The FOOD-QUAL Email Discussion List at QUALITY.ORG

At the request of many people, QUALITY.ORG is pleased to announce that we have created another topic-specific quality-related email discussion list on Quality Issues for the Food Processing Industry.

At this time, the list is NOT moderated. If the volume becomes great enough--and a suitably-qualified volunteer emerges--turning it into a moderated list is possible.

This list also has a Digest version, which you can subscribe to in addition to or instead of the "single-message-at-a-time" list. A new Digest will be generated and emailed to the Digest subscribers whenever over 25,000 characters have been posted to the list. Digests are not generated on the basis of date or time-elapsed since the previous Digest. Digests will also be archived at the QUALITY.ORG website.


As with all lists at QUALITY.ORG, you must be a subscriber to the list in order to post a message to the list. This also means that the address from which you, as a subscriber, are trying to post a message must be EXACTLY the same as the address at which you are subscribed to the list. We use very good list management software--called Majordomo--to manage the automated subscription/unsubscription processes. But, it is not artificial intelligence or intuitive; it has no way of telling that "john.brown@aol.com" is the same person as "john_brown@cisco.com". All it does is compare the "from:" line of your attempted post to the lines in the subscriber file. If it doesn't find one EXACTLY the same, it won't post the message. So, it's very important for you to subscribe yourself to the list from the address (if you have more than one) that you expect to be using most of the time.

To Subscribe to the FOOD-QUAL List

:
1. ddress your message ONLY to: Majordomo@quality.org
2. In the BODY of your message, place ONLY these two words:
subscribe food-qual

and/or subscribe food-qual-digest
(if you want to subscribe to the Digest version; you can subscribe to both list versions, BUT each command must be on a separate line)

** (DON'T put any other text in the BODY of your message or Majordomo will try to interpret it against the commands it knows. It won't be able to and will bounce it back to you.) **

3. Majordomo will respond by sending an authentication message back to you. You will need to return the authentication code and command line back to Majordomo@quality.org in order for your subscription request to be completed. The authentication message will be sent to the address being subscribed, not the address from which the message originated. We do this so you can verify that YOU are the person requesting your address to be added to the list. A common malicious act is to subscribe people to thousands of lists; so, we request Majordomo to verify the wish to join the list with the address being subscribed.

4. When your subscription request has been authenticated and completed, Majordomo will also send you an "informational" file about the list. Please SAVE that message, as it will also contain instructions telling you how to remove yourself from the list. It is "bad form" to send your "remove me from this list" messages to the list itself, so KEEP THE MESSAGE.


To Post a Message to Everyone Else on the List:

1. Address your posting to: food-qual@quality.org

2. I recommend that all new subscribers to the list start off by posting an introduction to the other members of the list, to get the conversational ball rolling. Since it is not a moderated list, the only way any discussion will occur is when the subscribers themselves initiate it. If everyone waits around for someone else to post, it will be a very boring list.

3. Please don't send large attachments with your messages. It's better to just let people know that you are willing to send them "this file", whatever it may be, and let those who are genuinely interested request it from you, rather than forcing everyone to deal with, whether they want to or not. This way is also much more courteous to your fellow subscribers. Remember that not everyone may have a similar connection to yours, so large attachments may crash their system or may be restricted from receipt. Take the "world view".

4. Please be professional and deal with the issues, not with the personalities behind the opinions. While the posting may strike you as "juvenile", there is nothing to be gained from "flaming" or insulting the poster because you have differing opinions. If I am repeatedly notified of an obnoxious poster, that person may have his/her subscription removed, possibly being banned from the QUALITY.ORG system entirely. Remember that this site is not a democracy; it is privately-owned and -operated. Even as a subscriber, you are just a guest here. So, behave yourself.


Enjoy the discussions!

Regards.
Bill

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 Bill Casti, CQA                                     Email: help@quality.org
 Domain Owner, QUALITY.ORG                           Pager: +1 800 604 6149
 President, Associated Quality Consultants, Inc.       Fax: +1 703 834 8209
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File Date : 15 January 98