Here is the more detailed version of the "Quickstart to Tango-A" announcement last week. Note also the following changes since that version:
1. Special topic "ADMIN:" added for announcements like this by the list administrators only (so you can safely unset the "MISC" topic if you want to without missing administrative announcements). The "ADMIN:" topic has automatically been added for all members (and will be added automatically for all new members), but if you are changing your topics, you should make sure not to unset ADMIN: accidentally! (Please don't use the ADMIN: topic to send mail TO the administrator--that address is still [email protected].) 2. The scope of Tango-A has been enlarged slightly to include "Where can I dance Tango in <some city>?" type of questions, as this is a "natural" for Tango-A, being geography specific. The file below is one of two files that all new subscribers to Tango-A receive (the second one, containing mostly logistics on how to subscribe and unsubscribe to the list, set options, etc., will also be sent out to this list shortly). Shahrukh P.S. Thanks for all the nice comments and suggestions on Tango-A. Suggestions are always welcomed at [email protected] ======================================================= Subject: Participation rules and guidelines for Tango-A ********************************************************************* NOTE: You are receiving this file as a result of your subscribing to the Tango-A list (Announcements of Argentine Tango events worldwide). There is another complementary list TANGO-L which is for more general DISCUSSION of the Argentine Tango. You may also want to subscribe to that list, which you do by sending e-mail to <[email protected]> with the message subscribe tango-L Firstname Lastname in the body of the message (replacing "Firstname Lastname" with your actual first and last names). ********************************************************************* PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING USAGE GUIDELINES FOR THE TANGO-A LIST! If you are familiar with the Tango-L rules, note that Tango-A is more liberal with respect to posting of local announcements--in fact, that is the primary purpose of Tango-A. These guidelines are intended to reflect the general interests of the subscribers and may be modified as the list evolves--you may send your comments to <[email protected]>. CONTENTS ======== 1. Nature of Postings 2. Use of Geographical Topics 3. Followups to Announcements 4. Guidelines for Frequency of Postings 5. Content of Postings 6. Formatting of Postings 7. Relationship to other local lists 8. Usage Policy 1. Nature of Postings --------------------- Tango-A is intended for Announcements of Tango events worldwide. General-interest discussion of Tango that are not event-specific are probably generally more appropriate on Tango-L. (If you have not subscribed to Tango-L, you may do so by sending e-mail to <[email protected]> with the message subscribe tango-L Firstname Lastname in the body of the message (and nothing else).) These events could include Tango workshops or lessons, Tango weeks or weekends, Milongas, classes, etc. Information on Tango events that have interest only to a local geographical area are explicitly permitted. In this regard, Tango-A complements Tango-L, since the latter discourages announcements of local events owing to its more global scope. Thus, ARTICLES SHOULD NOT BE CROSS-POSTED TO BOTH TANGO-A AND TANGO-L, since they are almost always more appropriate on one or the other. Since Tango-A is geographically organized (see below), postings on "Where can I dance Tango in <some city>?" are also more appropriate on Tango-A than on Tango-L (put a question mark at the end of the "Subject" in this case to help readers identify it as a query). Anything that is NOT directly related to Tango is not appropriate for Tango-A (or Tango-L). This includes commentary (positive or negative) about how others post. 2. Use of Geographical Topics ----------------------------- Tango-A uses the "topics" feature of listserv to provide the ability effectively to have several sublists by geographical area. It is important that you understand how these work since (a) all postings need to specify the geographical area they apply to, and (b) you will probably want to customize the topics you subscribe to so that you will only receive announcements for the areas of interest to you (although you are welcome to subscribe to all topics if you are interested). All postings MUST specify as its topic the ONE geographical area it applies to. If the event is close to a border between areas, it may specify TWO such areas. Note that this does not limit your potential audience since those who are interested in areas outside their "home" area are free to subscribe to the topics corresponding to all the areas that interest them, while still only subscribing to one list. (By default, new subscribers are subscribed to all topics.) The following topics have been defined, corresponding to the geographical areas indicated. (The divisions have been selected based on a combination of criteria including level of Tango activity and "community of interest" consideration, and may be revised based on usage, if a different division proves to be superior.) SA: South America. NA-E: Eastern North America (essentially areas in the Eastern and Atlantic time zones) NA-C: Central North America (essentially areas in the Central and Mountain time zones) NA-W: Western North America (essentially areas in the Pacific Time zone) EU-W: Western Europe. EU-E: Eastern Europe. AASP: Asia, Africa and South Pacific. MISC: In addition, a MISC topic exists, that should only be used when there is no fit for any of the other topics, i.e., when it is an announcement that, by its nature is not geographically oriented. E.g., announcement of a new source for purchase of Tango music on the Internet. ADMIN: This is a special topic for use for postings by the administrator only, for important administrative information about Tango-A. *** IMPORTANT *** If you ever change the topics your are subscribed to, make sure that you never remove the ADMIN topic as you could miss the infrequent but important administrative messages! Topics are specified by preceding the subject line with the topic name followed by a colon. E.g., Subject: NA-E: New Milonga every 2nd Sunday in New York City In the case of two topics, you would specify both topics separated by a comma. E.g, Subject: NA-E,EU-W: Mid-air transatlantic Tango on Air Tango flights NOTE: If no topics are used (or if the colon is omitted), the postings will not go to any list members, so please make sure to specify the appropriate topic in the correct format. SETTING UP OF TOPICS FOR SUBSCRIBERS ------------------------------------ [The preceding paragraphs describe setting the topic when you SUBMIT an article to the list; the following paragraphs specify how you set the topics you want to RECEIVE.] - By default you are subcribed to all topics, so you will get all mail to Tango-A as long as the subject is preceded by one of the defined topics: SA, NA-E, NA-C, NA-W, EU-W, EU-E, AASP, MISC, ADMIN - You may remove or add back topics by using the command: set tango-A topics: +topicname -topicname ... OR set tango-A topics: topicname1 topicname2 ... The first form adds (+) or removes (-) the specified topic(s) and the second form (without + or -) sets all your topics to the specified list. E.g., to remove South America from your current topics list, you could use: set tango-A topics: -SA and to add it back you could use: set tango-A topics: +SA It is generally easiest just to specify all the topics you want explicitly as in the second form: set tango-A topics: NA-E NA-C NA-W EU-W EU-E AASP ADMIN IMPORTANT: If you are using this form, you should ALWAYS include the "ADMIN" topic in the list to make sure that you don't miss the infrequent but important administrative announcements about list operation.a - IMPORTANT: Note that if you subscribe to the "digest" form of the list (where you receive one e-mail per day with all postings during the day), the topics you set are IGNORED and you will always get all the postings. This is because LISTSERV only creates one digest per day of all messages. - If you need to check with topics you are subscribed to (or your other options, for that matter), you can do so by sending the command query tango-A - All commands (set, query, subscribe, unsubscribe, ...) should be sent in the BODY of an e-mail message to <[email protected]>. There should be nothing else in the message (no signature files, etc.) as that may confuse the command processor. 3. Followups to Announcements ----------------------------- Followups to announcements that are directly pertinent to the original event, are informative in nature and of general interest to the same group that the original announcement was directed towards may also be made to tango-A. Note that listserv will recognize the format: Subject: Re: NA-W: Your subject here as belonging to topics "NA-W" even though it is preceded by "Re:". Other formats for replies may not be supported, so please make sure your reply goes out in the above format. 4. Guidelines for Frequency of Postings --------------------------------------- To avoid excessive volume and repetitious information, the following are the recommended maximum frequencies for postings on tango-A. One-time special events: One advance posting + 1 reminder close to the date. Additional postings may be made for major changes (e.g., a cancellation). One-time major special events (e.g., Tango congresses of 1 week or longer). Up to 4 postings as more details are available and as reminders. Additional postings for unexpected changes (cancellations, etc.). Regular Monthly events: Once in 3 months (or when there is a change) Regular Weekly events: Once in 2 months (or when there is a change) Start of multi-week class sessions: Once per month (or for changes or updates) Announcements other than forthcoming events: (a) An announcement that is by its nature 1-time but doesn't fall into the category of a forthcoming event (e.g., announcement of a new Tango research project) may, of course, be announced when it occurs or at the appropriate time. (b) Announcement of a regular or permanent Tango resource (e.g., source of Tango music) may be made once every 3 months, or if there is a significant change (change of address, phone number to order, etc.). 5. Content of postings ---------------------- In addition to the information needed for list members to attend the events in question, all announcement postings should contain the following information: Full name of poster (pseudonyms may not be used) Name of organization Telephone number of poster or organization (optional if unaffiliated with the organization) Relationship of poster to event (organizer, friend of organizer, unaffiliated member of local Tango community, etc.) ("Where can I go dancing in <city>?" postings do not need to contain the above information.) Tango-A is primarily for postings on Tango events and secondarily for updates on those events and for inquiries on where one can find Tango in particular regions of the world. Objective review of an event, or pertinent and informative review of teachers are permitted; however, "bashing" of an event or a teacher (e.g., by a competing organizer, or someone acting on behalf of a competing organizer), is not permitted. In all cases, announcements and followups should stick to being informative. Brief biographical information on teachers (in the case of a class or workshop) are fine, but no "marketing hype," please. (You may include a link to a web page that has additional information, more verbose details on detailed timing and description of workshops, etc., if you wish.) 6. Formatting of Postings ------------------------- For maximum compatibility of your messages with the mailers of list members, and to minimize extraneous information, please observe the following: - Plaintext formatting (no HTML) - No attachments (including V-Card and MS Exchange attachments) - No "quoted printable" formatting except for accent marks (mainly, this means that you should compose your message in a plain text editor and not cut and paste it from a word processor, which is responsible for the "=" signs you often see at the end of each line). Some mailers will also add these characters if your outgoing mail exceeds 72 characters per line! - Limit your signature file to 3 lines. - Don't quote the entire message you are responding to (just the few lines that are truly directly pertinent to your response). 7. Relationship to other local lists ------------------------------------ Lists for local communities serve a useful community-building function in addition to being a resource since these lists often serve just one city. Where local lists exists, members of those communities are encouraged to continue to use them, and also encouraged to cross-post announcements to Tango-A as appropriate. 8. Usage Policy (i.e., fine print) ---------------------------------- All members of the Tango community worldwide are invited to join Tango-A as guests of the list maintainers and the sponsoring organization, subject to their agreement to observe the list rules, as they exist at the time, and as they may be modified from time to time. List members' privileges on participating in Tango-A may be limited, suspended or eliminated, at the sole discretion of the list administrators or sponsoring organization, or person(s) delegate by them, for any actions inconsistent with these list rules or the spirit of these rules, or actions that may jeopardize the computer facilities or networks supporting this list or those of its other members. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the operation of Tango-A, please send e-mail to <[email protected]>.
