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| The Entertainer's List got a little silly last month. Maybe it's the advent of Spring. |
Recent discussions on the email forums have reminded us that some the the BHQ Membership benefits have some 'unwritten' elements to them. Most of these unwritten nuances were caused by "Let's try it out" situations that became "Let's keep it that way" features over time. First, let's review the array of web services that's offered to BHQ Members at a yearly rate.
It's that last point that holds the majority of the BHQ Membership secrets. Some of you may have noticed that John Barthelmes, the BHQ Administrative Assistant, signs his email notices with the following tag line: "Twisting, er... Moderating the BalloonHQ Mailing Lists." Are the BalloonHQ emailing lists moderated, you ask? Well the answer is yes... but not really.
In defense of your inboxes during the Year of Spam (early 2004), we changed the way that your email messages reach the lists. In the past, you sent a message to balloon@balloonhq.com or balloondeco@balloonhq.com and that message went directly to the web archive and to all list subscribers. These messages are now held in a queue until they are hand-cleared by BHQ staff, usually John or Larry. Spam messages do not get forwarded on to the lists, obviously, only legitimate posts sent by balloon artists. That's the "yes" part of the question. But, messages get sent on in erratic time frames which depend on when our people are able to log in to a computer.
The "no" part of the moderation question is as follows. Every message that gets sent by a legitimate list subscriber is forwarded on to everyone. We do not screen out any content. Folks who re-send a message multiple times because they think the system is running slow will see multiple copies of their message eventually appear. Posts that are more appropriate for another area of BHQ are also sent on, even if they'd be better placed in the Classified Ads, the Events Calendar, or the Who's Who section. We made this choice because we wanted to keep the lists running in the same manner as they have, historically. And, while these adjustments may seem obvious, there's a gray area where we'd cross over into judging balloon-related messages. To say nothing of potential controversy, that'd really slow the whole process down. So, no, the content of the emailing lists is not moderated.
How does this all pertain to paid BHQ Members? Simple, members can login and then send email to the lists directly via the BHQ Email web form. Using this web interface bypasses our human spam-filters. You don't have to wait for a person to return from vacation or wake up from a nap. Email goes to the archive and to all lists subscribers immediately.
All our tattoo doggies have been sent on to good homes. Almost 1,000 'pets' were placed within just 20 days! I'd like to thank everyone for all the nice emails, enjoy your tattoos. - S. Beaverson
Now that we've made our emailing list moderation practices public, we should make some additional statements about filtering out spam. Basically, the spam, virus, and other unwanted email problem has gone beyond what BHQ can do. Many members have noticed that, at times, some spam manages to get through to you via your personal balloonhq.com email address.
We have do have active, software-driven, filters that try to stop unwanted messages from going through. We are successfully filtering out tens of thousands of messages a day from known spam sources. Unfortunately, tightening the filters any furthur might prevent legitimate mail from reaching you. Unlike mail sent to the Entertainer and Decorator Forums, it would not be desirable (or even possible) to have a person from our staff pre-screening all email to verify that it's legitimate. Please be assured that we're doing our best to stay on top of this situation and pursue other solutions.
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| Eight Petal 260 Flower by Stretch |
Wendell Clendennen, Stretch the Balloon Dude, is the owner of Stretch & Company in Grapevine, Texas USA. Stretch twists at professional basketball games, many Dallas-Fort Worth area festivals, and several local restaurants. He and his wife also host a monthly balloon jam. See Stretch the Balloon Dude's BHQ Portfolio.
