RE: [Leica] Why I rarely post...

["Lee, Jonathan" <Jonathan.Lee@hrcc.on.ca>]

Stephen,

The idea is laudable, but in practice I don't think it can work.  If every
LUGer had to post once a month, I'd bet that every month, the LUG lurkers
would be posting one liners to the effect of: "The M6 is the best camera
I've ever owned." or "Jee whiz, ain't that CamerQuest site swell ;-)". 

I don't think that sharing wisdom can be made compulsory.

Jonathan Lee
- -----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Gandy [mailto:leicanikon@earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 12:43 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] Why I rarely post...


"David W. Almy" wrote in part :

"What puzzles me is why you believe this should disqualify me for
"membership" in
the Lug"


David, you make many excellent points,  ironically supporting my view.  Your
insight and experience is valuable to the rest of the LUG, that is the
reason why
you should make an occasional contribution.

It's my hope that if  all LUG members were required to make a minimum
numbers of
postings, the increased participation and learning would benefit us all.

Guessing, it seems to me about 10% of the LUG makes about 90% of the posts.
What
about the other 90% ??

To put a different spin on the question, why should people be allowed the
benefits of LUG discussions without contributing something themselves ??
Somehow, that does not seem very fair to me.

I know, limited participation is standard  in  most mailing lists, but why
shouldn't the LUG  aspire to something better than the norm ?

Stephen Gandy



> Stephen Gandy wrote:
> >
> > Unfortunately the great majority of LUG members don't post anything -
for
> > whatever reason.    Two of these "lurkers" are friends of mine who are
both
> > EXTREMELY Leica knowledgeable, true Leica experts in fact....
> >
> > 1) EVERY member had to make at least one posting a month in order to
stay
> > subscribed.
>
> Stephen,
>
> I am a commercial photographer who has subscribed to the Lug since 1996
> and use 2 R8s, 2 M6s, 6 M lenses and 4 R lenses --  all
> state-of-the-art. I use a Contax G2 set, including the 16 and 21, for a
> change of pace every now and again. Much to my mother's horror, I also
> hold a bachelors degree in professional photography from the Rochester
> Institute of Technology, class of '82. All of the above and two bucks
> will get you a good cup of coffee. :-)
>
> Although it undoubtedly has damaged my marriage over the years, I read
> Lug mail every day. I rarely post anything. In my case, it is because a)
> I simply don't have the time (apologies) to write a substantive posting,
> (b) a significant percentage of the topics are of no interest or (c)
> somebody else beats me to the punch with "the answer." Consequently, I'm
> quiet, and lurk. What puzzles me is why you believe this should
> disqualify me for "membership" in the Lug. I learned more about
> photography (and Leicas) in the first six months on this list than I did
> in four years of college, although the Lug's noise level has grown over
> the years. On the rare occasions that I do post, it usually is because I
> can add to a thread from personal experience, which helps others, even
> if infrequently, which I'm glad to do. This practice and intent should
> not be grounds for expulsion.
>
> One thing is certain: the Lug remains a never-ending source of
> entertainment.
>
> David W. Almy
> Annapolis