for unrelated-to-bicycle reasons, and had bumped into > > quite a few folks there. It seemed like it might be a useful platform > > for coordinating rides in specific areas or for more quick-pinging type of > >communications. > > > *In fact, I've more or less stayed away. You can and should search > > about previous and ongoing Facebook > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
