Date:         Fri, 13 Jun 2003 14:31:56 -0400
Reply-To:     Howard Schreier <Howard_Schreier@ITA.DOC.GOV>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Howard Schreier <Howard_Schreier@ITA.DOC.GOV>
Subject:      Re: Newsgroups & Usergroups need for SAS-L FAQ
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

This seems like a good opportunity for this announcement:

*** NESUG Panel Discussion About SAS-L ***

We (Diane Rhodes and Howard Schreier) are organizing a panel discussion
about SAS-L as part of this year's NESUG (NorthEast SAS Users Group)
conference. It will be an occasion for face-to-face exchange of thoughts
on some of the issues which have been raised in this thread:
effectiveness, factors which encourage or discourage participation,
signal-to-noise ratio, etc.

Volunteers are needed. We want and expect some of the "usual suspects"
to be on the panel, but we also seek representation of other
populations: lurkers, people who fairly regularly post questions, those
who usually respond privately, individuals who have stopped or curtailed
participation.

We hope to prepare a fairly thorough report which will be made
available online after the conference, so we also need a couple of
note-takers.

If you are interested in any of these roles, please respond privately
to either or both of us. Thanks.

Dianne Louise Rhodes
diannerhodes@westat.com

Howard Schreier
Howard_Schreier@ita.doc.gov



>>> Ray Pass <raypass@ATT.NET> Thu, 12 Jun 2003 20:01:28 -0400 >>>

At 04:16 PM 6/12/2003 -0700, Carey Smoak wrote:

>I agree that a good a FAQ would be helpful.  But there is an
>alternative to people who do not want to get 50 e-mails a day.  I do
>not subscribe to SAS-L.  Instead I access it through Charlie
>Partridge's website (www.sconsig.com).  So, I can go to his website
>and look at SAS-L anytime I want.  Perhaps this is what is really
>needed.  A permanent website for SAS-L so that people don't have to
be
>bothered by 50 e-mails per day.

Ah, therein lies the difference of opinion.  I'm not "bothered" by
them
because I delete about 90% of them after reading the subject alone.  I
will
admit however that they do not "intrude" into my work sessions because
I
get them via Eudora, which I have set to query for incoming e-mail
every 10
minutes, and to NOT notify me when new mail comes in other than a mild
change in the Eudora icon on the status bar at the bottom of my screen.
 In
my customized environment, it's really not intrusive, so I can
understand
why some folks who can not customize like that would choose to not use
the
list via e-mail.  But as Carey and others point out, there are other
ways
to get there.  I still maintain that a good portion of the
non-hand-raisers
in the audience have just never checked it out despite my rants.
That's
what I don't understand.  Something about horses and water I think.

Ray








*------------------------------------------------*
| Ray Pass, Ph.D.         voice: (914) 693-5553  |
| Ray Pass Consulting      eFax: (914) 206-3780  |
| 5 Sinclair Place         cell: (914) 450-0555  |
| Hartsdale, NY 10530    e-mail: raypass@att.net |
*------------------------------------------------*