Re: Forum status

Pastor Don and r634718 have both made some good points below and my 
comments here are a response to both messages.

I think you are both right in saying that it is time the 2 groups came 
together again.  I am one of the moderators of the original group, and I 
was actively involved in the discussions with the other moderators 
around the time the second group was formed.  I always thought that the 
split should never have happened, but it is history now and r634718 is 
right in saying that the Ecco community would be better served if we let 
the original group fade away and encourage members who have not already 
joined the second group to do so.  Two asides:

  * yes, r634718, a great pity that both groups have continued with
    Yahoo -- enough said!
  * I'm intrigued that the term 'forum' is being used to describe what I
    would always call an email list or mailing list to distinguish it
    from the forums where one has to go to the website to contribute or
    to see what others have had to say.

Don, I've not been active as a moderator for a long time -- I used to do 
some approvals (membership, posts etc) but in recent years, someone 
(Friedhelm?) had always got there before me, so I gave up trying.  But 
I'm happy to become more active again if it would help to have 2 of us 
looking after those things that need to be done.  You may wish to 
contact me privately about that.

Long live Ecco!!

Lindsay Graham
Canberra, Australia


----------Original message----------
From: r634718-/[email protected] [eccopro] <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Date: 19/4/17 14:01
Subject: [eccopro] Re: Forum status
>
> Hi Pastor Don...
>
> Thank you for posting this here and taking the initiative to update 
> everyone on the status of this group since the sad passing of our 
> friend Friedhelm.  Your help in this -- not to mention your many years 
> of service to the Ecco community -- is greatly appreciated.  I can't 
> help with any way to contact either Nick or Tom, but sadly my 
> recollection about Tom is the same as yours.  I haven't seen anything 
> from either of them in years.
>
> I think you are making the right recommendation about consolidating on 
> the ecco_pro group and advising everyone to move there.  Although I 
> understand the history and reasons, and always respected both camps, I 
> think the split group has been a source of tension for a long time and 
> has cast a bit of a shadow over the community.  Not only do I think it 
> would serve the community better to have a single group (even if it 
> has to be in a lousy Yahoo forum!), but it would be more effi cient 
> and maybe put some of that tension behind us once and for all.
>
> And, speaking for myself at least, it just seems kind of sad to be 
> here without Friedhelm.  Seems fitting to me that this forum should be 
> frozen as a respectful memorial to him.  But that's just a personal 
> view and I don't mean to suggest that it would be disrespectful if a 
> decision is made to keep it active.
>
> Anyway, thank you for stepping in, stepping up, and giving us all some 
> good guidance in this transition.
>
>
----------Original message----------
From: Don Johnson [email protected] [eccopro] <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Date: 19/4/17 05:54
Subject: [eccopro] Forum status
>
> Eccopro groupies,
>
> the recent activity here leads me to think a comment ought to be made 
> with respect to the status of this forum.
>
> As you may be aware, Friedhelm Dohmann, the list owner, passed away 
> recently. He was the only active owner, Nick Gordon, long time ecco 
> afficionado and the founder of this forum, if I recall correctly, is 
> apparently not active, I haven't been able to contact him at all by 
> e-mail. I don't know if he looks in here any longer. Tom Hoots is 
> listed as the other owner, but I seem to recall that Tom had some 
> health problems some years ago, or perhaps even worse. In any case, he 
> hasn't been active in a long, long time.
>
> Of the other moderators (three at present) I think I am the only one 
> who is active.
>
> So...
>
> If you are not also a member of the ecco_pro forum 
> <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ecco_pro/info>, I would encourage 
> you to join there. I am a moderator there also, and the group is 
> active. There are more people who can respond to requests for help 
> there than there are here, apparently. There is a fair amount of 
> technical talk that is way over my head. I just look at it and ignore 
> it. I use both forums as resources to help keep me up to speed on ecco.
>
> I don't know what the future of this group will be. I am able to 
> approve memberships and posts, change some statuses, but I don't have 
> ownership authority. I am limited in my time (aren't we all!) so you 
> will likely find that anything needing approval may get stuck waiting 
> for me to show up for some hours. And other times, I will happen to be 
> at the computer at the right time, and approve it right away. So 
> things will limp along until Yahoo kicks us out, I guess.
>
> But for more active help, I would definitely encourage you to join the 
> ecco_pro forum as I said. I think the ecco community is rather small, 
> but there are still a few enthusiasts who keep it somewhat lively.
>
> Maranatha!
> Pastor Don Johnson
>