[GSBN] GSBN's future structure

Fri Feb 28 18:12:14 UTC 2014

I totally agree with all of Derek’s points about why GSBN should continue as
is.

I regard the GBSN as an invaluable resource and a unique community of minds.

Andy

Logo-and-Address

From: GSBN-bounces at sustainablesources.com
[mailto:GSBN-bounces at sustainablesources.com] On Behalf Of Derek Stearns Roff
Sent: 28 February 2014 06:46 PM
To: Global Straw Building Network
Subject: [GSBN] GSBN's future structure

I've changed the subject line, to focus on the specific question of GSBNs
future structure.  I'm finding it challenging to follow this topic mixed in
with other questions.  

I favor continuing GSBN as it is.  I think it serves a valuable and unique
niche. Our members have differing needs, and GSBN serves some of those needs
well.  In my view, we have created an important community on GSBN, that I
want to maintain.  The fact that the list is quiet for weeks at a time is a
virtue.  It allows important mutual support and high-level discussion on
topics when needed, and isn't a burden during the rest of the time.  

Facebook serves other needs and other forms of use.  The Strawbale list on
Facebook has existed for I don't know how long- more than a year.  It has
more than 1,100 members.  Some members of GSBN are on the Facebook SB list,
and everyone could be, if they wanted to be.  But closing GSBN would not
enhance the Facebook group, it would just eliminate the unique community
that we have here.  You can't have this kind of community and interaction on
a list with Facebook's level of traffic, member quantity, and mix of topics
and postings.  Facebook is great for reaching a lot of people in a fairly
superficial way.  That is important, but it isn't the only thing that is
important.  GSBN is important too.  

Derek

On Feb 27, 2014, at 7:51 PM, Bill Christensen wrote:

On 2/27/14 8:10 PM, Frank Tettemer wrote:

Tony, that was a wake up for me.  I hadn't even considered Liz might not be
on the list. And so I began to consider who else might not be on the list.

In an effort to leave no stones unturned, I would like to nominate the
following:

Dawn Marie Smith

Anna Wolfson

Michael Henry

Emily Rydell Niehaus

I'd also like to apologize to any of the people, nominated above, who are
reading this right now,

because, they are already on this list!

I just didn't know.

Dawn and Emily are already here.

Anna, Michael, and Liz Johndrow are not yet (or they're unidentified
non-contributors at the moment).

I'll need their email addresses or better still they can sign up by
following the link at the bottom of http://sustainablesources.com/GSBN/, and
then let me now and I can make them contributing members.

Regarding the idea of combining lists:   I definitely support putting the
bioenergy and SBRUs lists together.  It seems they've been redundant since
shortly after the REPP list cratered for a while, SBRUs was created, and
then REPP was reconstituted.

The original reason for GSBN's existence was that those lists were
bale-hammered on a regular basis by well meaning newbies.  Us old codgers
(experience-wise, not necessarily chronologically) got tired of repeating
the same answers again and again, and a bunch of the really knowledgeable
old codgers got too busy working on codes and other big-picture stuff to
wade into the fray often, if at all. GSBN became the place for 'higher
level' discussions regarding the strawbale movement, techniques, etc.  And
it has proven to work very well for that over the many years (since 1998 at
least).

If y'all are of a mind to open GSBN to everyone (and I know some of you have
been for a fair while), or to combine it with some new SB überlist I'm cool
with that too.  Opening to all just involves a couple clicks of my
all-powerful mouse.  Combining lists can be a little more difficult (archive
transfers and all that) but is not impossible.

But I'd want to hear a decisive decision one way or the other from the
majority of you.

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Derek Roff
derek at unm.edu

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