Outsiders

[Carl Root]

Although there have been dozens and dozens of replies to this thread, I
have to say that there still seem to be several regular contributors who
just don't get it.  The discussions on this list should be primarily by,
for, and about professional piano technicians.  The question is: "What
kinds of posts should we permit or even encourage that may fall outside
this admittedly narrow description?" 

1) "One liners" and "Me, too's".  Del's observations have once again
fallen on deaf ears, as several regulars have felt compelled to respond
to this and other topics with a hearty "I agree with you!" or some glib
attempt at humor.  I recognize that several of you have determined that
this is harmless and even fun, but many others feel that this need to
respond daily to every single topic even if you have nothing to say is a
MAJOR reason why many techs have left.  This does not need to be a high
maintainance list, but it is, especially if you're trying to keep up
with e-mail from another list or two as well.

2)  Dead horses.  Just when we thought Bill had given up his practice of
posting HT posts on a regular basis, he starts in again.  However, he is
capable of posting intelligent content on other topics and may yet learn
that the letters 'HT' now get an automatic delete from many of us.

3)  Responses to Dead horses.  Deleting HT posts is easy.  Sifting
through all the obnoxious responses is often much more poisonous, not to
mention time consuming.  If you wish to respond to posts that get your
goat in some way, PLEASE RESPOND PRIVATELY.  

4)  Private posts.  When you respond to an individual's post, please
stop and think about whether or not your content is of general interest
to the list.  Sometimes I think it's a laziness issue.  It's easier to
hit REPLY than to copy and store someone's personal e-mail address.

5)  Copying long messages.  This, too, may be a laziness issue.  I can't
imagine what it must be like reading posts to this list in digest form. 
Do you honestly think we've lost track of the thread or that we need to
reread the post you've responded to?

6)  Non-technicans posting.  This thread started with a computer post. 
The list includes content of interest to professional piano technicians,
be it technical, business, sales, whatever.  If someone posts something
of interest to us, outside our field of expertese but within our range
of interest, that is a huge benefit, no?  Otherwise, we will learn about
computers only from piano technicians.  Maybe that's enough, but I'm
happy to read any posts from qualified individuals so long as they
pertain to my professional life.

7)  Technical responses by less-than qualified technicians.  This is a
tricky one.  Technicians who are new to the field often bring a
considerable amount of enthusiasm to their new field of interest.  I
asked questions, and  - more to the point - offered observations during
chapter technical sessions more during the first 5-10 years of my career
than I do now.  Heck, I even prepared and taught tech sessions as a
young technician, so I understand the tendancy.  The problem is that
well meaning but off-the-wall proposed solutions to the problems can
confuse others who are new to the field.  Maybe we should all put
credentials and years of full-time experience at the end of each post. 
(The other six points bother me more than this one does, so don't single
this one out for a flame, please.)         

8)  Requests for non-technical responses from non-technicians.  The
request for sales information comes up from time to time.  Part of the
solution here, and frankly with a host of other problems, may be to
present a much more detailed discription of the purpose of this list to
all who sign on.  Maybe even posted on a fairly regular basis as a
reminder.

Another solution is to appoint an active list administrator who will act
as a referee to encourage appropriate posts and list behavior.  I've
mentioned before that I'm on another non-piano list that is far more
disciplined than this one because we all respect the administrator's
occassional reminders of what constitutes agreed upon list behavior.

I suspect that many of you who are still with me at this point honestly
feel that your transgressions are minor and that it's the OTHER types of
inappropriate posts that cause the problems.  In a future post, I will
try to include documentation that will support my requests for what I
have come to believe is generally accepted behavior that is sadly often
lacking on this list.

How important is it to you to attract more qualified piano technicians
to post on this list?  To me, that is the ultimate yardstick.  We have a
ways to go.


Carl Root, RPT
Servicing pianos full time since 1972