I co-manage a list served out by two different servers. VETPLUS, a free version and VETPROF, same content but with archive support and more importantly, more intense support by me and my partner, Dr. Allen Berger. Allan and I do an every other week rotation of running the lists. We have around 1650 subscribers on these two lists. We've had a clear list "charter" for the 6 years' we've been doing this. ref: http://vetprof.com/charter.html We have tight control over who becomes a subscriber and maintain a separate database of subscribers' application information. I think we do end up reading every message not so much to look for flames or inappropriate postings, but because veterinarians are by nature clueless about email and often post unsubscribe or other pleas for help to the list under such helpful Subject lines as "re: stinky ears", etc. We also watch all the darn errors closely, because we want to keep our own database current and thus keep track of people automatically deleted or needing to be manually deleted (plus all those folks whose addresses keep getting switched subtly by their ISPs). In these anal retentive monitoring tasks, our unmoderated list does turn up flamers and sometimes people who've lied about their qualifications to be on the list. We deal with these things in the "gentle yet firm" manner mentioned here. There is no question this is real work! We developed a support system 3 years ago of asking list subscribers for voluntary support, pretty much like National Public Radio does. We've also gotten a few professional firms to provide us support. This model has worked well and we now feel we make about twice the minimum wage for time spent running the lists. We make it very clear that we are being supported, not the list itself. I mention all of this because I feel we've struck a pretty reasonable balance of work, fun, frustration and rewards in how we run these lists and for the most part the subscribers are wildly appreciative of our efforts. That last part is still the main reason for doing this. -Jeff -- ---- Jeff Parke, DVM ECP Consulting Seattle, WA [log in to unmask] http://seattlevet.net