usenet@chg.mcd.mot.com (Newprod Moderator) (10/10/90)
Here's the current set of guidelines for the comp.newprod newsgroup.
The purpose of this newsgroup is to announce the existence of new products
and services. I'm very firm on guidelines A,B,&C, pretty firm on D&E (I have
allowed announcements of new versions of previously announced products.).
I'm pretty lax on F, G, and H, usually letting someone who wants to look bad,
look bad and allowing announcements that need more space, have it.
Guideline H makes my life a *lot* easier.
I have a real job. I try to post comp.newprod announcements about once
per week, but sometimes I can't. Please understand.
Sometimes, I make mistakes. Please don't ascribe to malice that which
can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Guidelines:
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A) The submission must be an announcement of a new product.
B) The announcement must be from a representative of the company
whose product is being announced. (This can include postings
with words like, "Joe Vendor at Fubar, Inc. asked me to post
this for him, since they aren't on the net.")
C) There must be a name and address (electronic and postal) for
receiving more information. (A phone number is suggested.)
D) Announcements should happen no more than once.
E) Certain "events" happen more than once, like UniForum, seminars,
and training courses. Announcements of this nature may repeat
if there is real value to the community in doing so.
F) Announcements should ideally fit within about 15 screen lines.
G) Announcements that look like advertising hype to the moderator
may be returned to the submitter for re-write.
H) You should use the standard news posting interface, rather than
mail, so that I won't have to munge the header lines as much.
I may (or may not) edit a submission to remove extraneous whitespace,
shorten an unnecessary signature, or correct a glaring spelling error,
but don't count on it.
Conflict-of-Interest Policy: My position on Motorola products is that I will
not *generate* an announcement for any products and that Motorola products
must meet the same guidelines as other products.
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Those who wish to construct an announcement should look at the suggestions
that I have included below which point out common mistakes that people
tend to make. The suggestions are based on my own experience and on
feedback from comp.newprod readers.
Dos & Don'ts on constructing an announcement:
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1) Do Keep it as short as possible.
2) Don't Right-justify it.
3) Don't Quote your own management on how nifty your product is.
4) Don't Quote a mutual admiration society on how nifty your product is.
5) Don't Use phrases like "very unique", "for immediate release", or
"at a fraction of what you would otherwise pay".
6) Don't Go into corporate history, customer list, or distribution methods.
7) Do Ensure that you don't misuse the word "insure".
8) Do Keep it technical.
9) Do Let those who are interested ask for details.
10) Do Run it through a spelling checker.
11) Do Use the "Keywords" and "Summary" headers to advantage.
12) Do Include a valid domain-style "From" address so I don't have to guess.
13) Do Keep it as short as possible!
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Note: Sometimes, vendors have special pricing arrangements for various
classes of potential customer, including "Educational Discounts". Often,
these are quite generous. Be sure to ask whether such special pricing
may be available to you.
Note: I'm on a lot of (paper) mailing lists. From time to time, I receive
a new product announcement. Under no circumstances do I consider paper
announcements to be submissions to this newsgroup.
I am open to suggestions on further modifications to the guidelines and
the suggestions. Thanks!
--
Ron Heiby usenet@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod