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IMPORTANT - Tips on the use of the Forums and Email

Published on 3/30/2013
This is a long email, but will be very useful to you!
 
In recent days, all of you have received email messages from the website you may not have understood. In this message, I will attempt to explain what you are seeing and how you can control those emails. Also, we are currently researching how best to implement FAQs for the website. There is also a User Manual that you can access by clicking on PROFILE after you sign on. It is very detailed but fairly easy to understand. I recommend that you download it for reference.
 
First let me say that there are two general types of Forums we have currently set up. In one case, if you wish to participate you must sign up for the Forum to be a member. There are a few Forums, however, that we thought were important enough that everyone should be signed up automatically as members. These are; the three "For Sale" Forums; the Listening Sessions Forum; and the Need Help? Forum. When a thread is started on any of these Forums, all active members will receive an email from the Forum.
 
You can recognise a Forum email because the Address will contain the name of the Forum from which it was sent and the Subject Line will contain the specific Thread Name. The body of the email will contain the message that was entered online. It will be sent to everyone in that Forum. When anyone responds to a Thread, another email will be sent to everyone and the body will contain the complete response.
 
TIP ONE - Forum emails are not personal email. Keep your responses to the subject at hand. Remember that everyone will read everything you write!
(Example - I entered a Thread under Listening Sessions. It asked if anyone wanted to come to my home for a listening session today. Everyone received an email advertising that listening session. It WAS NOT a personal invitation to everyone via email. It was a request for those interested to respond if they would like to attend. Instead of simple YES responses, I got homey letters that were seen by everyone in the club... telling me what they are doing this weekend and why they weren't coming. While I enjoyed them, they were not the response that I was expecting. Hopefully, in future, responses to listening session announcements will only be from those who would like to attend. And, every member can announce a listening session. However, at this point I understand that we are still in a huge learning curve with this website.)
 
TIP TWO - You have total control of the email you receive with the exception of automated status messages from the website and automated meeting announcements. You can opt out individually by Forum if you wish. To change your email preference for each Forum, log in, go to the Forum and choose MY FORUM PREFERENCES. This will allow you to opt-in or out. You can also choose the frequency with which you are contacted. Look on Page 42 of the User Manual for an explanation of this option.
 
TIP THREE - If you receive an email that you are not interested in taking advantage of, or responding to, just delete it! All Forum emails (Thread responses) are actually saved on the Forum and you can review them later if you wish. Ever get an email you want to re-read but have deleted? The website will keep that from happening again!
 
TIP FOUR - Learn to use the Forums and your A-VCOA experience will be greatly enhanced! Today's listening session was great fun and a learning experience which I will share using the ANALOG FORUM in the near future. Only Sam P. and I are currently members of this Forum! If you want to find our what we discovered about the Svetlana 6550 Tubes today you may want to sign up for it!
 
TIP FIVE - If you turn off the email from your Forums, you need to remember to check those Forums online on a regular basis or you could miss something fun or an opportunity to get a great deal!
 
Folks, I am sorry for the avalanche of email you received these past few days. We are just learning the finer points of using this website. I made the decision to opt everyone in so that no-one would miss my first Listening Session announcement or a new For SALE item. Later I will provide some specific TIPS for using the individual Forums. But, don't wait around for me! Start to use them now. That's one of the main reasons we built this website. So we make a few mistakes... nobody ever made an omelet without breaking a few eggs! Be patient with each other and have fun!
 
John