Another suggestion:  If you are making REALLY big policy changes from what
were in place previously, make them all at once.  Then (MHO) shut the
list down for a week ("for maintenance") and after the end of the shut-down
period, make everybody who wishes to remain on the list resubscribe.  That
is a good time to change all the defaults that you are going to change,
go to moderation (or review, or nopost, or whatever), and change whatever
structural things you are going to change about the list.
 
You can't do this very often -- maybe once in several years, and only then
if the list is already really out of hand.  But it is a dramatic step,
and it requires that people THINK about the changes and take positive
action to DECIDE to "join" the list under the NEW terms and conditions.
 
It also gives everybody a cooling off period, and you will avoid having
the list or your own mailbox bombarded with the vast majority of the inevitible
gripes and complaints just by having the list shut down for a week.  If
people feel so strongly about whatever-their-first-reaction-is that they
still want to say it after a week's time, then at least by then it is a
*considered* opinion and not just a knee-jerk response, and it is probably
more thought-out and more worth hearing.  (This week when it is shut down is
a good time to take a nice relaxing vacation, too.)
 
Be prepared for people to try to "test" the new policies when it restarts.
They will try to post stuff like "The Censor, oops, I mean LISTOWNER won't
let me say 'damn' any more on the list so I guess I can't tell you all that I
went to see the movie 'D*mn Yankees' last week while the list was shut down,
which inspired my newest poem..."
 
It is helpful if you edit these out ahead of time and gently tell the
individual that you are not posting those remarks because gripes about list
policy are off-topic and are not within the realm of what the list is supposed
to discuss.  You can mention that they can always begin a new list called
CHPOEM-GRIPE for the purpose of griping about CHPOEM-L policies, but that
it is not within the scope of CHPOEM-L to discuss what really belongs on
CHPOEM-GRIPE. You can wish them your best in starting CHPOEM-GRIPE, and say it
with a smile, but make it clear what your boundaries are and STICK TO THEM.
 
Oh, you will probably have at lest one wiseacre who will write a poem about
your list management policies & try to post that ... and that is your judgement
call as to whether it is within the scope of the list or not.  Heck, if it is
a GOOD poem, I'd think it would be kinda cute (but that's *me* -- you need to
stick to *your* own style of policy-making and enforcement).
 
Ruth G, Spanie-L Listowner
 
--------- Ruth Ginzberg <[log in to unmask]> ---------
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