Usenet 1993 July/InfoMagic USENET CD-ROM July 1993.ISO/answers/newprod

Text File | 1993-06-11 | 10.8 KB | 227 lines

Newsgroups: comp.newprod,news.answers
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!news.kei.com!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!chinacat!chip
From: [e-mail] (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: Welcome to comp.newprod [periodic posting]
Expires: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 22:53:42 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (The comp.newprod Moderator)
Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin, TX
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1993 22:53:41 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: poster
Summary: newsgroup charter and guidelines
Keywords: administrivia
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 209
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.newprod:1090 news.answers:9270

Archive-name: newprod
Posting-frequency: monthly
Version: 1.6

@(#) newprod 1.6 93/06/10 17:49:43

Welcome to comp.newprod.  This message summarizes what comp.newprod
is about and explains the guidelines for posting.

Contents:

    * Introduction
    * Information for comp.newprod Readers
    * Information for comp.newprod Submitters
    * comp.newprod Submission Guidelines

[ Moderator's note - this message is still under development and quite
a few rough edges remain.  Any comments or suggestions are welcomed. ]

--- Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------

comp.newprod is the place for new product announcements.  We solicit
announcements of interest to large portions of the Usenet community.
This newsgroup is an exception to the convention that frowns upon
commercial postings on Usenet.  One of the reasons is because this
newsgroup is moderated, and the moderator ensures that postings meet
the newsgroup guidelines (c.f.  below).  The result consolidates
commercial messages into one place, and organizes them in a way to
make them most useful to Usenet readers.

comp.newprod is one of the oldest Usenet newsgroups.  It was created
in 1985 as `mod.newprod' by Ron Heiby.  Ron ran the group until 1993,
at which time the task was passed to the current moderator, Chip
Rosenthal.  The backup moderator is Scott Hazen Mueller, and Edward
Vielmetti is the WAIS archivist.

The email address for comp.newprod submissions is `[e-mail].'
Administrivia may be directed to `[e-mail].'
All mail to the `newprod' address (but not `newprod-request') is
automatically acknowledged by a return receipt when it arrives on the
moderator's system.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments on the
newsgroup or these guidelines.


--- Information for comp.newprod Readers -------------------------------------

All comp.newprod messages appear with a `Keywords' header.  The format
for this header is:

    Keywords: company name; product name; keyword, keyword, keyword ...

We are trying to develop a consistent set of keywords to help you
locate announcements of interest.  You might be able to automate this
process if your newsreader supports KILL files.  If you use `rn' (or
a variant) you might like to read the news.software.readers periodic
posting by Leanne Phillips <[e-mail]> entitled `rn KILL
file FAQ'.

Your comments on comp.newprod and this message are appreciated.  The
moderator tries to act on your behalf when reviewing submissions, so
your feedback would be a great help.


--- Information for comp.newprod Submitters ----------------------------------

Potential submitters must realize two things about comp.newprod.
First, it is an unusual newsgroup.  We solicit commercial product
postings for a network that traditionally discourages this very thing.
Moreover, the cost to distribute your announcement, unlike direct mail
or advertising, is shouldered almost entirely by the recipients.

As a result, there are very specific guidelines as to what is appropriate
and acceptable for this newsgroup.  We acknowledge that you might find
the guidelines lengthy and burdensome.  We hope, however, you can
understand why they are there.  Consider it this way:  anybody would
get angry if they were forced to pay for junk mail out of their own
pocket.  Lots of people, however, would pay a reasonable fee (say some
modem time and disk space) to receive brief, factual messages announcing
the latest and greatest computer products.  We believe our main job
is to keep out the junk mail and to ensure that announcements are
brief and factual.

Since comp.newprod is a moderated newsgroup, you must send your
submission to the comp.newprod moderator for review, approval, and
posting.  If you have relatively modern Usenet software, you can post
your message in the usual manner.  The software will worry about
getting it to the right place.  If you are running old news software
that doesn't understand moderated newsgroups, you must email your
submission to [e-mail].

The guidelines for comp.newprod postings are listed below.  Please
review them carefully before submitting your announcement.  Submissions
that meet the guidelines will be posted within approximately one week.
Submissions that do not conform to the guidelines will be returned
for revision.  Many first-time submitters, unfortunately, fail to
check their message against the guidelines, and end up having the
message returned unposted.  This adds significant delay to the posting
time.  (The most common problems are excessive length or excessive
hype.)

If you have any questions or comments on this newsgroup or its policies,
please do not hesitate to contact the moderator.  Although we view
our role as an advocate for the Usenet community, it is not the
moderator's intent to make this a difficult or adversarial process.
The value of this newsgroup is diminished if manufacturers cannot get
their announcements distributed accurately and in a timely fashion.
both about the newsgroup and this message, are welcomed.

One last suggestion.  If you are new to Usenet or the comp.newprod
newsgroup, review the other postings in this newsgroup to get a feel
for what is appropriate.  Also, locate an experienced Usenet user at
your site to review a draft of your message with respect to these
guidelines.  Finally, let us know if you have any questions or comments.


--- comp.newprod Submission Guidelines ---------------------------------------

1.  The submission must be an announcement of a new product or
    service.  The product must be computer-related, and it must be of
    potential interest to a large number of Usenet readers.  Commercial
    messages other than new product announcements are not appropriate
    for this newsgroup.

2.  Announcements should briefly describe the product, requirements
    (e.g. supported platforms), availability, and pricing.  It should
    only take two or three screenfuls to convey this information.  If
    your description is longer than that, then you've either got too
    much detail or too much fluff.  All you should do here is summarize.
    Anybody who is interested will contact you.  The ideal length is
    on the order of be 60 lines (excluding headers).  If your message
    is much longer, it needs tighter editing.  (Please note, the most
    common reason why submissions are returned for editing is excessive
    length.)

3.  The product must be available to all Usenet users throughout
    North America, if not the world.  Products with regional availability
    should be announced in regional newsgroups, not comp.newprod.

4.  All announcements must contain the manufacturer's name and contact
    information for additional information.  This should include a
    name, telephone number, postal address, and email address.
    Americans, please remember that your 1-800 telephone number might
    not work for people outside the U.S.

5.  The announcement must be from a representative either employed
    by or designated by the product's manufacturer.

6.  Leave out the gratuitous quotations from your company executives
    and ecstatic customers.  Moreover, we don't need to know about
    your corporate history, customer list, or distribution methods.
    Please avoid the superlatives and superfluous hype.  Just the
    (technical) facts, please.  These violations are the second most
    common reason (after message length) for returning submissions.

7.  Note that a typical press release does NOT meet the above
    guidelines.  They tend to be either too long or too heavy on the
    hype.  We aren't the press.  We don't want to edit (or spindle or
    fold or mutilate) your announcements as the press might.  We simply
    want to publish it.  You need to do the editing.

8.  Your article must have a suitable Subject, not something like
    `submission for comp.newprod'.  Do not use all UPPER CASE or
    superfluous !!!punctuation marks!!! in your subject.  Select your
    subject with care; it's how a person will decide whether or not
    to read your announcement.

9.  We almost never accept articles that are cross-posted to
    multiple newsgroups.  We do not accept articles with a limited
    `Distribution'.  If you have availability restrictions them do
    mention them in the announcement, but your announcement submitted
    for distribution throughout all of Usenet.

10. If the person who submits the message is not the contact
    person, then put a Reply-To header in your message with that
    person's email address.  Don't bother saying `send email to' in
    your message.  Anybody who wants to contact you is going to hit
    the `r' key, and that response is going to whoever is named in
    the article header.

11. We use a standard keywording system for all comp.newprod
    messages.  We will add a `Keywords' header to your message.  We
    welcome suggestions for keywords for your submission either in
    the header or the top of the message.

12. Your message must be properly formatted, avoiding long lines
    that wrap around a typical terminal screen.  We suggest that you
    break your lines at 72 columns or less.  Whitespace is your friend
    (within reason).  Carefully spell check and proofread your
    submissions; nothing screams `unprofessional' louder than poorly
    crafted prose.  Please go easy on the Cap-Shift key.  Do NOT
    right-justify your text, leave `ragged right margins.'  We are
    not impressed that you can construct your company logo out of Xs
    and /s.  `ASCII art' and gratuitous typesetting effects are
    discouraged.  A double pox on people who use overly long signatures.

13. If you fear the headers of your message might get mangled in
    transit, feel free to note correct header information at the very
    top of your message.  Clarifying comments addressed to the moderator
    also may be placed at the top of your message.  If, while you are
    at it, you'd like to suggest some keywords for your message, that
    would be great.  We will cleanup your message headers and remove
    these comments prior to posting.

14. There is no guideline 14.  I just though it might be unlucky to
    stop at 13. :-)

[ end of newprod 1.6 ]