"You have to understand that while our commitment is to Mormon letters in
general, we also have an obligation to official members of AML."
The AML board seems to be conflating interest in the AML-List with
everything else AML does. At the same time, you're asking "official" members
to subsidize activities which many--if not most--can't participate in or
aren't interested in participating in. The New York Times offered exactly
this same argument--protecting its (paying) subscriber base--when it decided
to charge a nominal fee for access to its opinion pages. It retreated from
this position after it became clear that all that it was doing was driving
away readership.
After all, what makes the AML-List worth anything is not because of anything
AML does. It because of what the list members write on it for free. There
are a myriad of ways for organizations to leverage user-generated content.
If AML wishes to extent its reach, it has arrived at exactly the worse way
to do it.
Eugene Woodbury
www.eugenewoodbury.com <
http://www.eugenewoodbury.com/> (totally free)
_____
From: aml-list-bounces@???
[mailto:aml-list-bounces@???] On Behalf Of K Morris
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 11:47 AM
To: AML Discussion List
Subject: Re: [AML] AML Discussion Board
Marianne (and others),
Thanks for expressing your concerns. You're conflating two issues into one,
however. The AML board did not decide to move the discussion to another
forum in order to charge people for using it. They (1) decided to move the
discussion to a new forum and (2) discussed how this forum could benefit
members. You have to understand that while our commitment is to Mormon
letters in general, we also have an obligation to official members of AML.
The AML membership fee is not so AML can make money, believe me. It's used
to provide services to people who are committed to AML. That is the
perspective the board is coming from. We do, however, want to hear from
people who are concerned about our policies and policies-in-the-making, and
we are willing to make changes. Our approach to the AML annual conference,
for example, has changed in the past year. For those of you who don't know,
the AML annual conference was free for members this year. This year the
writer's conference is free for students. Obviously not all of our members
can benefit from these conferences since not all live in Utah Valley.
However, we are making efforts to improve the other services we provide,
namely Irreantum, the AML annuals, and our Web site. The registration fee is
not for the AML-list. It's for membership in AML, which brings with it
certain benefits.
Again, thanks for expressing your concerns. As a college student with a full
load of classes and barely enough time for a part-time job, I empathize with
your financial concerns. I would hate to see anyone feel like they've been
"turned away" from the list because of money. That was absolutely not our
intention.
Regards,
Katherine Morris
On 10/25/07, Marianne Hales Harding <marianne_hales_harding@??? >
wrote:
Well, this does make me sad. I don't mind the new format. I'm a member of
a couple of other similar-format forums, but now I have the great dilemma
about AML membership since you must be a member to post. I'd love to
support the AML and all, but I just don't have a spare $25 hanging around
(heck, that's just one copay to go see my doctor, something I actually
*can't* live without). And since I don't post daily or even weekly I
suppose you will just have to know I'm out there lurking (and then you can
think to yourself, "Ah, perhaps Marianne is thinking such-and-such about
this...") And someday I will just break down and pay the money, skip that
pap smear or something, which is, I suspect, more the point of this move
than the clutter of the email and the young hip folks wanting something more
technologically advanced.
Marianne Hales Harding
> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:34:27 -0600
> From: eric_samuelsen@???
> To: aml-list@???
> Subject: [AML] AML Discussion Board
>
> To the AML membership:
>
> A few weeks ago, we mentioned that we were contemplating changes in the
> way the AML List functions. We had several reasons for considering such
> changes. First, the email discussion list format is pretty antiquated.
> Some of our younger members had commented on how cumbersome they found
> this particular format, and we've heard from a substantial number of new
> members who said that they would love to participate in the continuing
> AML List conversation, but who also found their email in-boxes filling
> up at an alarming rate. We want to continue the conversation, but we
> also want to take advantage of newer technologies which we thought would
> facilitate those discussions.
>
> The AML email list will be discontinued as of this Saturday.
>
> After long discussions in AML Board meetings, and after consulting with
> volunteer computer experts, we have decided to change formats. We
> welcome you, therefore, to join us at the AML Discussion Board.
>
> AML members, please come register and join us at the AML Discussion
> Board
>
> http://www.forums.mormonletters.org/yaf_forum.aspx
>
> where we will continue discussions from the AML list and where reviews
> and announcements will be posted.
>
> Those who would like to be notified of new posts, reviews,
> announcements, and discussions can select either the "Watch Forum" link
> (which sends emails to you) or the "RSS Feed" link, or both.
>
> Those who have despaired to see their email boxes filling up with AML
> list emails and with discussions they aren't interested in can go to the
> AML Discussion Board and read only those discussions that appeal to
> them.
>
> AML Discussion Board house rules and review guidelines will be easily
> accessed and there will still be moderators.
>
> AML is working to provide value to AML memberships, and this is the
> first step in our efforts. We hope you will join us on the AML
> Discussion Board and that you will watch for further developments.
>
> Those who are not AML members are welcome to visit the Discussion Board
> and read the discussions, announcements, and reviews posted there.
>
> I want to add one personal note. I have been an active participant in
> the AML-List conversation essentially from its inception. I love the
> AML List. And I am generally someone who resists change. I'm also not
> terribly computer-savvy. I probably would have been fine keeping things
> the way they were, essentially for ever. If the entire board hadn't
> been so completely and unanimously convinced that these changes were
> necessary and valuable, we would not have proceeded. But I'm optimistic
> about the future, and I can't wait to continue the conversation. See you
> on the discussion board!
>
> Eric Samuelsen, President
> Association for Mormon Letters
> aml@???
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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