» Networking and Listservs 

Educational Travel Community Listservs and Guidelines

ALL-Talk, MAC-Talk, and NACZ Talk are electronic discussion groups for professional educational, nonprofit, and affinity travel planner professionals. The purpose of the listservs is to allow you to share information and discuss travel-related, operational, and programmatic issues with your colleagues. Etiquette reminders are posted below.

Basic listserv usage instructions:

1. To start sending messages to all members of the group, simply send your e-mail to all-talk@travelearning.com, mac-talk@travelearning.com, or nacz-talk@travelearning.com accordingly.

We recommend you make your subject line as clear as possible, focusing on the specific topic, question, opinion, practice, or business dealing for which you would like a response. Please keep in mind that the primary purpose of the listserv is information-sharing and professional discourse and that any posting that could be construed as advertising or marketing should not be sent. Please be sure to include your contact information (e.g. your name, title, and institutional affiliation) with each posting. Attachments can be sent when necessary, but they are limited to file sizes under 96K.

2. Once a person has posted an item to the listserv, it is expected that a respondent will respond ONLY to the SENDER of that posting. The default response of the listserv is to the “sender,” so it would take an overt act to send a message to “all.” If the respondent feels that his or her response will be of value to everyone on the listserv, it is acceptable to send the response to the listserv’s e-mail address. However, be sure to continue the same subject line that the original sender included in his or her e-mail and also copy his or her e-mail below your response. Please limit how much you respond to the listserv group as a whole. The majority of time, you should be responding only to the sender. This limit to "all" responses will alleviate much of the back and forth that can take place on listservs, but this approach does not censor those of you who feel a need to comment for the benefit of all on a particular issue. Continued postings to all, in violation of the use rules will result in that person being restricted from the listserv.

3. At times, there will be value in the original sender posting a summary of responses, such as a collection of resources or valuable information for all. Although summaries are welcomed, they should be brief, and, where extended information is available outside of the listerv, the person posting the summary should refer those interested in more extensive information to an e-mail address or web link where such information is available. In the e-mail subject line, also note that your posting is a “summary” and to what topic it pertains.

4. As a listserv member, you can manage your listserv account and access the listserv’s Online Archive, which stores messages dating back several months. To access your account and the Online Archive, you must first get your password. If you do not have your password, simply go to the following web link depending on which listserv(s) you are enrolled, and enter your e-mail address; and your password will be e-mailed to you immediately:

http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/options/all-talk
http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/options/mac-talk
http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/options/nacz-talk

Once you have your password, you can use it to access the Online Archive, which is located at one of the following URLs depending on the listserv you want to access:

http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/private/all-talk
http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/private/mac-talk
http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/private/nacz-talk

5. If you do not wish to belong to the listserv, you may unsubscribe by logging onto the listserv management system for your listserv at:

http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/listinfo/all-talk
http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/listinfo/mac-talk
http://www.cmslists.com/mailman/listinfo/nacz-talk

You will see a section for “Unsubscribing.” As soon as you click on the “Unsubscribe” button and check the confirmation checkbox, you will be unsubscribed from the mail list immediately.

Etiquette Reminders:
ETC and each of the listservs’ moderators acknowledge that there are many differing professional and personal opinions about many subjects and issues. However, ETC’s listservs are moderated forums that adhere to some basic rules of appropriate use and structure which do not include posting opinions, statements on political issues, debates, comments or discussions on issues that would be considered unethical, personal, defamatory, or outside the boundaries of professional standards. Please consider the following guidelines:

1. If you would like to talk to colleagues about a specific opinion, practice, business dealing or any other hot topic issue you are encouraged to post an announcement that you would like to hear from or talk to anyone working with, doing business with, interested in discussing a particular viewpoint, or who has a particular interest in "such and such" and include your email address. All further comments (again good or bad or otherwise) should be made off the listserv.

2. If you have a book review, opinion about a given subject/program, business dealing, etc., your most appropriate professional venue for such remarks, opinions and comments would be to post those remarks to a website other than the listserv such as on your institution's server or that of your Internet Service Provider and then send an e-mail to the list with a message such as FYI - I have posted some comments, summaries, etc.. at "www.name.somewhere" regarding the following topic: XXXXX. Your comments/remarks should be brief and directional without including "statements" or similar remarks.
       
3. Specifically if you have a business dealing with a colleague, operator, supplier, destination, agency, institution, etc. that you are having problems with you should NOT post your personal or even professional comments about such dealings on the listserv - GOOD or BAD or OTHERWISE. If you have a problem with a law, regulation, or policy by any given institution or organization appropriate use rules would deem that your opinion be shared in an appropriate forum and not on the listerv.  Equally if you have a summary of remarks and feedback regarding any given business or service (regardless of the nature of the feedback, positive, negative, or otherwise) you should offer to share these with colleagues by posting a message indicating that you will send a summary to anyone wishing a copy.

4. All subscribers should be advised that these guidelines include as a violation of appropriate use the forwarding, replying to and/or posting of messages from private conversations taking place off the listserv. Said postings of remarks, opinions, etc. shared through personal conversations are NOT to be forwarded to the list in any way unless those individuals have expressed their written consent for such postings.

Thank you for your adherence to these guidelines and protocols.