[Colorado-Talk] Commenting on Comments as of Late

[Kevin Darcy]

Hi Scott,
Thank you for your clarifying and articulate email.  I agree with your message and will support your efforts.
My best
Kevin

From: Colorado-Talk [mailto:colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Scott C. LaBarre via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2020 9:00 AM
To: 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Scott C. LaBarre <slabarre at labarrelaw.com>
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Commenting on Comments as of Late

Greetings Colorado and our other friends scattered throughout the world!!

I have been reading with interest and concern the flurry of emails regarding what is appropriate for this list and that which is not.  Arguments have been made that unless a post is specifically Colorado related, same should not be shared on this list because it causes too much clutter etc.  First of all, it is ironic that the profusion of emails on this topic has, arguably, contributed to the alleged problem.

In any event, the overall purpose of this list is primarily two fold:  first, it is a primary vehicle to communicate with one another in the Colorado affiliate; and second, this list serves to help us build the Federation.  I regard the  emails from South Carolina as something that informs us and thus contributes to helping us build the organization.  In my view, the numerosity of the messages has not been extreme or burdensome.  Our Colorado affiliate does not exist on an island, and we can learn a great deal from other parts of our Federation family.

Because of my involvement in the NFB, the ABA, WIPO, DAISY, the Colorado Bar, and so on, I literally receive, on average, from 300 to 500 emails a day from a large number of lists.  The vast majority of such emails are mostly not relevant to me at that moment and I exercise with great authority the delete key or stuff the message into another folder for future use.  In this particular instance, I don't think we receive so many posts from SC that if you are not interested in them, pushing delete does not unduly waste time.  Now in this last week, we received more messages than usual because of the SC Convention, and I think several of our members benefited from being able to first know about it and then Zoom on over to it.  As we ramp up for our Convention, October 29th through the 31st, I and others will be spreading far and wide information about    what will be the best state convention anywhere and everywhere, and undoubtedly those messages will land on other states' list serves and arguably could become annoying to some.  However, I hope that many others will benefit from knowing about what we are doing and join us in the Cloud that weekend.

The type of emails that have surfaced here in the last week are not unique to this list.  I have seen a similar pattern on many other lists, and I have noticed, with some bemusement, that people get quite cranky about the amount of emails which may not be directly on point to the purpose of the given list and get quite offended about the transmission  of same.  People then express their angst on list and deliver it with sharp and cutting criticism.  This in turn creates an unwelcoming environment, and people's feeling get hurt or their sensibilities offended.  Inexorably, this leads to people leaving whatever community is in question and thus precluding themselves from valuable information and exchange and depriving the community of those individuals' contributions.

Granted, there are times when traffic can become too much or messages wander so far off topic that it creates trouble.  I don't think that has become the case here on our list, but it is always worthwhile to reexamine  policies and practices of our various activities.  Thus, I will be appointing a committee to evaluate the purposes and practices on this list and assess whether there is need to change policy etc.

Finally, let me conclude this message with this thought.  I really do believe we are a family which means we are an imperfect entity.  Nevertheless, our actions and interactions should be motivated by and governed by love for one another and patience and tolerance for the foibles we all possess.  The need to stay close and express compassion is particularly keen during these trouble times in our world.

With love,
Scott



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