Re: RE: Sales Pitches

Ken, I'm offering constuctive crtiticism, you see. There's out and out sales 
hawking going on, you know, call me, we have the perfect product for you... Are 
you trying to tell me that there's no other forum or list for AS/400 product 
info? I can think of 4 web sites alone. As far as that Job list is concerned it 
is loaded with headhunters, from accross the country. I wanted to speak 
directly with MIS Directors, I don;t need a list for headhunters, there's 
already alot of web sites, if you noticed the ads in the Super Bowl. I was 
trying to differentiate. That he said was inappropriate, but the sales efforts 
that go on here every day, that he's OK with. If you look at the JDE list you 
will see a world of difference.
MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com wrote:
> Hi Phil -

>Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 08:57:30 -0500
>From: pike4@ix.netcom.com
>Subject: Re: Re: Sales Pitches
>
>David, I think you're being naive, or generous, or both. You're 
>allowing vendors to do business on this list at no cost. 

He allows everyone to participate in this list at no cost.  David is
generous, but he is definitely not naive.  If a vendor persists in breaking
the rules, even after being warned, they will get locked out of the lists.
Those warnings are done by private email, not on the lists, so you won't see
them.

Another thing you should notice, most of the product recommendations are
coming from satisfied users, not the vendors; which is certainly the best
kind of recommendation.

>Fine, but as a consumer of this list, with limited time to read 
>through the enormous volumes, these advertisment sales pitches 
>add to the already crowded terrain.

Since you are not paying anything to participate in this list, and since the
guidelines are posted at the beginning of each month; unless the guidelines
are being broken you really don't have valid grounds for complaint.  If the
"signal-to-noise" ratio is too low for your liking, you should find other
mailing lists that better fit your needs.

Let me also point that if the main problem is the actual number of messages
coming into your mailbox, you can subscribe to the list in digest mode.  The
messages are collected and when there is about 40K worth, a digest is sent
out to the digest subscribers that contains identifying information and the
contents of the messages.
Advantages:
 A lot fewer messages in your mailbox.
 Scrolling down through one message is faster than reading a lot of little
messages.
Disadvantages:
 Delaying in seeing the messages, especially if the volume is low.
 Have to be careful to see where one message ends and the next begins.
 Much more difficulty in replying: you have to make sure that you don't
inadvertantly 
  copy the whole digest back in your reply (a REAL no-no!), that you do
quote enough 
  to be meaningful, and especially that you change the subject to match the
message 
  that you are replying to.

Ken
Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada, Inc.
Opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of
my employer or anyone else.

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