I promised (or was it threatened) this last week when we had to issue 
some yellow cards... It was last posted about four years ago and I 
generally append some comments of current value. For those of you who 
have read this a number of times since 1996, my apologies.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM
********************************************

From 2002... Every so often, folks get riled up enough to demand the head (or
fingers or other assorted body parts) of a List member. I wrote a
lengthy sermon on this topic a while back, and I periodically post it
when things get a little unglued. The feedback that I have gotten over
time is that the metaphor is spot on, so I continue to repost it as
needed.

And the scary part is that sometime next year I will have been using
the List for ten years.... Hmmmmm... maybe we should start ordering
anniversary pins for those who can prove their longevity.


********************************************

From 2001... As originally posted... (and almost five years ago too...) It strikes
me that I may have refined this in a later posting, but I can't find
that one in the Cunningham email archives. The pub metaphor is towards
the end of a longer piece, which kinda seems apropos right now...

"Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose." (The more things change,
the more they remain the same.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 01:06:11 -0800 
From: "Patrick J. Cunningham, CRM" <[log in to unmask]> 
Subject: Thoughts While Spinning My Wheels...

Standby for a sermon! (You can take the man out of the seminary...)

I was cleaning my office last night (ok, I misfiled something and had
to track it down), and stumbled across my copies of the List
instructions from when I first signed on (proud to point out that I
have saved them). Anyway, I also found a "review" listing that I did on
November 28, 1993. On that date, there were 172 subscribers. As I
recall, postings were few and far between. The vast majority of
subscribers were from the ".EDU" domains or off BITNET. I was the only
AOLer and there was but one Compuserve person. Run off a "REVIEW"
listing today, what a change! Now many of us have to view the List in
Digest mode just to avoid e-mail gridlock.

The growth of the List has certainly paralleled the growth of the
Internet as a whole. Us "old hands" now feel the same frustrations with
newbies that the old hands of a couple years ago felt with us. Higher
volumes of traffic have made us realize that there really is a "signal
to noise" ratio, and that the noise side of the ratio is increasing --
at least in raw numbers, if not in actual ratio. There is no doubt that
the number of off-topic postings has increased -- but I would be
willing to bet that the baseline ratio has not significantly changed.

While this medium comes to us in written form, it is really about as
close to the spoken word as you might find. And that is the cause of
much of the "noise". In a crowded room, you are easily outshouted;
here, everybody gets a free shot at the microphone. For myself, I have
never written as many words as I have since I have had access to
e-mail. Once upon a time, I wrote postal letters to friends -- now I
hope they have an e-mail address (those that don't, get no mail). This
medium becomes far easier than posting a letter and a lot cheaper than
phoning someone. Therein lies the rub. As most of you know, I am one
who has been bitten by the "shooting from the hip" bug. I noted to
Bryan Carbonnell that people like us need a mandatory 12 hour waiting
period on our postings.

But you know, the beauty of this thing is that we are a community --
perhaps an occasionally dysfunctional community (next on Oprah,
Dysfunctional Records Managers and the people who love them!) -- but
still a community. Consider how many fellow professionals you could
turn to when you had a records-related problem before you joined the
List... not too many, I would suppose. Now you have, what, 1600? That
is the power of this medium. That is what has kept me signed on for
three years and several million words (many of which were mine, I
know). We are a world-wide community -- just look at the newcomers of
this past week -- Finland, Iceland, France. Where else can you get
interaction with fellow professionals in such great numbers and draw
almost instantaneous response?

Often we digress from the stated purpose -- but is that so bad? If the
humor or topic reminds us all that we are still very fallible human
beings here in cyberspace, what is so bad about it? We are certainly
not perfect machines, nor should we try to be. When we really stumble,
as I have found, there are those who will make sure we're aware of it,
but there are equal numbers who will work to smooth over that bump. And
so it is in real life.

We can not, should not, divorce ourselves from the world and try to
make this gathering place an oasis of pure records management. What we
should make of it is an oasis of fellowship in our profession.

Among the definitions that Webster's gives for "fellowship" are:
"community of interest, activity, feeling or experience" and "a company
of equals or friends". I rather like that -- particularly the second
definition.

When I am with my friends, we can be serious or we can have some fun.
We can get down to business and then go and howl at the moon. So too, I
think, should be this List. For me, it is my pub... a place to drop in
and see what other folks are up to, solve the problems of the world,
catch the latest gossip, and tell a tale or two before wandering home
again. A diversion from the mundane and a place to learn about other
folks and listen to their problems -- lending a bit of advice
(solicited or not). And like a pub, someone will get a bit rowdy or a
bit full of him or her self and be shown the door -- but be right back
in throwing darts the next day. And I'll readily admit that I'm a
victim of my Irish heritage with this analogy, but it is a vision that
*I* am comfortable with. You all may not agree (and if you don't, let's
see your vision -- I'm sure this will not strike a chord with
everyone). Honestly, I'd like to see if this resonates with people or
if I need to adjust my vision to something else.

That's my message. I've chosen a quiet time on the List to stand up and
make my points and I'll wander back to my comfy spot along the bar.

-- 

Patrick Cunningham, CRM 

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