response 126 of 206:

Feb 12 05:08 UTC 1995

   Cyberfuni.  Good term.

response 128 of 206:

Feb 12 14:49 UTC 1995

Right.  Grex users are definitely not uniformly liberal, nor do we want
them to be.  Perhaps I should have said earlier that I think we
already do enough to attract new users without spending an extra $35.
Indeed, if we were going to spend money, I'd rather spend it on a
national publication, such as the on Pegasus publishes. (Sorry, I
forget the name right now).

response 130 of 206:

Feb 12 19:22 UTC 1995

MCUers aren't "our kind of people" for reasons I haven't seen yet.  The 
targetting of certain kinds of people seems to me to be as distasteful as 
censorship.  Hey, will anybody here admit to reading MCU?

response 132 of 206:

Feb 12 20:54 UTC 1995

re 129: There *are* some "kinds" of users we don't want here on Grex
(I'm thinking of the malicious, cracker types who would love to destroy
or otherwise harm the system).  What bothers me about the implied "kind"
of person that has been mentioned up to now is that the definition is
in political and/or religious terms.  I think we'd all like to see more
of the "kind" of user that becomes a donator to the Grex cause.  I haven't
yet seen, nor hope that I ever do, that any user or member is unwelcome
on Grex due to their race, religion, gender, political preferences, etc.
Should we try to attract everyone?  Yes!  As long as they do not try to
destroy or harm the system that lets us all communicate, let them
participate in the Grex experience.  If we get to the point where certain
"kinds" of people are unwelcome (e.g. not invited), we will be engaging
in social censorship.  At that point, I will believe there is something
rotten at the core of Grex.  

response 134 of 206:

Feb 12 23:01 UTC 1995

        You are welcome, lilmo. Honestly, the example of the cyberfundi
isn't to say we shouldn't allow them to be here.. merely an example of the
kind of trouble our $35.00 could get us.
        Obviously, we are enriched by differing opines, but we cannot aim
our sights at everyone.. It is literally an impossibility.. trust me,
after spending several years studying the world of advertisement and PR,
you simply can't make everyone happy, no matter what you say, or where you
say it. Better by far to aim what you are saying, and where you are saying
it, so that you get the most good out of your time, money and reputation.
I have already pointed out several problems along these lines..
        A) First of all, to those who are looking to discuss sexuality in
an intellectual light, they may very well see us in this listing and
figure that we wouldn't have such a place here to do this in. The fact is,
sexuality cf is the most mature discussion of sex I've ever had the good
fortune to be in!
        B) Spending ANY money on attracting new users right now seems to
be a bit on the premature side, as we sometimes don't have the capacity
for all the users we currently DO have.
        C) The problem of ruining our reputation by being on this list,
and then possibly having a stink raised by someone who was expecting a
"cleaner" board than this is. Let's not put our money where it could do us
harm, eh?
 The final point is to me, the most important. If we were to appear on
this list, we are saying to the world, "look, we're clean. We are so sure
you'll not find anything of a sexually provacitive nature, that we are
willing to put it in print. There. Go ahead and let junior and lizzie get
an account here."
        Now, I don't know about you, but I certainly see where such a
proclaimation could backfire badly.

response 136 of 206:

Feb 13 12:26 UTC 1995

A few people have said Grex should be improved before seeking new users.  I
think drawing new local users, who are more likely to donate time and/or
money to system improvements than non-local users, is a good way to further
that goal.
 
As for the cost, $35 is just not a lot of money.  The listing could very
conservatively attract $500/yr in new member dues, if future response is
similar to past response.  (I'm figuring it attracted around four new members
who are still here in the few months Grex was listed, so we might get eight
new members a year at $60/yr).  Money isn't everything, but I view the
$35 as an investment that's likely to pay dividends, in gaining people as
well as funds.
 
The only weakness I see in that analysis economically is that Grex is a
limited resource, because the modems are often all busy, so the new users
attracted may just displace other new users we would have had anyway.  The
only diff would be a tilt in the populace toward patient attack dialers.
 
I have a feeling the listing isn't going to happen, but I find the discussion
worthwhile anyway.  It's raised some good questions, and it's useful to know
people's concerns in case Grex wants to try other ways of attracting users.

response 138 of 206:

Feb 13 17:12 UTC 1995

After joining and reading some of the items in the sex conference, I'd
say that we would definitely violating the restriction set forth by
MCU.  The $35 we might spend in MCU might be a good investment, but it
might be a better investment to use that money on a listing in Pegasus'
mational magazine.

response 140 of 206:

Feb 13 17:44 UTC 1995

        Precisely. No matter what *WE* think our cleanliness record is,
what of the people who are drawn from this ad? Sexuality may be the
most mature cf I've yet to see on sex, but the key word here is MATURE.
I really don't think that Johnnie Doe Jr. is going to see it as much more
than people talking about "dirty" things, in a forum devoted to doing
exclusively that. Sure, we could tell MCU "We don't have adult stuff here",
but what is MCU's public going to say, once they try us out?

response 142 of 206:

Feb 13 19:43 UTC 1995

        True enough that MCU might not care, but what about the people who
look to the list as a source of "safe" areas that any of their family members
could feel free to join in? I realize that their policy is mostly to weed
out the porn bbs's, but if we say we're cllean, and even if MCU agrees, if
*anyone* has an objection to our "cleanliness", then our reputation is
hurt, moreso because, if enough of these complaints get through to MCU,
then we will be pulled, and we will officially be declared "an X-rated bbs"
by the fact that we no longer fit under these vague guidelines.
        People are offended either way, you are correct, BUT if we say we
are clean, and they disagree, they will feel like they've been lied to by
us. As it stands we make no such guarantees, abd if they are offended, then
that is the worst they can say about us. 

response 148 of 206:

Feb 14 15:48 UTC 1995

Oh, d'know - I'd give it a try to $0.35.