The Human Awareness Institute
Workshopper Mailing Lists

East Coast Email List Guidelines

This is general information and guidelines for the East Coast HAI Participant Email Lists.  Please read them thoroughly and bookmark the url for future reference.

Quick links:

THE LISTS AND THEIR PURPOSE

• northeast@hai.org is for general discussion, personal shares, responses, etc. -- that is, anything not counter to the guidelines below.  It is often referred to as the 'discuss' list.
  
• northeast-announce@hai.org is for brief announcements -- like social events, items wanted or for sale, rides wanted or available, etc. by list members.  It is often referred to as the 'announce' list.
  

List membership is open to any participant who has completed a HAI Level 1 workshop anywhere in the world.

THE ANNOUNCE LIST

• This list is only for announcements, not discussion, personal shares, humor, or any kind of forwarded items.
•  Post on behalf of yourself only. Announcements may not be posted on behalf on someone other than the list member who sends the message. To be eligible for the list, an announcement should use "I" statements to describe the involvement of the list member in the event being announce. Events in which the list member is not involved are not eligible for the list. The exception is that you may post a request seeking others to join you in attending an event. Announcements may request replies or other contact to the sender of the announcement, not to a third party.
• Ads for the list member's own commercial activites and events may be posted to the announce list and are subject to the following additional policies:

1. Any service, retail or wholesale product, or marketable skills. (Discounts for HAI Workshoppers are encouraged)
2. Only on behalf of the list member posting the message.
3. Announcement are limited to ONCE EVERY 30 DAYS or less.
   
4. All advertisements will have [Ad]: in the subject.
5. The size of the ad will be less than 500 words.
6. A pointer to a web site with more information is encouraged.
7. A single short paragraph reminder may be submitted within 7 days of the event.

• Subject: Use a descriptive subject heading so that readers will be able to decide quickly whether the message is of interest to them. For example: "Need help moving Saturday" is more effective than "Help!"

• Replies to previous announcements
• Repeats or quotations of previous announcements
• Follow-ups within a short period of time.  (Thus it is a good idea to be sure that the initial announcement is complete and correct.)
• Announcements of events in which the sender is not involved.
• Messages forwarded from elsewhere on the internet.
• Jokes, poems, articles, personal shares, etc.

WHICH LIST SHOULD I SUBSCRIBE TO?

Note that your subscription to either list can be set to "digest", and that will cause messages to be packed together and sent only about once a day.  Some people prefer this to further reduce the number of incoming messages.  You can select 'digest delivery' when you subscribe or at any later time.  

Note also that posts to both the announce and discuss lists are available via a web browser for approximately two weeks after being posted.  Some subscribers find this more convenient than the digest mailings as the messages may be displayed by date, by subject or thread, or by sender.  The links for this "archive" are northeast-announce archive and northeast-discuss archive.  Access to the list archive is limited to list subscribers, and so your personal password is needed.  You can request that it be emailed to you at the bottom of this page.

CHANGING BETWEEN 'ANNOUNCE' AND 'DISCUSS'

DISCUSS LIST GUIDELINES

Extended discussions about subjects unrelated to the themes of HAI workshop are off-topic. Members of the list have many and varied interests -- from archeology to zoology and all of the usual logistics of daily life -- but we request that such topics be taken off-list and discussed elsewhere among those interested.  We make this request because, although everyone has a 'delete key', the tenor of any list is affected by the threads that appear on it, and the perception of newcomers especially as to what the list is about can change if off-topic discussions become too frequent.

Material not created by you is generally off-topic, whether forwarded from elsewhere on the internet, copied from books, magazines, etc.  This especially includes jokes, as there is a separate list for "HAI Humor" (not sponsored by HAI).  Sharing a story, poem, etc. from another author is appropriate if you include your own personal comments as to the meaning and value it has for you, it's impact on your outlook, etc.  

• Any forwarded message for which you do not know the original source or which says something like "send this to everyone you know" should NOT be posted to the list, even if it claims to be "urgent" such as a "virus warning", "sick child appeal", or the like. These are often hoaxes, obsolete, etc., and not what they purport to be. If you really think some such message may be valid, please send it to the HAI mailcheck address for validation before sending it to the list.
  
• Petitions.  Many are bogus and they are always ignored by the intended target. 
  
• Calls to action for political or other causes.
  
• Computer and email virus warnings.  While such problems have occured frequently in recent years, the warnings circulated in email are usually bogus or ill-informed.  There are plenty of other sources on the internet for valid news on these issues.

• LGS: Short for "Large Group Share".  This flags a post similar in tone to one you might make in front of the room at a workshop.  An LGS post is not inviting responses in the form of advise, suggestions, alternate viewpoints, etc. unless explicitly requested.  As with a large group share at a workshop, the appropriate response is the equivalent of the "I love you" sign if you feel so moved.
• AD: Indicates an advertisement.  Note that advertisements are only appropriate on the announce list and only in accordance with the policies above.
• Polit: Item involving any kind of political activism, e.g. political/social issue being raised, announcement of event with political/social issue topics or themes.  Note: 'political' posts may or may not be appropriate for the discuss list depending on the nature of the post.  Many HAI grads care deeply about issues which, while considered 'political', impact our lives, friends, families, etc.  Thus, it is appropriate to share about these issues following the same guidelines as for other shares: share using "I" statements, and about your own experiences and beliefs.  Avoid any agenda to change anyone else's mind or to argue about any point.  If you reply to such as post, share your own experiences, perspectives, etc. but avoid arguing, attacking, or making-wrong the previous poster.

Unflagged posts are assumed to be general discussion or announcements as appropriate to the list.

Using the above, you would enter a subject line for a new post as in the following examples:

• Subject: Need female gender balance for Level 5
• Subject: PC with Pentium II 300 MHz for sale
• Subject: Have house to share in Somerville
• Subject: I want a cuddle buddy
• Subject: Intro night next Tuesday
• Subject: Ad: Photographer Services Offered

• Subject: What I learned about Spirituality at Level 4 
• Subject: Why it is hard for me to accept love 
• Subject: Thanks for your support Barb
• Subject: Letting go of judgments

Note that you cannot reply to a message on the announce list. Announcements are not generally expected to begin a discussion thread. If you do want to comment on something posted on the announce list, you must address a new post to the discuss list.

Also, we request no discussion of the specifics of workshop exercises, and no mention of who else attended a workshop. You may self-disclose that you participated in a particular event, but describing or characterizing someone else's share at that event violates confidentiality.

PRECAUTIONS: Even though we ask for the confidentiality agreement above from all members, subscribers should be aware that internet email is inherently insecure. That is, email can be misdirected and/or intercepted and thus fall into the hands of someone not on the list. This applies to all internet email and is true because messages are forward among many computers between sender and receiver. Additionally, system operators at internet service providers have direct access to the mailboxes of all customers. Therefore, when posting to this list, please be aware that absolute confidentiality does not exist. Also, note that the list does not accept anonymous members nor offer any provision that would keep a member's name secret from other members.

CLOSED LIST: The list is closed, which means that the only people who can post to it are those who have subscribed and who are sending a message from the address which is subscribed. 

Bounce Messages and Troubleshooting

• "You are not a member of the list." - If you receive this auto-response and you believe you are a member of the list, it may be that you are trying to post from a different address than the one which is subscribed. If this is a new address that you want to continue using, go to the maillist page to change your address.  If not, switch your mail software so that you are posting from your subscribed address.
• "Matched filter rule." This response indicates that the post appears to violate one or more of the list policies.  These include "do not post" topics such as virus warnings; posts inappropriate for the list to which they are addresses (an ad to the discuss list); a reply to the announce list; etc.  If you can't figure out what the problem is, or believe the post should be accepted, forward it to the listowner with your question.
• "Too Large."  This indicates that the post exceeds the maximum size permitted for the list to which it was sent.  This may me than an attachment was included with the post, so that is the first thing to check for.  Another common problem on the discuss list is that too much quoted material from previous posts has been included.  In general, no more that a paragraph or two of a previous post need be quoted to establish context.
• "Post to moderated list."  This indicates that the subscriber or the list as a whole is moderated at that time.  The post will be cleared onto the list or returned to the sender after moderator review.  If returned to the sender, the reason for the rejection will be included.
• "Too many recipients." This indicates that there are too many other recipients showing on the "To:" or "Cc:" lines of the message besides the list address.  The announce list accepts no other recipients as cross-posting is strongly discouraged.  When replying to the discuss list, the best practice is to delete all addresses other than the list address from the "To:" and "Cc:" of the message.

Subscribing, Unsubscribing, and Changing List Options

Feedback is Invited and Welcome: In keeping with HAI principles, all listowners welcome contructive feedback on any and all aspects of list management and moderation.  Please email to northeast listowner.

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