Well, not actually from the “top,” because the “top” e-mailed me at four in the morning to say "…oh by the way, would you mind…" Did I mention this was the 4th of July, and that I was supposed to be loading the RAV4 and the wife for a road trip to Key West, and that the submittal deadline was yesterday? Well, you get the idea, so if this is not the most coherent introduction you’ve ever read, don’t blame me… blame the man at the top… blame him anyway… it’ll do him good. Are you listening Mr. President?
You might be asking ...from the top of what? WHAT? Where have you been for the past year while those around you have been slaving away trying to create a worldwide virtual community of Access developers You thought you’d just joined another listserv?
We believe, based upon a lot of experience and feedback, that we are a bit more than that. As you may already know, our lists are hosted by a high quality commercial web site and the costs are borne by many of your fellow list members. In order to ensure the list’s long-term sustainability without being dependent upon the largess of any one individual or company, we formed a new corporation with the shares owned by those list members who feel it both worthwhile and financially feasible to contribute financially to its long term stability. We welcome new shareholders from within the AccessD community.
The corporation, Database Advisors, Inc has regular board meetings open to all list members (Board meeting times and locations are listed at www.databaseadvisors.com) and regular elections open to shareholders of record. Meetings and elections are held over the net since our shareholders are located on virtually every continent. Current elected officers, Board of Directors, and shareholders are available at the above net address.
Well beyond our shareholder list, is the worldwide array of dba volunteers that help keep this high quality, well-oiled system working—everything from member benefits to content editing to list moderators to web site designers and maintainers and all that lies between, including this newsletter. It’s our sincere hope that as you enjoy the benefits of list membership, that you’ll consider the possibility of helping to further its goals by becoming a shareholder and/or volunteering a few hours of your time and skills to keep it alive.
We ask that each of you take the time to review our own special “rules of the road” posted on our Welcome page on our www.databaseadvisors.com website. We hope you will find that these rules encourage a healthy balance between a straight-laced technical interchange list format and one that encourages the friendly banter of the coffee break, and even encourages Off Topic Humor posts on Fridays. We think that once you get used to our lists, you’ll find they encourage you to get to know other database developers around the world who share many of your same interests—all without detracting from our technical expertise and responsiveness.
We’d also ask that you participate rather than lurk whenever you feel able to do so. Our lists have maintained a successful response rate above 99 percent to all posted questions because a lot of our members are willing to take a shot at asking further clarifying questions or making suggestions even when they may not know the exact answer, and very frequently that’s all it takes.
While we are quite proud to see some of the net’s best database gurus among our frequent responders, it’s the contribution of everyone—the guru, the novice, and the everyday user—that makes our lists as professionally enriching as our members have consistently found them. So jump in; if you happen to be a bit off target, you wont be the first nor the last, but you’ll, at the very least, have helped to clarify the question.
And when you inevitably want to discuss something seriously off topic with fellow list members, or have a knock-down, drag out with another, we ask that you take it off the AccessD list to the dba-OT which enjoys a very active discussion list on everything from politics to sex.
Last
but certainly not least, I sincerely hope that each of you finds that your
involvement in AccessD and the Database Advisors community continues to advance
the professionalism and friendships that have become the hallmark of our shared
community, and that Many-to-Many, The Database Journal becomes a valued addition to
your Access database development resources From the Top.
William Hindman, Director of Operations, Member, Board of Directors
for John Colby, President, Database Advisors Inc.
William
Hindman©2001
May be
distributed as long as the copyright remains.