[AccessD] Moderator Message

The Moderator's Lament
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I kind of started this thread off by speaking to John B, and I'm glad I did.
I feel the list has become unmoderatable, at least by me. I have neither the
energy nor the inclination to intervene as often as it would need to keep
the list on-topic. If the majority want the mod to show teeth, as said, and
keep everyone in-line then that'll be someone else. Then again I think that
sounds like another list anyway not ours. But we are definitely divided into
2 camps on this. FYI on the few occasions it all gets too much and I do
intervene I get more howls of protest than thanks. That's not meant to sound
like I'm asking for deep gratitude, I'm just reporting what happens.
Personally, taking the mod hat off, I like the chat most of the time and
have some sympathy with JC's stance that without the OT stuff there'd be
nearly no stuff at all, but this thread is also showing that not everyone
agrees. So we need a ruling on this from the BOD, and when we have that we
need everyone to (more or less) abide by it.

I am a little mystified as to why the AccessD-Tech list is hardly used. It
seems ideal for the non-Access and for the chit-chat. I suspect it fell into
disuse because too few people subbed to it so that if you have a general
(and sometime urgent) question the only way to get to a large audience is to
go to AccessD. So why don't we rename it AccessD-NonAccess (or maybe, in
homage to Wayne's World, AccessD-Not), put everyone on it automatically (the
key word), and use it as the sister list for all of the stuff we're debating
here? If everyone was on it wouldn't that work? And those who want just
Access can filter it into the bin. I know it's not an original suggestion
but I can't see why it wouldn't suit everyone. Ok, AccessD might then have
little traffic, but OTOH it might get more, because the current email-soup
may in fact be discouraging newbies. And those of us who enjoy the family
ethos of the list would get that from NonAccess.

I'll end with a plea. Let's stay together, let's not change the overall
atmosphere of the list(s) but let's be aware that some of the quieter voices
deserve to be heard too.

Your ever/over tolerant moderator

Andy