Dayton Lodge Discussion Group

Email Discussion Groups

IMPORTANT - You must be a MM in good standing, and a member of Dayton Lodge #147 to join this group.

So, you don't want to read all this stuff, you simply want to join this group. Maybe you are familiar with discussion groups, or maybe you don't like reading the dry, boring stuff. If this is not you, at least skim the material below. Otherwise:

Please note - Due to an increase in spam as of February 2008, the links above are not clickable. You must manually type in the addresses in your email program. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we are being overcome with spam.

Read on

For those who are not familiar with some of the things that us geeks use on a regular basis, this is an attempt to explain how an email discussion group works. For many this information is redundant, so if you already know this, you know what to do.

Email groups are not new. They have been around since email on the Internet. Other forms of group discussion are news-groups (this has nothing to do with news in terms of current affairs) and forums. One of the latest methods of mass interaction is RSS (Really Simple Syndication). Chat is yet another form of discussion. One thing I want to make perfectly clear is,

This group has *nothing* to do with chat, or any form of that type communication.

The bottom line is, spreading information to large groups of people with a special interest is and always has been available through the Internet, and is a highly effective way to discuss and post messages that are applicable to the group.

What is an E-Mail Discussion Group?
Usually if you want to send e-mail to a group, you need to type each of their addresses. Can you imagine the trouble of sending e-mail to 150 Brethren? Yes, there are inherent problems with simply adding everyone in your address book to the To: field of your email program. For one thing, you are displaying everyone's address to the world, and helping spammers collect addresses. Ordinarily we would not display everyone's phone number like this, so the same applies to email addresses. Email is not private, even with a group. It goes through a lot of computers before it reaches its destination, and is kept in a database on many of the router/computers along the way. Even though the group addresses will be maintained somewhere, spam can be controlled with a group.

With an E-Mail Discussion Group, you only need to type in one address. Then the Distribution software will send your message to all the group members, all of whom want to hear from you.

Participating in a E-Mail Discussion Group
An E-Mail Discussion Group is an easy way to send the same e-mail message to many people all at once. Every person who has subscribed to the group will receive the message.

When you are dealing with such a Distribution program, you need to keep two addresses in mind. The subscription address and the posting address. Obviously, use the subscription address to get started on the group, and the posting address to post a message to the group.

Suggestions
Groups fall in to two categories, moderated and unmoderated. Moderated groups have, well, a moderator, someone who watches over the group and sees that inappropriate posts, misbehaving members, foul language, arguments, and such are kept out of the group. The moderator also maintains the group as far as subscribing and unsubscribing, or implementing changes that better suit the group.

Groups have a “topic”. In our case, the topic is Dayton Lodge and Freemasonry in general. You must stay on topic. We cannot have discussions about fighter jets, fingernail polish, and lunar landings, or anything else that would misdirect the group. The moderator sees that the “topic” is maintained. An occasional stray from the topic is expected, as long as we don't stay on a subject too long that is off-topic.

Do - Enjoy this group, discuss anything that has to do with Freemasonry, Dayton Lodge, or any body of Freemasonry. Share your thoughts and ideas with all of us.

Do - Have fun. Is it okay to post a joke? You bet, as long as it complies with the previous rules of profanity and such.

Do - spread the word to your fellow Brothers about this group. Let us pool our ideas, and keep Dayton Lodge in the forefront of Freemasonry in Ohio.

What do I have to do to get going?
Simply send an email to:
See address at top of page. Due to increasing spam, you have to type this address manually. Thank a spammer for that.
Please note, your email address will never be used for any other purpose than subscribing to this list.

You will receive a confirmation email to which you simply reply. This is to insure that you really want to do this and you are who you say you are. That's it.

You will then start receiving posts to the group. You can post a message to the group.

Every message will have unsubscribe information near the bottom. Hopefully, you won't need to use this, but if for some reason you do not want to be a part of the group, it's easy to unsub.

Benefits of a group
Let's say the Worshipful Master decides to cancel some event, announce something, make a change, etc. He posts this to the group and contacts many members at once. Of course any member who wants to announce something can do the same thing.

Its not called a discussion group by accident. Members who have something to say regarding the topic can talk about it as long as they want.

Hal Brown, webmaster

Contact me HERE for any questions, comments, or admonishments.
Or call: 937.864.7523

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