[OT] You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone

[Gordon Webster]

I have always felt that one of the best things that
rev has going for it is its incredible community of
users whose collective wit, wisdom, experience and
generosity help to make working with rev something out
of the ordinary. This list is like the village pump
for the rev community - a place where issues get
discussed, collaborations get launched, business gets
transacted and yes - more than once in a while, even
problems get solved.

I've seen griping and brainstorming sessions that seed
new ideas and collaborations (today's gripe can be
tomorrow's must-have Altuit plug-in), I've seen people
recruit the services of other revvers, I've heard
conference announcements, I've learned about the
launch of new rev products ... on more than one
occasion, I've even seen the light! (thanks for
example, to Richard Gaskin who illuminated the
mysteries of the message path for me by pointing me to
one of his excellent articles on the subject).

Who would want to give all that up just because a very
small minority of the crowd that daily throng the
village pump occasionally get a litle rowdy or overly
sensitive? 

Not me.

Flitting between 10 different lists for my rev content
would seem to be far more arduous than just filtering
the stuff I read on one list, and as others have
pointed out, having multiple lists fragments an
already small community.

I would submit that if everybody on this list uses
helpful, descriptive subject lines on their emails,
respects and tolerates the diversity of modes and
opinions that our little community encompasses and
most importantly of all, extends to all comers the
respect and infectious generosity and enthusiasm that
has always characterized the rev community - there's
no reason at all that this list cannot continue to be
the invaluable resource that it always has been.

Or we could spoil a good thing by losing sight of what
really matters.

Joni Mitchell said it better than I could - "You don't
know what you've got till it's gone".

Best

Gordon