Postdoc Social List

After the recent postdoc meeting (on 03/02/10), it was decided to create an email list for postdocs which they could use to organise social activities. There were several requests regarding this list:
  1. That users should be able to add and remove themselves, without the need for a "middle-person" (thus avoiding long delays / oversights that have occured with the internal postdocs email list)
  2. That no staff members should be monitoring or even privy to the information posted on this list (unlike the internal postdoc list which certain staff members also recieve for various reasons)
As a consequence of these constraints, an email list was set up with an external website. If you would like to be registered on this email list, please send an email to one of the postdoc reps; alternatively, if you already have a google account you may register yourself here. All emails from this list will contain the tag "SOCIAL:" at the beginning of the subject line, facilitating inbox management. Once registered, you may send an email to the group at the address:

oxford-astro-postdocs@googlegroups.com

This google group allows ANYONE (even if you don't have / don't want a google account) to:
  • Join the email list by having their (non-google) email address registered manually by a "manager" or "owner"
  • Recieve and send emails to the list, via the groups email address above
Additionally, for users with google accounts, the group provides the ability to:
  • view all posts on a dedicated webpage
  • see all members of the group
  • become "managers" or "owners" of the group, helping to share the load and create an self-managed system without the need for a middle-person
In contrast, if we had setup an internal list, everyone would have had to be registered/unregistered manually and we, the postdocs in astro, would have had no say on who else viewed the emails in the list.

I hope that the Oxford postdocs aren't so left-wing that they consider a GoOgLe group to be jumping into bed with the devil; it's just an email list like any other, except that it's self managed as much as is feasibly possible and we know who we're sending emails to. If you have any serious complaints about the current setup, you can always post them here. Likewise, if you like the current list, let me know here (support is always good).

-- RyanHoughton - 25 Feb 2010

This topic: PostDocs > PDSocial
Topic revision: 25 Feb 2010, RyanHoughton
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