Re: ASA re-visited

[Steve Ryckman <steve_at_nevets.net@nospam>]

Some of you might recognize my name from the archives, and even though
it's been numerous years since I publicly posted to the group, some of
you know that I've still been lurking in the shadows and answering
questions by email directly.  From my point of view, in order for the
group to remain civil, there has always been just one thing that needed
to be done by a poster before they hit the send button:

Realize that their customers, competitors, friends and family can see
each and every one of their posts for the rest of eternity.

Now, put yourself in your customers, competitors, friends or families
shoes and what would you think if you read that posts that have taken
place.  Although there have been key figures over the years that incited
some of the madness, it takes two people in order to have a fight.  If
you were looking to purchase an alarm system and you read some of the
past posts in the group, would you want to do business with yourself ?

What has taken place in the group isn't the responsibility of anyone, it
isn't the fault of anyone and no one can control it.  It takes everyone
to keep the group civil.  And if someone takes it upon themselves to
attack someone else, whether it be directly or indirectly, it has to be
ignored in order to prevent it from breaking down the civility of the
group.  That means no smart aleck remarks, no antagonistic comments,
nothing.  Just ignore it and continue on your business.

I wish you all the best in accomplishing this, I'll return to the
shadows for now to see how it turns out.

Steve Ryckman