Email Message Archive
RELU Forums
RELU Chat

Page Contents
Notes
List Protocols
Archive Info
Highlights
Welcome Letter
  Using the list
  Changes
  Rules
  Disclaimer

Notes on List Activity

08/27/03. List reactivated. New welcome letter sent to all list members (see below).

07/11/03. The executive committee adopted new list policies with plans to reactivate the list before the RELU Annual Meeting.

03/03/03 Follow Up. The OSB public affairs department scheduled a conference call discussion about SB43 to occur on 03/07/03 (Friday). The broadcast email announcing this conference call is posted with the list of responses to the original list serve message on the subject.

2/18/03 Follow Up. The section executive committee received a report from the OSB at its Friday (2/14) meeting. There was considerable discussion, both about the purpose of the list and about the substantive issue under discussion (SB43). Check out the Draft Minutes for details..

02/07/03 Note from Webmaster
On Thursday, February 6, 2003, a list serve thread was started entitled [relu] Re: Title Companies preparing real estate documents. There were a number of substantive responses, but by midmorning on Friday, section member mailboxes were also inundated with messages endeavoring to remove the senders from the list. By noon there was so much confusion and so many "Remove" messages posted to the list that the section chair directed the OSB list serve administrator to temporarily shut down the list. The bar is investigating the explosion of Remove messages, as Remove requests should go to the list manager, not to the entire list. Either the members attempting removal sent that order to the whole list by clicking "Reply All" or the Remove requests were misaddressed by the list software. Additional information will be posted here when received. In the meantime, for those interested in the content of the thread, the original post is duplicated on the Message Archive and with a link to the substantive responses.

Victoria Short Baum, Webmaster [Send me an email]

RELU List Serve Protocols (07/11/03)

RELU has in the past experienced some difficulty in keeping its List Serve operational in a way that suits the purpose of dissemination of information of global interest to Section members, without filling our respective email boxes with messages more properly directed at a smaller audience, or in a different forum. RELU is one of the largest Sections of the Oregon State Bar and therefore we experience many problems in mass communication that smaller Sections do not.

In an effort to get our List Serve back up and running smoothly, while still providing a valuable service to our membership, the RELU Executive Committee has adopted a new set of protocols, and has appointed Wallace W. Lien, RELU Secretary and Chair of the Webpage Committee, to be the Moderator of this List Serve to ensure compliance with the protocols and to monitor activities on the List Serve so that we won’t have another melt down. If you have any questions about content or operation of the RELU List Serve or suggestions about how to make it run more effectively, please contact him directly at wlien@lienlaw.com.

A Few Reminders About The RELU List Serve

1. Use of the List Serve: This List Serve is intended to be used to disseminate information which would be useful to the Section as a whole, and to generate discussion on topics of interest to the group.

2. Special Bulletin Boards for Topics: When a discussion topic is focused on an issue that is limited in scope, or directed only to a small portion of Section members, the Moderator will create a bulletin board for that topic and direct all future discussion of that topic to the special bulletin board. Notice of bulletin board topic existence and how to access it will be posted on the RELU website: http://www.osbrelu.homestead.com/SectComForums

3. Spam: Spam will not be tolerated as either stand alone messages, or as headers to any other messages. Such messages will be swiftly and surely dealt with by the Moderator. It is perfectly acceptable however to announce job openings or requests for positions that are relevant to real estate and land use practices; and/or to put the Section on notice of new websites, products or processes that would be of general interest to the Section.

4. Use for Topics of General Interest: The RELU Executive Committee urges its members to utilize this new resource to place other Section members on notice of Section activities, meetings and volunteer opportunities; to point out and discuss new legislation and case law; to discuss problem areas of real estate and land use law; to request an attorney referral in any area of law; to request information on where and how to obtain experts or documentary evidence; to gain assistance in thinking through new and innovative approaches and arguments; and to develop a collegial environment for our Section members.

5. Specific Inquiries: When you are making inquiries with regard to a specific legal topic, please keep your inquiry succinct, and do not divulge privileged information, or enough facts that might identify your client - as undoubtedly lawyers on the other side of your case are no doubt Section members as well and will receive your inquiry. We should have no problems as long as you use good judgment and common sense in forming your inquiry. Remember if your inquiry generates lots of responses, the Moderator may elect to create a special Bulletin Board specifically for this topic.

6. Replies: BE CAREFUL TO MAKE YOUR REPLIES TO THE SENDER ONLY unless your reply contains information of general interest to the entire Section. Where someone make a specific inquiry to the Section, you must reply only to them and not to the group. There is no faster way to fill up a mailbox with unwanted emails than with replies to someone else’s question. If your post triggers the same question in another Section member, that member should privately contact the originator of the inquiry and ask that all replies the originator received be forwarded to them. This correspondence should be private and not take place on the List Serve. The List Serve should be used to put the question to the group, from there on the replies and sharing of information should take place privately between the involved Section members.

7. Attachments Not Allowed: Currently our RELU List Serve is not set up to accept attachments. This is in part due to the lack of technology and in part out of a concern for the ability of virus’s to be transmitted throughout the Section on attachments. The RELU Executive Committee will continue to monitor available technology and may add the attachment feature in the future if it is felt that can be done safely.

8. How to Unsubscribe: It is understood that some Section members simply do not want to be involved with this List Serve, either right from the beginning, or as time goes by and the member decides the usefulness of the List Serve does not fit that members practice. In the event you want to UNSUBSCRIBE from the list serve, just click on the "unsubscribe" link that appears at the bottom of every list serve message. You can not unsubscribe by general posting to the site, and the Moderator can not unsubscribe you. You must unsubscribe yourself by following the automated process at the bottom of every list serve message. The unsubscribe link also can be found on the RELU website: http://www.osbrelu.homestead.com/SectList.html#change . You should be advised that the unsubscribe feature is permanent only for the remainder of the Section year. Each year in late January or early February the Oregon State Bar certifies our new Section membership for that year, and when that is done all our Section settings default and everyone is placed back in the system. Conversely once you unsubscribe it is not possible to re-subscribe until the new year membership certification when you will be automatically subscribed again.

9. Periodic Protocol Posting: The Moderator will post these Protocols every quarter throughout the year on the List Serve as a reminder. In addition, this message will be placed on the RELU website: http://www.osbrelu.homestead.com/SectList.html#policies.

Message Archive

Items of interest to section members posted on the Section List Serve are reproduced in the Email Message Archive.

Text of Welcome Email to RELU Section Members (Updated 8/07/2003)

TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE REAL ESTATE AND LAND USE SECTION

As most of you know, RELU has experimented with a new List Serve service for our Section members. We encountered some difficultly at the outset with an overload on a specific topic not of interest to the vast majority of the members which resulted in a flurry of requests to unsubscribe from
the List. It became immediately apparent that the Section needed to develop a set of protocols for the operation of the List Serve to deal with special topics and the process and ramifications of un-subscribing. The Executive Committee made the decision to shut down the List Serve pending development of protocols.

The RELU Executive Committee is pleased to announce that Protocols have now been adopted and the List Serve officially re-launched with this Welcoming message.

For those of you not aware of the List Serve concept, it is like a Bulletin Board that comes to your email inbox. It is essentially an electronic bulk email to all RELU members who have an email address listed with the Oregon State Bar. If you post to the List Serve you are in effect sending that message to everyone in RELU who has not “un-subscribed” to the list approximately 1,050 attorneys.

HOW TO USE THE LIST: Send a message to all members of the Real Estate and Land Use Section List Serve by addressing it to: relu@lists.osbar.org Replies are directed (by default) to the sender of the message ONLY. Do not “reply to all”

To make changes in your List Serve subscription, send a message to listserver@lists.osbar.org with the following in the body of your message for each type of change:

To unsubscribe: unsubscribe _______<your name>

To receive your messages in digest form (combined into a single message sent once each day): digest _______<your name>

To discontinue digest format and resume receiving messages as they are sent: mail _______<your name>

GENERAL RULES AND GUIDELINES:

• Include a subject line in messages to the list. When replying to a message from the digest version of the list, edit the subject line to indicate the topic of the reply. (Messages with the subject "Re: _________ Law No. 14" are unlikely to be read and clutter the system.)

• Be polite. Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.

• Sign your messages with your full name, firm name, and appropriate contact information. Email addresses alone do not provide the necessary identification. Find and use the "auto signature" feature, available on many email programs, for this purpose.

• Do not send attachments -the lists software will not accept messages with attachments and will return your message. Alternately, copy and paste material from the attachment into your plain text message or contact your section’s web site.

• Get permission from the original sender before forwarding a message from this list to someone who does not subscribe to this list.

• If you use an auto-responder when you are away from your office, please note that your auto-response will be sent to the sender of the message, only, and not to the entire list. Consider changing your subscription to the digest format while you are away from your office for an extended period of time (see above how to).

• This List Serve is intended to be used to disseminate information which would be useful to the Section as a whole, and to generate discussion on topics of interest to the group. The RELU Executive Committee urges its members to utilize this new resource to place other Section members on notice of Section activities, meetings and volunteer opportunities; to point out and discuss new legislation and case law; to discuss problem areas of real estate and land use law; to request an attorney referral in any area of law; to request information on where and how to obtain experts
or documentary evidence; to gain assistance in thinking through new and innovative approaches and arguments; and to develop a collegial environment for our Section members.

• If a discussion topic is focused on an issue that is limited in scope, or directed only to a small portion of Section members, the Moderator will create a bulletin board, using the Quick Topic software for that topic and direct all future discussion of that topic to the special bulletin board.
Notice of bulletin board topic existence and how to access it will be posted on the RELU website: http://www.osbrelu.homestead.com/

• BE CAREFUL TO MAKE YOUR REPLIES TO THE SENDER ONLY! Where someone makes a specific inquiry to the Section, you must reply only to them and not to the group. There is no faster way to fill up a mailbox with unwanted emails than with replies to someone else’s question. If your
post triggers the same question in another Section member, that member should privately contact the originator of the inquiry and ask that all replies the originator received be forwarded to them. This correspondence should be private and not take place on the List Serve. The List Serve should be used to put the question to the group, from there on the replies and sharing of information should take place privately between the involved Section members.

• When you are making inquiries with regard to a specific legal topic, please keep your inquiry succinct, and do not divulge privileged information, or enough facts that might identify your client - as
undoubtedly lawyers on the other side of your case are Section members as well and will receive your inquiry. We should have no problems as long as you use good judgment and common sense in forming your inquiry. Remember if your inquiry generates lots of responses, the Moderator may elect to create a special Bulletin Board specifically for this topic.

• Spam will not be tolerated as either stand alone messages, or as headers to any other messages. Such messages will be swiftly and surely dealt with by the Moderator, including removal from the list for repeated violations. It is perfectly acceptable, however, to announce job openings or requests for positions that are relevant to real estate and land use practices; and/or to put the Section on notice of new websites, products or processes that would be of general interest to the Section.

• The Moderator will post these Protocols periodically as necessary throughout the year on the List Serve as a reminder. In addition, this message will be placed on the RELU website: http://www.osbrelu.homestead.com/. The initial Moderator is Wallace W. Lien. Please direct any inquiries or suggestions about the List Serve to him at wlien@lienlaw.com.

DISCLAIMER: This distribution list is provided as a service to the members of the OSB Real Estate and Land Use. Neither the OSB nor the Section are responsible for the opinions and information distributed through this list. The OSB and the Section make no warranties with regard to the accuracy or applicability to any particular use of any information distributed through this list. In no event will the OSB or the Section be liable for any damages resulting from the dissemination or use of any information distributed through this list.

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