Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing-L's 15th anniversary

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jan 1, 2008, at 10:37 AM, Fred H Olson wrote:

> Cohousing-L is independent of but
> cooperates closely with The Cohousing Association of the United States
> (Coho/US)

This is a wonderful list and, I think, more than any other resource  
has been responsible for the growth of cohousing. Kudos to Fred for  
moderating well and doing to much to make it work technically.

As a moderator and subscriber to many lists, the independence from  
Coho/US is important. Once lists get taken over by organizations, the  
organizations themselves begin to feel the need to protect their own  
image. This leads to restrictions of discussion like moderating all  
messages, prohibiting some subjects, and often requiring membership in  
order to post. All this reduces the spontaneity and open access that  
characterizes a good list. When lists are moderated too tightly,  
postings are reduced and the list loses its value.

Reducing messages can only be done, in my experience, by keeping  
things on topic and asking people not to post things that are not  
relevant to most people on an international list. One thing that might  
help is to reduce the number of messages offering places to rent or  
sell -- particularly because they are then followed by messages asking  
the poster where the place is!!!!! Since the Coho/US site now lists  
these fairly well, we might have a monthly reminder to check there or  
even a digest of what is available if someone is willing to do that.

Thanks again to Fred and to the other long time posters who stay  
connected to share their experiences (again and again) with new members,

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org