Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/answers/newprod

Text File | 1993-08-30 | 14KB | 298 lines

Newsgroups: comp.newprod,news.answers
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!chinacat!chip
From: [e-mail] (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: Welcome to comp.newprod [periodic posting]
Expires: Fri, 29 Oct 1993 10:42:02 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (The comp.newprod Moderator)
Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin, TX
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1993 10:42:01 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: poster
Summary: newsgroup charter and guidelines
Keywords: administrivia
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 280
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.newprod:1197 news.answers:11910

Archive-name: newprod
Posting-frequency: monthly
Version: 1.10

@(#) newprod 1.10 93/08/30 05:39:45

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

Contents:

    - Introduction
    - Letters!  We Get Letters
    - newprod Keywording
    - Archives and Back Issues
    - Mailing List Distribution
    - Information for comp.newprod Submitters
    - comp.newprod Submission Guidelines

------------------------------

Subject: Introduction

comp.newprod is the place for new product announcements.  We solicit
announcements of products and services that would interest large
portions of the Usenet community.

There is one thing that makes this newsgroup particularly unusual.
Most people disdain commercial postings on Usenet.  Here, we encourage
them.  One of the reasons why people tolerate them is that this
newsgroup is moderated.  The moderator reviews all submissions and
posts those that meet the newsgroup guidelines (c.f. below).  The
moderator tries to prevent the use of this newsgroup for overt
hucksterism and hype.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: Letters!  We Get Letters

Our email addresses are:

    administrivia, comments, etc.    [e-mail]
    announcement submissions        [e-mail]

We would like to hear your comments and suggestions about this newsgroup,
the moderation policies, and these guidelines.  The moderator tries
to act on _your_ behalf when reviewing submissions.  Your feedback
would be a great help in doing so.  Drop us a line at the `newprod-request'
address.

If you want to submit an announcement for posting, please send it to
the `newprod' address.  But before you do, be sure you carefully review
the rest of this message!

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Subject: newprod Keywording

One of our services is to categorize all of the comp.newprod postings.
We do so by inserting a `Keywords' header into every message.  The
format is:

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

We try to use a consistent set of keywords to help comp.newprod readers
find messages of interest.  If your newsreader supports `Kill' files,
you might be able to automate the process.  People who use `rn' (or
one of its variants) might be interested in the periodic posting by
Leanne Phillips <[e-mail]> entitled `rn KILL file FAQ'.
You'll find it in news.software.readers and on anon FTP site rtfm.mit.edu.

There is another reason why we think keywords are important.  We would
like to see comp.newprod become an on-line product information resource.
One person is constructing an electronically indexed version of
comp.newprod that will someday available under WAIS.  If you need to
find a product for a particular job, you will be able to connect up
to the WAIS server and search the newprod information by keyword.

------------------------------

Subject: Archives and Back Issues

At this time, back issues of comp.newprod are not available.  We hope,
at some point, to provide an on-line archives, index, and browser.
This is, however, still some time away.  Once available, it will be
announced here.

------------------------------

Subject: Mailing List Distribution

The contents of comp.newprod are available via mailing list distribution.
If you know somebody who cannot receive Usenet but is interested in
these announcements, they might like to join the list.  To join, email
your request to `[e-mail]'.

------------------------------

Subject: Information for comp.newprod Submitters

You must realize two important things about comp.newprod.  Most people
feel strongly that Usenet generally should not be used for commercial
postings.  We, on the other hand, encourage them here.  Further, the
cost to distribute your announcement, unlike direct mail or advertising,
is shouldered almost entirely by the recipients.  How would you feel
if you had to pay for the junk mail you received?

Because of these factors, there are some very specific guidelines as
to what we will accept for posting.  We acknowledge that you might
find the guidelines lengthy and cumbersome.  We hope, however, you
can understand why they are there.  The goal of the guidelines is not
to make your life difficult, but rather to make the newsgroup effective.
These guidelines really are in your best interest.  They help make
this a quality newsgroup and prevent people from tuning out, thus
providing you a larger readership for your announcement.

Comp.newprod is a moderated newsgroup, so 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]'.

As soon as your message is received here, an automatic acknowledgment
will be sent back to you.  If you submit a message and do not get back
the auto-ack within a day or two, then it probably means either your
message never got here or your system is generating bogus email headers
and the ack got routed to the wrong place.  One of the most notorious
creators of bogus headers, unfortunately, is Usenet software.  If you
want to increase significantly your chances of getting the auto-ack,
make your submission by email.

Next, your incoming message will be filed into the newprod queue.
When it is time to distribute a set of newprod announcements, we will
process a whole batch of messages at once.  Although we don't guarantee
a date or time when postings happen, we try to do a batch once a week.

Finally, when your message has been reviewed, you will be notified by
email.  You will be sent a message either notifying you the article
has been posted or explaining why it was not.

The next section lists the guidelines for comp.newprod postings.
Please review them carefully before submitting your announcement.
Submissions that meet the guidelines will be posted approximately one
to two weeks after receipt.  Submissions that do not conform to the
guidelines WILL be returned.

Many first-time submitters fail to pay close heed to these guidelines.
As a result, many first-time submitters end up having their message
returned, unpublished.  What a bummer!  This delays the announcement
significantly.  Please review the guidelines carefully to ensure
problems do not delay your announcement.

If you are new to either Usenet or comp.newprod, we _strongly_ encourage
you to do two things.  First, you should spend some time reading
comp.newprod to get a feel for the newsgroup and what is appropriate.
Second, you should have a person with some Usenet experience review
a draft of your announcement.  They can help you make sure the message
conforms to both the comp.newprod guidelines and Usenet conventions.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.  The
    message must be of lasting value, thus we do not accept trade show
    announcements, special pricing offers, etc.  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 a couple of 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 for the additional
    information.  Similarly, do not include lengthy product matrices
    or order forms; ask interested people to write to you for a copy.
    The ideal length is on the order of 60 lines (excluding headers).
    If your message is much longer, it needs tighter editing.  (Please
    note, excessive length is the most common reason for rejecting
    submissions.)

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 a
    contact 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.  We do not accept
    announcements from distributors or resellers for products in mass
    distribution.

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 them.  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 (or messages).
    Putting phrases like `new product announcement' in your subject
    is dumb.  If it wasn't it wouldn't be in this newsgroup!  Select
    your subject with care; a person is going to decide whether or
    not to read your announcement based upon those six short words.

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

10. If the contact person for additional information is not the person
    who submitted the message, then put a `Reply-To' header in the
    message.  Do NOT try to redirect email to somebody else by saying
    `send email to' in your announcement.  People won't.  They will
    just hit the `r' key and the message will go back to you.  If you
    do not know how to set a `Reply-To', ask for help.

11. We use a standard keywording system for all comp.newprod messages.
    We will add a `Keywords' header to your message.  We definitely
    welcome your suggestions for keywords.  If the product is esoteric
    or outside our areas of expertise, we might end up picking crummy
    keywords without your help.

12. Your message must be properly formatted, avoiding long lines
    that wrap around a typical terminal screen and strange line breaks.
    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.  It just seemed unlucky to stop at 13.  :-)

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End of newprod 1.10
******************