Airport Support Groups - Group Email?

A year ago I started an airport support group called "Friends of Iowa
City Airport" to help save our threatened airport. It has now grown
to over 170 members, and sending memos, updates and emails to such a
large group has become unwieldy.

For a variety of reasons I would like to stick with a web-based
(rather than Outlook or Outlook Express email) solution. I have looked
at using Yahoo Groups, but have rejected them as being overly
complicated to "join." (Many of our members are getting up there in
years, and even basic email can be a challenge for them, let alone
trying to figure out how to "join" a Yahoo group.)

I am looking for a way to send "group" email updates to large numbers
of members. Unfortunately, my ISP's (Mediacom) group email software
is so laced with anti-Spam measures that it is essentially useless to
me. (The killer: It limits the number in a group to 25 or less, etc.)

What say the group? Anyone got any recommendations? Is there a group
email site on the web that is flexible and powerful enough for what I
need?

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

It's getting harder and harder to do this because of the spam filters. Our
club ISP has a redirector function. You create an address in it and any
message sent to that address is resent to addresses you enter. Each
recipient gets a message addressed to them only without the long list of
email addresses in the To field that triggers a lot of spam filters. It
works great but we are now having increasing instances of an ISP detecting
that the message went through a redirect function and bouncing it back.

I hope someone responds to you with a good idea because I can see the
redirect system becoming unusable in another few months.

--

Roger Long



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
m...
A year ago I started an airport support group called "Friends of Iowa
City Airport" to help save our threatened airport. It has now grown
to over 170 members, and sending memos, updates and emails to such a
large group has become unwieldy.

For a variety of reasons I would like to stick with a web-based
(rather than Outlook or Outlook Express email) solution. I have looked
at using Yahoo Groups, but have rejected them as being overly
complicated to "join." (Many of our members are getting up there in
years, and even basic email can be a challenge for them, let alone
trying to figure out how to "join" a Yahoo group.)

I am looking for a way to send "group" email updates to large numbers
of members. Unfortunately, my ISP's (Mediacom) group email software
is so laced with anti-Spam measures that it is essentially useless to
me. (The killer: It limits the number in a group to 25 or less, etc.)

What say the group? Anyone got any recommendations? Is there a group
email site on the web that is flexible and powerful enough for what I
need?

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

For a variety of reasons I would like to stick with a web-based
(rather than Outlook or Outlook Express email) solution. I have looked
at using Yahoo Groups, but have rejected them as being overly
complicated to "join." (Many of our members are getting up there in
years, and even basic email can be a challenge for them, let alone
trying to figure out how to "join" a Yahoo group.)

I am looking for a way to send "group" email updates to large numbers
of members. Unfortunately, my ISP's (Mediacom) group email software
is so laced with anti-Spam measures that it is essentially useless to
me. (The killer: It limits the number in a group to 25 or less, etc.)


I don't quite follow what you're trying to do. In the first paragraph, you
speak of using a web-based solution. In the second, you speak of email.

If you're looking for a web-based solution, there are numerous free "message
board" packages floating around. Some of these (depending upon
technological compatibility) could likely be installed onto your ISP's web
site. You're already ahead of the game, in that you have a web site (and
therefore a "web site provider"). In fact, they may have some
recommendation as to a tool they know works well and is suitable for their
servers.

- Andrew

Roger Long wrote:

I hope someone responds to you with a good idea because I can see the
redirect system becoming unusable in another few months.


I use Mailman to maintain my Lists with 250+ members.
http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html
But you do need Your own Server on the Net running some UNIX or Linux (like
myself) to use it.
Some ISPs provide mailinglists for their clients. Just ask and/or change
Your ISP.

Maybe there are other Mailing List Software Packs available. Take a look at
http://sourceforge.net/ and search for "mailinglist". But Your provider
should be the way to go if You want a somewhat professional service.

And keep that airfields open....

Hartwig
--

Just remove the cork to Reply by e-Mail.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
m...
A year ago I started an airport support group called "Friends of Iowa
City Airport" to help save our threatened airport. It has now grown
to over 170 members, and sending memos, updates and emails to such a
large group has become unwieldy.

For a variety of reasons I would like to stick with a web-based
(rather than Outlook or Outlook Express email) solution. I have looked
at using Yahoo Groups, but have rejected them as being overly
complicated to "join." (Many of our members are getting up there in
years, and even basic email can be a challenge for them, let alone
trying to figure out how to "join" a Yahoo group.)

I am looking for a way to send "group" email updates to large numbers
of members. Unfortunately, my ISP's (Mediacom) group email software
is so laced with anti-Spam measures that it is essentially useless to
me. (The killer: It limits the number in a group to 25 or less, etc.)

What say the group? Anyone got any recommendations? Is there a group
email site on the web that is flexible and powerful enough for what I
need?



Take a look at http://www.coollist.com . I send out a "newsletter" type
email from time to time, and this works just fine. Just type out your
"email", hit send and everyone in your list gets it. I think that they can
even read it archived online if they wish.


Hopes this helps...

Chuck



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.760 / Virus Database: 509 - Release Date: 9/10/2004

Check out

http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/pnwflying

Run by our ownDavid Herman.
It doesn't email but it gives a message board and lots of other features.
A big advantage of starting a site there is that it is free.


HTH

Tony

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE

In article ,
(Jay Honeck) wrote:

A year ago I started an airport support group called "Friends of Iowa
City Airport" to help save our threatened airport. It has now grown
to over 170 members, and sending memos, updates and emails to such a
large group has become unwieldy.

For a variety of reasons I would like to stick with a web-based
(rather than Outlook or Outlook Express email) solution. I have looked
at using Yahoo Groups, but have rejected them as being overly
complicated to "join." (Many of our members are getting up there in
years, and even basic email can be a challenge for them, let alone
trying to figure out how to "join" a Yahoo group.)

I am looking for a way to send "group" email updates to large numbers
of members. Unfortunately, my ISP's (Mediacom) group email software
is so laced with anti-Spam measures that it is essentially useless to
me. (The killer: It limits the number in a group to 25 or less, etc.)

What say the group? Anyone got any recommendations? Is there a group
email site on the web that is flexible and powerful enough for what I
need?

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 11 Sep 2004 11:44:29 -0700, (Jay Honeck) wrote
in ::

Anyone got any recommendations?


http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/

Mailman, the GNU Mailing List Manager
Mailman is free software for managing electronic mail discussion and
e-newsletter lists. Mailman is integrated with the web, making it easy
for users to manage their accounts and for list owners to administer
their lists. Mailman supports built-in archiving, automatic bounce
processing, content filtering, digest delivery, spam filters, and
more. See the features page for details.
Mailman is free software, distributed under the GNU General Public
License. Mailman is written in the Python programming language, with a
little bit of C code for security.

The name of this software is spelled Mailman with a capital leading M
and a lowercase second m. It is incorrect to spell it "MailMan" (i.e.
you should not use StudlyCaps).

Current Version
Version 2.1.5, (released on 15-May-2004) is the current released
version of Mailman, in production at many sites.

Acknowledgements
Mailman's lead developer is Barry Warsaw who can be contacted at
.

Thanks go to Control.com for their sponsorship of new Mailman 2.1
features such as the topic filters, external membership sources, and
"virtual" mailing lists. Also, a huge thanks goes out to my employer
Zope Corporation for their support, as well as the list of
contributors, bug hunters, big idea people, and others who have helped
immensely with Mailman's development.

Take a look at http://www.coollist.com . I send out a "newsletter" type
email from time to time, and this works just fine. Just type out your
"email", hit send and everyone in your list gets it. I think that they can
even read it archived online if they wish.

This has potential -- but (I obviously haven't delved deeply into it yet) is
there anything the recipient has to "join" in order to receive the
newsletter? Or is it just essentially automated email?

The main drawback of Yahoo Groups is the requirement to "join" the group
through a rather extensive series of web-based forms. I know a lot of our
old-timers (and some of our young-timers, too!) regard using the internet as
a giant pain in the butt, and I fear they would take one look at it and
throw their hands up in frustration.

These same folks USE email every day -- so while I want MY end to be
web-based, I want THEIR end to come through as email (if they want) OR be
web-based.

I want to make membership in this group as painless as possible -- for the
recipients and for me!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

The main drawback of Yahoo Groups is the requirement to "join" the group
through a rather extensive series of web-based forms. I know a lot of our
old-timers (and some of our young-timers, too!) regard using the internet
as a giant pain in the butt, and I fear they would take one look at it and
throw their hands up in frustration.

Most mailing list software makes joining far simpler than Yahoo. But there
will be a confirmation process through which your members will have to go.
It should be as easy as replying to a message or "clicking" upon a link in
an email they receive.

Unfortunately, to fail to confirm is to invite a system to be abused. It's
the sad truth of today's Internet.

There is some software which you can run on your own local machine that will
let you run a small broadcast-only list. But many ISPs prohibit this sort
of thing because a spammer could be using it as easily as you. Again: an
unfortunate truth of how things have evolved.

- Andrew

Actually, Tony (and Jay), smartgroups can be accessed via their web front
end, OR if users prefer can receive messages via email. I like that
flexibility. Members do, however, have to sign up. That's a two-step
process: first you have to register with smartgroups, then you have to
"join" the particular group(s) you want to participate in.

Overall, smartgroups has been pretty good. The things I like about it:
1. it's free
2. there are no pop-ups, poo-unders, or other ads inserted within your
messages; there is just one small banner ad at the top of your page - I can
live with that.
3. users can choose whether to access mesages via the website or through
email
4. there are other free features such as photo albums, file uploads, a group
event calendar, even "voting"
5. it's simple to set up, simple for users to join (even techno-phobic
geezers, for the most part)
6. to a limited degree, it can be "hacked" to incorporate things that they
hadn't really designed into it (more on that below)

The things I don't like about it:
1. in the past, they occasionally went offline for a few hours, sometimes
for a few days, with no warning at all. Fortunately, they seem to have
addressed the problem, and they have not gone offline for any significant
time in nearly a year
2. they do not provide any meaningful support
3. it's limited in some ways - if you have ambitions to turn it into a fancy
website, it's generally not possible in any simple way

Overall, it's a good alternative to Yahoo groups. Before starting it, I
looked all over for something that would meet my needs but came with the
minimum of hassles.

You might want to take a look at the group I started, "Pacific Northwest
Flying"

Note that there are two ways to access the site now:
1. the original (old) URL which is a direct link to the smartgroups-based
discussion groups:
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/pnwflying
(this is the standard way smartgroups expects you to access the group)

The sign-up process is not particularly difficult; click the "First Time
Visitors" button for all a user needs to know.

and....

2. a new, more broadly designed "portal" site I recently created, which
incorporates the smartgroups discussion group into a larger site that has
other "sections":
http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com/

Stop by and check out the setup sometime (even if you do live back there in
the flatlands

If you have any questions about setting up a group feel free to ping me.
Good luck.


David Herman
N6170T 1965 Cessna 150E
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying Forum:
http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com/




"tony roberts" wrote in message
news:nospam-9F6235.17394811092004@shawnews...
Check out

http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/pnwflying

Run by our ownDavid Herman.
It doesn't email but it gives a message board and lots of other features.
A big advantage of starting a site there is that it is free.


HTH

Tony

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE

In article ,
(Jay Honeck) wrote:

A year ago I started an airport support group called "Friends of Iowa
City Airport" to help save our threatened airport. It has now grown
to over 170 members, and sending memos, updates and emails to such a
large group has become unwieldy.

For a variety of reasons I would like to stick with a web-based
(rather than Outlook or Outlook Express email) solution. I have looked
at using Yahoo Groups, but have rejected them as being overly
complicated to "join." (Many of our members are getting up there in
years, and even basic email can be a challenge for them, let alone
trying to figure out how to "join" a Yahoo group.)

I am looking for a way to send "group" email updates to large numbers
of members. Unfortunately, my ISP's (Mediacom) group email software
is so laced with anti-Spam measures that it is essentially useless to
me. (The killer: It limits the number in a group to 25 or less, etc.)

What say the group? Anyone got any recommendations? Is there a group
email site on the web that is flexible and powerful enough for what I
need?

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"