Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 16:48:43 -0700
From: "Dennis Dawson" <ddawson@us.oracle.com>
To: balloon@balloonhq.com
Subject: Re: Pupperty [sic] and Stinkerbuns

Hi gang:

Cap'n Denny, Sergeant-of-arms here. I haven't posted a "stick to topic"
post since February. Given today's digest, I think it's time to send a
general reminder.

When we subscribed to the list, we agreed to a set of rules. First and
foremost, when you post to the balloon twister's or deco list, the point
of your message should have something to do with the art and business of
balloon sculpture or decoration.

A one-line message that touts another mailing list, even one in a
seemingly related discipline (like juggling, magic, or even pupperty
[sic]) is a violation of the rules.

Posting any general chuckle-fest message (like "how to pick your Jedi
name," "the 100 things you shouldn't do in a horror movie," etc.) is a
violation of the rules.

Before you post a message, always ask yourself, "does this relate to
balloons?" If not, don't send it.

If you want to post non-balloon information, wait until you have
something to say about balloons and tack a sentence on at the end of
your note. Generally, there's no reason to post an entire chuckle-fest -
you can give the URL to a joke site if you think it will be generally of
interest to the balloon board. But the content of your message should be
about balloons.

And while a request for information is in no way a violation of the
rules (post away!), please keep in mind that this mailing list is only
one of the services offered by http://www.balloonhq.com. Before making a
request, check out the web site! Larry, Sheena and Mark spend a lot of
time culling the mailing list for little gems of genius and
painstakingly edit them into easy-to-find information bits. For example,
there's an exhaustive listing of books, magazines and CD-ROMs on the
site. But the site itself has a wealth of information for twisters at
any level of expertise! Browse around and you'll probably find more than
what you're looking for.

Newer members of the list should take some time to browse through the
mail archives (also at www.balloonhq.com) to get a feel for what topics
have been discussed over the years and see what new directions you can
take the discussion.

This list has been a thriving, on-topic, upbeat and helpful resource for
many years. It's important that we stick to the rules if we want it to
continue to grow in the new...I won't say it, but you know what I mean.

Send your flames to me directly, please, but keep in mind that I'm just
doing my bit as one of the volunteer editors of BalloonHQ.

Cap'n Denny (the Red Flash)