© 2008 New York Women's Bar Association. All Rights Reserved. NYWBA Electronic Mailing List (List Server) The NYWBA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the NYWBA electronic mailing list for members. We believe that the electronic mailing list will facilitate communication between members as well as enable the organization to provide members with up to the moment information regarding programs and events. The electronic mailing list has been up and running since mid April as announced in previous emails to members. What it is: The electronic mailing list is an email roster. Generally, when trying to reach a group of people via email, the sender is required to type in a number of emails. Typing in all of our members email addresses to send an announcement of an event would be quite cumbersome. With the electronic mailing list , we will be able to communicate with every NYWBA member instantly by typing in a single email address. Yahoo provides our electronic mailing list at no cost to the organization. Yahoo has been sponsored by various organizations; however, please note that the New York Womens Bar Association does not endorse or support any of Yahoos sponsors. How members become part of the electronic mailing list : If you provided us with an email address, we have added you. If your email address changes, please let us know so that we can keep the information on the electronic mailing list current. New members will be added at the time they join the organization. If you do not want to be part of the electronic mailing list , there are a few things you can do. You can simply follow the instructions provided in the welcoming email, which tell you to email NYWBAMembersunsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or you can email info@NYWBA.org. PLEASE DO NOT SIMPLY HIT REPLY. If you do not follow the instructions, you will not be removed from the electronic mailing list . How it works: Messages posed on the electronic mailing list go to every person subscribed to the electronic mailing list . Unlike other email lists, the email addresses of members are not displayed. We initially had the electronic mailing list open so that any member had the ability to post messages. Unfortunately, quite a number of our members failed to read the instructions as to how to use the electronic mailing list and how to unsubscribe from the electronic mailing list . Because posting a message on the electronic mailing list means everyone on the roster receives the message, we all had the unpleasant experience of receiving emails that were intended for one person, as opposed to the whole list. A number of people failed to read the instructions and simply emailed the entire electronic mailing list with their requests to unsubscribe. Unfortunately, those requests were improperly sent to the entire electronic mailing list rather than to the unsubscribe address listed in every email. Needless to say, a number of people became frustrated with the quantity of unnecessary emails. We have changed the electronic mailing list so that it will be a one way electronic mailing list for now. This means that only the NYWBA moderator may post messages. We hope that this will eliminate unnecessary email while at the same time allowing members to receive up to date information regarding NYWBA events. Depending on our experience with the revised electronic mailing list , we may return to an open electronic mailing list at some point in the future. How to use the electronic mailing list : While the NYWBA moderator is in charge of posting the actual messages, WE ENCOURAGE OUR MEMBERSHIP TO USE THE ELECTRONIC MAILING LIST . Feel free to post notices of events, job announcements, etc. Our guidelines regarding appropriate announcements are listed below If you have something you would like to post on the electronic mailing list , simply contact the moderator at info@NYWBA.org and advise her of your proposed announcement. Guidelines Governing Use of the Electronic Mailing List In order to make the electronic mailing list most useful, we have developed the following guidelines. You may wish to save these guidelines for future reference. The following types of messages are APPROPRIATE for the NYWBA Members electronic mailing list : Informational announcements DIRECTLY AND SPECIFICALLY RELATED to our organization and members. Examples: events, operational issues, CLE, books and other publications, meetings and programs, web sites Requests seeking suggested participants/nominees for programs and organizations that would spotlight or honor the person suggested. Examples: (1) "I'm looking for a family lawyer who's an expert on domestic violence for a CLE in July. Can pay expenses but no honorarium. Any suggestions?" "We want to honor a woman judge who's made a difference in women's lives. Suggestions?" Requests seeking referrals TO ANOTHER ATTORNEY (NOT seeking referrals for the person posting the message or her firm). Example: "We're looking for a worker's comp lawyer. Any suggestions?" The following types of messages are NOT APPROPRIATE for this electronic mailing list : Marketing by list members. DO NOT send announcements about opening of new offices or changes to a new firm, or indicating your availability for certain types of work. General political announcements or petitions - INCLUDING those concerning general women's issues. Any other message not directly related to women lawyers and women's bar associations. This category includes: jokes (even funny ones); warnings re internet scams or viruses, etc. Any kind of "flaming" or personal attacks. Any disagreement other people on the list should be respectful and non-personal. The list managers reserve the right to exclude people from the list for failure to comply with these guidelines. In addition, the list managers reserve the right to change these guidelines as we gain experience with the electronic mailing list . These guidelines are not intended to scare you off or keep you from posting valuable information. Rather, experience with other electronic mailing list s suggests that establishing guidelines at the beginning helps the list to run more smoothly and effectively. We hope you find the electronic mailing list helpful. We welcome your comments and feedback as we implement this new membership benefit.