On Mon, 17 Oct 1994 11:51:01 -0600 Pat Letendre said:
>Hello fellow listowners,
>I am hoping that you can help me with what I see as a growing problem with
>my list,MEDLAB-L.(MEDLAB-L is a discussion group for professionals who work
>in medical laboratories.Subscribers include physicians,lab
>technologists/scientists,lab
>administrators,educators,and others.)The others include owners,CEOs,and
>sales reps of companies that sell diagnostic products and services to the
>med lab community.
>
>It is my belief that the list should not be used for overt or direct
>business purposes.To this end,I include a blurb(see excerpt below)with
>messages that go to new subscribers.My questions are as follows:
>1.Am I in-line with what other owners allow for their lists?
>2.Are there guidelines that you use for your lists that you are willing to
>share?
>3.One recent request to which I said "no"-was I justified? The CEO of a
>major company wanted to write individual members asking for their input
>into research and development of new products by his firm.
 
    Pat, I can see that with your mix of subscribers it can be very
    difficult at times to draw the line between what is permitted and
    what is not.
 
    For the request described in point 3 what I might have done is to
    allow the CEO to send a brief message to the list describing the
    type of input desired and telling those who wished to supply it
    to get directly in touch with him/her.  If your list is moderated
    you could prevent any replies sent to the list being distributed;
    if not moderated you would have to rely on the good sense of your
    subscribers.
 
>4.A current request-do you think it constitutes using the list to do
>business? A reporter(former lab technologist) plans to create a commercial
>newsletter(supported by advertising from diagnostic companies).She wants to
>contact members of the list and use their input to write editorials and
>columns about their experiences with specific reagents and kits.I would
>like to accomodate her but do not want to set precedents (or double
>standards).
>
      Again, I might have allowed the reporter to send a message to
      the list asking those interested to write directly to her.
 
Judith Hopkins, Listowner of [log in to unmask]
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