Okay, I will put in my little piece too. I've been with the group for a few years now, and was recommended to join after I bought my CS generator. It has not been a disappointment. Mike is a great moderator. It's nice to feel that pretty much any subject can be raised, that there isn't someone in charge who has a strong opinion that weeds out any comments that don't fall in line with his own ideas. He will act behind the scenes if necessary, though. And people really helped me get the confidence with my CS making.
We have lost some great members along the way, people in practice or with experience, who had very useful input. And new members have come along. My impression - and I haven't been keeping any vigorous survey - is that while people may join and inject a new feel foreign to the existing group for a while, they do in time get a feel for the group and kind of fit in. I can't keep up with every post all the time, so go largely by the subject lines. So if you don't look after your subject lines appropriately, you may not get read. But at least you got your comment off your chest, and you are not taking up valuable archives space, because there aren't any archives. And if anyone was consistently cross they would tend not to get read. Some groups are tightly moderated and done well and are useful, with watchful eyes kindly reminding transgressors of the rules, the manners, the subject lines, whatever. Some are not so much moderated as censored, so your comment may not even appear. This group must be just about the most comfortable there is. "Out there" in forum land there are some nasty characters who have to speak contemptuously of others' opinions in one way or another like some sort of internet bullies. We seem to be a pretty friendly bunch, pretty well mannered at least. The character and comments vary over time, as people come and go, and people who came to learn about CS and succeeded stay to chat about other things too. I think this is the group where I have had the biggest input on the widest range of subjects, and I've appreciated it. It has led me up many different paths, and some of you have consistently turned in posts so valuable you have your own box where your posts get preserved. Others of you have your posts forwarded to my private little share-circle of health buddies around the world, which is the equivalent of having a gold star stuck on your essay; these posts are also preserved. And as various ones remind us - the delete button works for when the sheer weight of input gets too much. Every now and then I think to myself that I really need to thin out my groups. But I know I will stick to my CS group. Daddybob has a policy whereby even if he is not active on a group, he remains a member and looks in every now and then. That's kind of what I do now - when a group gets less interesting, or if I feel the weight of posts too great, I set my preferences to no mail so that I can look in on the archives from time to time, or start to receive the mail again, and can still access any files they may have. Some groups I don't go "no mail" on are the Rife forum, microelectricity, Frex, Crock Lakhovsky and now DMSO (again). And the silver list of course. Thanks Mike. Speaking for myself. Rowena
