North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Greg Miller" <gsmiller@cet.com>]

On 7 Dec 2000, at 17:15, Christopher Mauchline wrote: 

> > When I first joined this list that was my first post, I was told
> > it was a  condition.   When I joined the board of directors I was
> > also told it was a condition.    

Chris quoted "the fluffy bunny's" message above.  This is   particularly worth addressing, as the NAFEX board of directors   has always had the final say on disputed matters.   Since this list  borrow's the NAFEX name, there has to be some accountability.   So I will explain  the way things currently work in practice, and  await any instructions for change from the NAFEX board. 

> I think currently registration is automatic (I'm not sure Greg has
> the time to manually review requests for membership to the list,
> and even if he did, does he have access to the membership list to
> be able to do that review?)    

Yes.  People are all the time subscribing and unsubscribing, and I   don't have any information regarding UPDATED membership in   NAFEX to check against anyway.  If we were to insist   unequivocally on membership as a prerequiste, are there any   volunteers for "Sergeant at Arms"?   

> The "protection" currently is that the list is not published in the 
> egroups directory.  But if a NAFEX member tells someone outside  the 
> organization about the list, I don't believe there's anything 
> preventing them from joining. 
>  
> Greg - is what I'm saying accurate? 

EXACTLY on target.  If you search egroups, you will not find   NAFEX listed.  There is a reference to it in POMONA. 

>From time to time in the past, membership on this list has been   specifically solicited from members of the BC Fruit Testers Assn   and Home Orchard Society.  It had the blessing of the board at that   time. 

This topic was actually one of the first subjects discussed during   the embryonic stages of the list,  within the first month of inception.  There was divided opinion then as there is now.  Some voiced  the  view that the tradition of NAFEX was to disperse information  about  uncommon nuts and fruits.  Others worried that open  membership  might threaten general membership in NAFEX.   

The current arrangement was arrived at as the best compromise,   and is in keeping with the others principles that guide this list,   which basically presume participants will behave responsibly.  I   think having the main channel being through POMONA does for   most practical purposes make membership a prerequisite for   joining, without the practical problems of verifying membership   before list enrollment.  NOT having the list publicized through other   channels helps keep the conversation on track, to the extent that is  possible in an unmoderated list.  A few people "slip through", and   to date this has not been a problem in terms of off topic   discussions, etc. 

Greg Miller 

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