Development and Creation of a CIC Newsletter

This topic is to discuss the idea of putting together a CIC newsletter which grew out of an idea seeded earlier this morning about how to handle inquiries from people who are not invited participants but somehow they arrive at the CIC website and may be curious and interested and want to even jump in. one idea emerged about (1) harvesting their emails for when we go more public and can invite in others, and/or (2) offering some kind of newsletter. the latter was about stimulating the push rather than pull style of sharing information with the world.

the newsletter could possibly become a kind of monthly or quarterly (or more frequent should need demand) highlights of what's happening with the site - latest interviews, new links, great topics and insights, etc.

evolutionary life newsletter that tom puts together is a great protoype.

there could be two version: one initially for us and then we grow it into a prototype for those who stumble (synchronistically) onto the site.....

a way of seeding the memes that are being generated in this microcosm and laboratory !

Here are a few of the highlights from the email thread of 1-21-07:

Tom wrote:
>> I think we SHOULD take email addresses of interested outsiders. They just need to be sent and kept somewhere. Will you be the steward of those addresses?

Sheri wrote:
>>what about having a sign up for CIC newsletter which could have the highlights from the website as determined by the participants? when i was in indymedia we had what we called a newsblast. it went out to all the alternative media and everyone who had ever signed up on the virtual hub. at one time we had about 50,000 subscribers. and that was without trying to do anything like pr or marketing. we did a newsblast at ever single large event indymedia covered starting at the wto when it was 5 of us sitting in dan merkle's living room. to make it easier on us for the really large events, we invited the various working media groups to give the newsblast team (we have our own email list) to select their favorite stories so it wasn't selected from the newsblast team or top down but rather bottom up....which is how culture often beautifully works. it's like supporting the arising of CIC culture.

Tom wrote:
> Great idea, Sheri. How exactly would it work? I am happy to promote any services for which there is one or more volunteers to deliver or organize those services. Any volunteers? :)

George wrote:
> I love this idea and would love to follow up on this conversation if it took place in the Conveners forum.

et voila --