[mou] MOU listserv thought - subject lines

[shawn conrad]

I don't usually contribute to these discussions for fear of beating a dead horse, but I'll make an exception.  
 
Both the MOU and MNbird listservs have high traffic at this time of year.  No problem for me, I read about 1 out of 10 posts anyway.  I don't have any issues with people posting anything related to birds in Minnesota, regardless of what it is.  Unless I'm misinformed, this seems to be the intent of both listservs.  I don't believe, that rarity should be the only factor on the value of a post.  Personally, I'd be more interested in Evening Grosbeaks 10 miles from my home than I would an Ivory Gull in Rock County.    
 
There is, however, one step posters could take to eliminate the need for this discussion altogether--use the 'subject' line on emails effectively!  (For the record, the ONLY nasty flaming I've ever endured from the listservs resulted from an anonymous hothead upset when I made this same suggestion a few years ago--no big deal, I have thick skin.  Otherwise, my experience with Minnesota birders--novice to expert--has always been exceptional!  I somehow don't believe that there are a bunch of elitist snobs prowling on MOU-Net waiting to pounce on unsuspecting rookies.)  
 
So often, people post to the listservs (and other email communication) with vague subject lines such as "Question" "Birding Today" "Help" "Birds" "Sparrow" "An idea" "Something to think about" or "(No subject)".  Subject lines like this tell the recipient nothing about the contents and defeat the purpose of the subject line.  If your email has a subject line such as "Lake County Spruce Grouse" or "Shorebird photos I'd like to share" "Request for bird feeding information" "Want to carpool to the Superior Landfill Saturday?" "Backyard oriole story" or "Help me ID this warbler", you probably would NOT get nasty emails because people would either easily realize they are not interested and delete your message without having to open it (no high traffic complaints from the rarity-hunters), or they would open it knowing exactly what they are spending their time on.
 
All we're waiting on up north are the flycatchers, vireos, most warblers and shorebirds and a few other odds and ends.  At least small numbers of most other groups are being accounted for at this time!         Shawn Conradhttp://users.2z.net/itasca_chippewa_birding/ 
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