NEW: Discussion and personal shares listserv.
We have just announced the opening of a separate list for discussion
and
personal shares related to sexuality and spirituality. The
existing list will remain as the vehicle for announcements of community
activities and resources. All members of the existing list have
received an invitation to join the new list, and the invitation may be
accepted simply by replying to the invitation message or clicking a
link therein. No one will be automatically subscribed.
In the text below, the lists will be identified as either the announce list or the chat list in cases where different
policies apply to each.
BASSN LIST GUIDELINES
There are two lists, each with a different purpose. You
may subscribe to either or both lists.
Announce: We created the
BASSN listserve for the purpose of announcing BASSN
events. In addition, it serves as a forum for members of the community
to announce and promote other events and activities related to
sexuality and spirituality and therby build a strong and vibrant
sex-spirit
community in the Boston area through networking. Announce list
policies are designed to avoid excessive traffic volume so as to be
acceptable to the largest possible number of subscribers.
Chat: The chat list is
intended to help build community by providing a forum where we can
discuss topics related to sexuality and spirituality. This
especially includes sharing of personal experience, feelings,
questions, etc. We invite posts that speak from a place of
honesty and vulnerability, and we request that posts be received
accordingly. This is a forum to share your own opinions and
experience but without an agenda to change anyone else's opinion or to
debate the validity of anyone else's experience.
BASIC GUIDELINES
- You must be a member of the list to be eligible to post to
it. The list is intended to be a medium for sharing among a
community, not a group to be targeted for advertising.
- Use good email etiquette. This includes:
- Use an informative subject line rather than something
generic like "help!"
- Include your name, either as a signature or in the 'From'
header line of your messages.
- Format your text into paragraphs of reasonable
length.
- Avoid cross-posting, that is, posting the same message to
more than one list at the same time. If your message is worth
posting to a list, it is worth taking the time to post it to just that
list.
- When posting a message, remember that you are in effect
asking dozens or perhaps hundreds of people to take time to read
it. Have respect for their time by making your message easy to
read and no longer than necessary.
- Avoid excessive posting and "hard-sell" advertising
language. Speak your personal involvement and commitment to an
event or activity rather than using impersonal "pitch" language.
Avoid all-caps words and phrases which are considered SHOUTING.
- Personal attacks and/or the posting of allegations about
other people, whether list subscribers or not, is never acceptable.
CONFIDENTIALITY, PRIVACY
Please do not use any email addresses appearing in list
messages for any commercial or advertising purposes or for any other
kind of mass mailings.
Announce: Unless
specifically requested in the announcement, posts to the announce list
may be forwarded to people that you know. We ask for some
descretion in forwarding, because the more a message is forwarded, the
more likely it is that it will fall into the hands of spammers and the
addresses therein will get yet more spam. In particular, please
do not forward to large listservs on yahoo or the like where list
membership is totally open and is not moderated. Spammers may
join such lists just to collect email addresses.
Chat: Because of the
potentially sensitive and personal nature of posts on the chat list,
please do not forward
chat list posts to anyone who is not on the list unless the original
poster has given explicit permission. Even with this agreement,
anyone who posts to the chat list should understand that email is not a
secure medium. Posts can sometimes go astray because of
mis-addressing, some subscribers may use computers shared with
housemates, and some may use employer-owned computers where email
monitoring is legal and increasingly practiced. Therefore,
privacy of list posts cannot be guaranteed, and we recommend not to
post information that would be damaging if it were to fall into certain
hands.
MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Announce: BASSN meeting
announcements can be posted
directly to the list without restriction.
OTHER EVENTS, RESOURCES, AND NETWORKING
Announce: Posts in these
categories should be tagged as such. Simply include the tag in the subject line before the
title. This allows people to sort, filter, and delete mail based on
what categories they are interested in. Examples are:
- (Events) Workshop
on SM
on June 5
- (Networking) Brunch
Party on Saturday
- (Resources) Erotic
Art
EVENTS (Announce list only)
We would like to keep our event postings on topic, so any events posted
should pertain to sexuality, spirituality, or both. Explaining the
relevance of the event you post about is always a good idea. Please
write your own brief blurb rather than passing along long forwarded
messages. We also recommend that you include a link to a website or
contact person for people wanting more information. We encourage
including the date of the event in the subject line of your message for
the convenience of all list members.
Please do not duplicate your messages - one message and one
reminder
per event, unless you need to correct an error.
Please keep announcements short -- one or two screens at
most. Personally written announcements with little or no
commercial advertising language are requested.
RESOURCES (Announce list only)
Resources include products and services available from BASSN members
such as healing work, graphic art, books, etc. Please use this category
carefully, sparingly, and with due consideration. As with events, a
short blurb in your own words with a link to more information is the
best way to communicate. All members are asked to limit their
advertising posts to one per month.
NETWORKING
Networking requests can include social invitations (dinner, brunches,
parties...), professional resources you are seeking (do you know a good
dog sitter? seeking a lawyer who specializes in xyz...) and other
community-building requests (housemate wanted...) All members are asked
to limit their networking posts to one per month. Please feel free to
consolidate multiple requests into one post.
Chat: In some cases, a
discussion may be initiated about resources available in the
community. If you wish to share a recommendation about some
resource that you have experience with, the chat list is the place to
do that.
POLITICS
Announce: Political event
announcements or appeals are off-topic and should not
be posted
to the list.
Chat: There are
numerous political issues related to sexuality, and these are
appropriate to bring up on the chat list with certain clear
limitations. First and foremost is to respect the guideline
stated above: please do not post with the intention to change any
else's mind or to make anyone else wrong with regard to their
experience or opinions. This means that a debating or combative
style of writing is inappropriate and unwelcome. If you have
information regarding political activity that may impact sexual
expression, it is quite appropriate to post this to the list. If
there is extensive information available, please do not try to include
it all in one message but rather include links to the information or
references to other sources for it. We are happy to include links to
relevant web resources
on politics on our web site at http://boston.sexspirit.net/links.html
.
DO NOT POST
Please do not post items that are not related to sexuality and
spirituality, either in your own life or in the community.
Specifically, do not post:
- Computer or email virus warnings. There are many
other sources of these.
- Forwarded messages containing petitions or appeals for
action on any issue or cause.
- Forwarded message containing any kind of warning or alarm,
especially where they say to "forward to everyone you know".
These are usually urban legends or viruses.
REGIONAL RELEVANCE
Announce: Since the
majority of our list members live in the Northeast, events,
networking, and resources posted to the list should be available within
this region. Events outside of the Northeast may be posted on our
website to support the broader sex-spirit movement.
Chat: Because
sexuality and spirituality is a universal human experience, the chat
list welcomes subscribers from anywhere in the universe.
MODERATION
The Core Group retains final responsibility about list content and
membership. Membership will be revoked in cases of repeated or
serious violations of list policies. When in doubt,
ask before posting! You can reach us here.
Dan Murphy is our list host and administrator. Technical questions
may be directed to him here.
FEEDBACK
Our goal is to facilitate the
free flow of information by managing it
in the best possible way. These policies represent our best effort to
articulate a consensus that we hope most if not all of you can accept.
The BASSN Core Group will monitor the list and see how these
guidelines work over time. As our community and its needs evolve, our
guidelines will evolve as well. Suggestions for improving our
listserve, programming and other aspects of BASSN are always welcome.
Please
email the coregroup.
with any questions or comments.
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